A still-largely deserted New Orleans on Tuesday prepared to take stock of damage from Hurricane Gustav after rebuilt levees appeared to hold off a repeat of the flooding caused by Katrina in 2005.
A dangerous Category 4 hurricane a few days ago, Gustav hit shore near Cocodrie, Louisiana, about 115km southwest of New Orleans on Monday local time, as a Category 2 storm, one step below Katrina's strength at landfall.
Before landfall in Louisiana, Gustav killed at least 97 people in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Florida.
Gustav has now been downgraded to a tropical storm and was spinning toward Texas on Tuesday. It would continue to lose power over the next day, even as it dumps heavy rain parts of six states, the US National Hurricane Center predicted.
As US fears over Gustav eased, Tropical Storm Hanna grew to hurricane strength near the southeast Bahamas, threatening America's east coast from Florida to the Carolinas, and Tropical Storm Ike formed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Gustav roared through the heart of the US Gulf oil patch but oil and natural gas prices plunged when Gustav weakened before landfall and spared key Gulf oil installations, easing fears of serious supply disruptions.
The storm surge kicked up by Gustav tested a levee system in New Orleans still being rebuilt after collapsing during Katrina. A tense vigil followed into Monday night for any sign of the kind of deluge of three years ago when 80% of New Orleans flooded, killing 1,500 people and stranding thousands.
Nearly 2 million people had fled the Gulf Coast as Gustav approached.
The US Army Corps of Engineers closed massive new floodgates built after Katrina and intended to keep Lake Pontchartrain waters from surging back toward the south into the city and over the banks of two canals. Although water flowed over flood walls, the flood barrier system appeared to hold up.
Residents allowed back to New Orleans
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said residents could begin to return to the city later this week. With the city still under curfew, officials will assess hurricane damage on Tuesday and begin allowing businesses to return as soon as Wednesday.
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.
Hurricane Gustav stole the limelight from the Republican Convention to nominate presidential candidate John McCain. It opened on Monday with a bare-bones programme.
President George W Bush, who was heavily criticized for the slow Katrina relief efforts, canceled his appearance at the convention and went to Texas to oversee relief effort.
Oil production shut down
Oil companies had shut down nearly all production in the region, which normally pumps a quarter of US oil output and 15% of its natural gas.
Exxon said it was shutting down its Baton Rouge refinery, the second largest in the United States.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said Exxon would ask for crude oil from the US emergency Strategic Petroleum Reserve and Shell Oil was expected to make a similar request, as refiners look to ensure gasoline supplies.
