By Mike Brunker, msnbc.com writer

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

A couple walks down Chartres St. in the historic district of New Orleans as the last remnants of Hurricane Gustav blow through on Monday.

As suddenly as Gustav smacked this emptied city, the storm was gone.

By early afternoon on Monday, relatively minor gusts were ruffling the palm trees along Canal Street and the rain had stopped.  Forecasters said more of both were likely as the storm slid past to the west, but nothing like the intense winds and rain that pounded the city overnight.

The thermometer also began inching up from the relatively cool 70s and low 80s that accompanied the storm.

Most important, the city's levees appeared to be holding, though officials cautioned that the water that in some places was overtopping them would remain high for hours.
While city officials were openly relieved that they had dodged a major hit this time, Gustav did leave a sizable mess in its wake.

Streets in neighborhoods and downtown were strewn with garbage, palm fronds and broken limbs. Downed power line, shattered traffic signals and uprooted trees weren't hard to find, though damage that serious was scattered.

 The few citizens who remained behind said the heavy police and National Guard presence, including regular patrols through outlying mostly vacant neighborhoods, was a vast improvement from situation after Hurricane Katrina.

"It's a lot better than last time, said J.D. Furlong, 38, a bartender who stayed behind to work at a tavern in the Bywater neighborhood in the upper Ninth Ward that surreptitiously remained open during the storm.

 "Last time there was mad looting here. I had to stand in the door with an assault rifle. I finally left after seven days because I figured I was either going to get killed or kill somebody."

 

 

By John Brecher, msnbc.com photojournalist

A delegate from the Texas Gulf Coast talks about the subdued mood of the Republican National Convention in light of Hurricane Gustav.

By Mike Brunker and Jim Seida, msnbc.com

Chasing reports of runaway barges or Navy ships, we drove north to the Florida Avenue Bridge over the Industrial Canal.

The lift bridge was in the up position, so we couldn't get an elevated view of this section of the canal. From our vantage point on Harbor Road, peering over the concrete floodwall, there was no sign of the vessels.

The only sign of a possible accident in the area was the strong smell of gasoline and the rainbow sheen of oil visible on the surface of the water in spots where it pooled after overtopping the floodwall.

A worker at what appeared to be a utility plant adjacent to the road pantomimed over the roar of the storm that he knew nothing about any runaway vessels. At least that's what I think he was saying.

By Michael Brunker, msnbc.com writer and Jim Seida, media producer

Water began pouring over the concrete floodwalls along the Industrial Canal east of New Orleans, creating great TV but – so far at least – causing only minor flooding in the mixed residential-industrial Gentilly area. More worrisome was a collision between a derelict ship or barge with pilings of the Florida Avenue Bridge across the Industrial Canal. Gary LaGrange of the Port of NewOrleans told local radio station Q93 that he was en route to examine the bridge, but that initial reports did not indicate that the span had sustained serious damage.

By Mike Brunker, msnbc.com writer

Most people go to considerable lengths to avoid hurricanes, but Mark Robinson and his chums will drive like maniacs for days to try to arrange a face-to-eye meeting with one of the dangerous giants.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Logos marking his hurricane chases, storm chaser Mark Robinsin is hoping to get video from the eye of Hurricane Gustav.

Robinson, a 35-year-old meteorology student from Ontario, is a "storm chaser," an adrenaline-fueled avocation popularized in the movie "Twister." He and his partners in pursuit -- George Kourounis, 37, and Tim Millar, 35 – bombed down the East Coast almost without stopping in hopes of capturing Gustav's eye on video when the storm comes ashore on Monday.

Robinson stresses his scientific interest in powerful weather, but there's no disguising the sparkle that dances behind his wire-rim glasses when he describes filming the eye of Hurricane Katrina as he stood chest-deep in storm surge in a parking garage in Gulfport, Miss.

"Katrina was the most intense experience of my life," he said. "This will probably be a close second."

The trio made quite the impression in New Orleans on Sunday as they prepared to deploy southward to the town of Houma, about 50 miles to the southwest. All three vehicles are decked out with the tools of the trade – klieg lights, wind gauges and other assorted gadgets of indeterminate utility, and lots of gas cans.

 But Robinson's ride takes the cake. It's an old Volkswagen that looks like one of the makeshift machines from "Mad Max" -- with whip antennae, a PVC elbow pipe and an orange strobe light poking out of the roof at odd angles.  The door is decorated with five swirly meteorological symbols, representing the hurricanes he's seen up close and personal .

Robinson also, has chased thunderstorms, tornadoes and virtually every other weather phenomenon, but he prefers hunting down a hurricane "because it's such a major event."

He said he and his mates are careful about setting up their encounter with the vast and powerful vortex, looking for a high structure that will keep them above the storm surge while still affording them a clear view of the eye. But he admits there's little room for error. 

"You could totally easily die," Robinson said. "You've got to be careful.  We always suggest people start with thunderstorms."

While the thrill of the chase is clearly the big motivator for Robinson, he can occasionally sell footage to the Weather Network, the Canadian equivalent of the Weather Channel.  He also shares some of his most spectacular "kills" with other storm chasers and the curious on his Web site.

When he graduates from York College after completing three more classes , Robinson hopes to find work as a filmmaker or a television meteorologist. In the meantime, he says he's got to be even more careful than usual as he, Kourounis and Millar load up their gear and prepare to head off for the  rendezvous with Gustav.

"I don't want to lose my car," he said. "It's also the car I get groceries in."