Gustav emotional toll considered

Disaster News Network: Damage assessments from Hurricane Gustav got under way across the Gulf Coast on Tuesday, with some estimates saying insured losses could reach s high as $10 billion. In the faith-based community, there was also concern about the human toll. "People have come through it physically, but emotionally and spiritually that remains to be seen," said the Rev. Alan D. Cutter, general presbyter of the Presbytery of South Louisiana. "Given what happened — three years ago almost to the day after Katrina — there is a great need, a continuing need, for psychological and spiritual help," he said. "And this will continue."

Like others in the faith-based community, Cutter was anxiously awaiting damage assessments to determine where response efforts will be required. "We expect to find out that when we can get down to the Bayou Country — Houma, Thibodaux, Gray, Raceland, Morgan City — we're expecting to find a lot of damage," Cutter said.

…"Due to these utility outages, we strongly discourage citizens who have evacuated from returning at this time," officials said. "The National Guard is stationed at all points leading back into the city to deter re-entry. We will let the public know when the services are available for our citizens to return."

Similar cautions were sounded elsewhere along the Gulf Coast as utility crews fanned out to remove debris from roadways and restore power to some 826,000 residents still affected by Gustav. Utility company Entergy reported the outages were the second largest in the company's history, ranking only behind Katrina. "Gustav restoration rivals the scale and difficulty of Hurricane Katrina restoration," the company said.

…."It will take some time . . . for us to learn more and more about the needs of the people in the Gulf area," said the Rev. Kevin A. Massey, director of Lutheran Disaster Response. "It may take many weeks before we are able to identify the ways that volunteers will be able to help."...

New Orleans, LA, August 30, 2008 -- Evacuees wait in the hot sun and heat, in long lines, to the check-in areas for flight departures. Jacinta Quesada/FEMA