NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The nearly abandoned coast of Louisiana is taking the brunt of Hurricane Gustav, which made landfall this morning west of New Orleans as a Category 2 storm.
The National Hurricane Center says Gustav hit near the community of Cocodrie.
In New Orleans, water is splashing over some floodwalls, but city officials are optimistic the levees protecting New Orleans will hold. The city's levee system has been only partially rebuilt since Hurricane Katrina struck three years ago.
A commander of the Army Corps of Engineers' hurricane protection office says they are "cautiously optimistic and confident" that there won't be catastrophic wall failure.
Forecasters had feared Gustav would arrive as a devastating Category 4 with much more powerful winds.
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