Message #100215

[Bianca]

DODGED A BULLET



Some residents emerged from boarded up homes relieved to find only broken tree branches and toppled signs.

"We'll still get some nasty weather but we've dodged a big-time bullet with this one," said stockbroker Peter Labouisse, sitting on the porch of his home, which was shuttered and without power.

Louisiana officials reported six storm-related deaths, including an elderly couple in Baton Rouge who were killed when a tree fell on their home.

In contrast to the widespread lawlessness that followed Katrina, New Orleans police said they had only arrested two people for looting during the storm.

Oil companies had shut down nearly all production in the region, which normally pumps a quarter of U.S. oil output and 15 percent of its natural gas.

But when early reports showed little damage to the crucial patch of energy infrastructure, oil prices slid to a five-month low and were seen headed toward $100 per barrel on Tuesday.

Exxon said it was shutting down its Baton Rouge refinery, the second largest in the United States. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Exxon would ask for crude oil from the U.S. emergency Strategic Petroleum Reserve and Shell Oil Co was expected to make a similar request, as refiners look to ensure gasoline supplies in the wake of Gustav.

Mindful of the ravages of Katrina, which killed some 1,500 people, nearly 2 million people had fled the Gulf Coast as Gustav approached.

Underscoring continued concern about the fragile flood barriers, officials in rural Plaquemines Parish told the handful of residents remaining to flee as a levee protecting 200 homes had been weakened by water surging over the top.

Plaquemines, a fishing hub that sprawls into the Gulf of Mexico, was hammered by a 20-foot (6-meter) storm surge during Katrina.