Gustav Passes On

The good news is that Gustav lost some power before coming ashore, so it wasn't the monster storm everyone feared. It also made landfall southwest of New Orleans, so the city did not receive the brunt of the storm that did exist. There are signs that parts of New Orleans seem to be on their way back to normal, and some power has been restored. Even so, though, it's looking like the Powers That Be would like to keep those who evacuated away until at least Wednesday. That may be because of what happened with Katrina, when much of the flooding didn't completely kick in until after the storm had passed (check out this National Geographic timeline).

The bad news (well, for those who aren't in Louisiana) is that the Republicans can no longer use Hurricane (now Tropical Storm) Gustav as a distraction from their convention.