Owen Courreges: Is Entergy Isaac’s Titanic?

 Posted by at 9:57 am  business, city government, opinion
Sep 032012
 

Owen Courreges

Well, New Orleans has officially weathered its first direct hit from a hurricane post-Katrina. As with all disasters, we seem to be hoping that all our heroes and villains come straight from central casting. Most peoples’ immediate ire seems focused on Entergy New Orleans for failing to flip on the lights quickly enough. Corporate villains are always the easiest to write.

Of course, the truth is more complicated, and not being an expert in electrical grids, I’m hardly the person to turn to for education in whether Entergy is to blame in its power restoration efforts. On the other hand, Entergy has done much to destroy any goodwill with New Orleanians with excessive fuel surcharges and the like. Continue reading »

Fire guts Fat Harry’s bar on St. Charles, but owner vows to rebuild

 Posted by at 9:30 am  business, food and drink, public safety
Sep 022012
 

A New Orleans firefighter examines damage to the interior of Fat Harry’s bar on St. Charles Avenue. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)

Debbie Huling, owner of Fat Harry’s, smiles despite the damage to her business as she talks to a New Orleans firefighter. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)

A Sunday morning fire gutted the bar area of Fat Harry’s, but the owner of the beloved gathering spot on St. Charles Avenue was already promising to rebuild before firefighters had even left the scene. Continue reading »

Where’s the power? New Orleans asks in Isaac’s wake

 Posted by at 11:05 pm  business, weather
Sep 012012
 


View Uptown New Orleans power outages and restored areas in a larger map

Entergy’s map of outages at 11 p.m. Saturday. (viewoutage.entergy.com/nola.aspx)

With Hurricane Issac’s winds and rain long gone, New Orleanians around Uptown and the entire city have been left to ask, where is the electricity?

Because the Entergy maps have proven themselves to be unexpectedly unreliable, Uptown Messenger is building our own map of outages and restored areas, based on firsthand reports by our readers. We’ll also include significant hazards that may still be affecting the public. To add or update information, either tweet it to us @UptownMessenger, or email it to uptown@nolamessenger.com

New Orleans begins cleaning up Isaac’s mess (live coverage, Friday, Aug. 31)

 Posted by at 8:32 am  weather
Aug 312012
 

Entergy workers examine a fallen tree on St. Charles Ave. and Arabella St. Thursday afternoon. (Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)

New Orleans may have seen the last of Isaac’s wind and rain crawl out of town on Thursday, but awoke Friday morning to find the same mess left over from the day before: trees down all over, and power hardly anywhere.

Grocery stores led the way in business re-openings on Thursday, followed by a few resourceful restaurants that pulled together limited menus for New Orleanians grateful for a hot meal, and hopeful that power would return soon as the late summer temperatures begin to rise again. Continue reading »

 Comments Off

New Orleans reckons with Isaac’s aftermath (hurricane response live coverage, Aug. 30)

 Posted by at 8:46 am  public safety, transportation, weather
Aug 302012
 

A large tree lays across Broadway Street near St. Charles Avenue, where it has snapped a power pole and pulled down electrical lines. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)

Tropical Storm Isaac’s wind field at 7 a.m. barely reaches New Orleans. (map via wunderground.com)

Now that Tropical Storm Isaac has finally crawled past New Orleans, taking most of its wind and rain with it, the city is left with widespread power outages, downed trees and power lines and — for some — far more significant damage to their homes or businesses. Continue reading »

 Comments Off

Electrical hazards, downed trees, closed roads reported around Uptown New Orleans

 Posted by at 9:19 pm  city government, public safety, transportation
Aug 292012
 


View Uptown hazards in a larger map

As Isaac continues its slow approach toward New Orleans, a tree has landed on a house on St. Charles Avenue, wires and other trees are down in numerous Uptown neighborhoods, flooding has been reported in the Lower Garden District and other roads have been closed, according to reports from the mayor’s office early Wednesday. Continue reading »

Car break-in attempts prompt police chase through Audubon neighborhoods

 Posted by at 8:05 pm  crime, public safety, weather
Aug 282012
 

Approximate locations involved in a police chase of two young men believed to be involved in car-burglary attempts. They were first reported on Annunciation, then spotted in backyard on State, and finally apprehended in two locations on Webster, police said.

Two people attempting to get into parked cars along Annunciation Street led police on a chase through several Audubon neighborhoods Tuesday afternoon, and one attacked a resident who tried to stop him, before they were apprehended, authorities said. Continue reading »

Enthusiastic Oak Street businesses keep the lights on as Isaac approaches

 Posted by at 1:52 pm  business, public safety, weather
Aug 282012
 

A passer-by lends a hand as Hank Staples affixes an “Open for Business” sign to the boarded-up front of Maple Leaf Bar on Oak Street. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)

Employees board up the windows at Chiba, another Oak Street business planning to stay open as much as possible through the storm. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)

As the winds of Hurricane Isaac began picking up on Oak Street on Tuesday morning, boards may have covered the shopfront windows, but nothing could cover the owners’ spirits.

“Oak Street is open for businesses,” said Chiba owner Keith Dusko. “The 8300 block, anyway.” Continue reading »

 Comments Off  Tagged with:

Isaac continues slow path toward New Orleans

 Posted by at 1:08 am  business, city government, public safety, transportation, weather
Aug 282012
 

A Magazine Street business boards up its windows Monday afternoon. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)

Tropical Storm Isaac’s projected track, as of 1 a.m. Tuesday. (source: National Hurricane Center)

Tropical Storm Isaac continued slowly gathering strength Monday night on its way toward south Louisiana.

As of the 1 a.m. Tuesday update from the National Hurricane Center, Isaac’s winds were still at 70 mph, just shy of hurricane force, and its path continued to center on New Orleans. Forecasters expected the winds to accelerate to hurricane speeds overnight, and for New Orleans to begin feeling its effects in earnest Tuesday morning. Continue reading »

 Comments Off
Page 58 of 188 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188