Hurricane Gustav was not kind to St. Mary parish but as our neighbors in Terrebonne can attest, it could have been worse.

Lots of attaboys are in order for emergency personnel and government planners who oversaw an orderly evacuation process and then worked tirelessly to make sure streets were clear and basic services such as water and sewer were available.

From a state perspective there can be no denying that the preparation, action and follow-up for Gustav was a complete reversal of what we saw after Hurricane Katrina. Buses and other modes of transportation for evacuees were where they were needed and the overall highway evacuation process was carried out with minimal delays.

Things are always hectic immediately after a storm and we’re thankful for the help that arrived from around the country to give our police and sheriff’s office personnel a chance to catch some much-needed rest. Their services are invaluable to local agencies for dealing with the overflow of traffic from neighboring parishes without services who are travelling here in search of food, water, ice and gas.

In St. Mary, Amelia took the hardest hit but utility services have come back on rapidly. As of 6 a.m. this morning, 29 percent of CLECO’s customers were still without power and we suspect similar progress has been made by the Morgan City utility system. Many thanks to the thousands of utility workers from across the country that helped make such swift restoration possible.

At the local parish Office of Emergency Preparedness, OEP director Duval Arthur oversaw his first major storm, having taken over from long time OEP head Jimmy Bernauer. His office lined up charter buses for evacuees and saw to it that essential personnel had proper passes to re-enter the parish after the storm. Although the pre and post hurricane activities were not without a few moments of frustration and anxiety, Arthur handled the overall task at hand well.

St. Mary residents should take some time out as soon as practical to evaluate their own situation. Did your evacuation go well? Did you have good plans for an evacuation destination? Did you plan ahead and accumulate water, canned goods, cleaning supplies, etc. over the year in case of a hurricane? Did you return to St. Mary along a route that the storm didn’t take so you would be able to secure gas, ice or other supplies on the way back? These things need to be evaluated and planning adjustments made for the future.

All in all we would say good job ladies and gentlemen and we hope Mother Nature leaves us alone for awhile.