Gustav holdouts’ tales give evacuees pause. The few New Orleanians who stayed through Gustav will regale some quarter-million returning evacuees with such mirthful, and true, storm stories, often in sharp contrast to tales of evacuation frustration from what was described afterwards as little more than a prolonged thunderstorm. [News Source]

The levee watcher. Geologist David Rogers lambasted decision-makers after hurricane Katrina breached New Orleans' defences in 2005. As this year's hurricane season heats up, how much has changed? [News Source]

Hurricane forecast: “No letup” in weeks ahead. ust as Hurricane Gustav was dissipating and three tropical storms were brewing in the Atlantic, forecasters predicted that September hurricane activity would be well above normal for the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. [News Source]

New Orleans gets its people back. Roadblocks are lifted and residents stream back into many neighborhoods. Power service remains spotty. Mayor C. Ray Nagin says he's concerned that it's too soon. [News Source]

St. Tammany bouncing back. Gov. Bobby Jindal, during a one-hour stop at the parish Emergency Operations Center in Covington on Wednesday, applauded local officials and emergency responders who guided the parish through its close encounter with Gustav. [News Source]

Evacuees return to power outages. Hundreds of thousands of Gustav evacuees began flooding back home on Wednesday to face widespread power outages, food shortages and limited medical care. [News Source]

This time, Bush finds better picture. What a difference three years--and a much milder storm--can make. Bush arrived in Baton Rouge on Wednesday for his first personal look at the damage wrought by Hurricane Gustav--which did not take the human or political toll exacted by Katrina. [News Source]

Allergy sufferers hope for relief. Shorter days and longer nights that start in mid-August stimulate pollination in the ragweed plant, but global climate change is believed to be making it worse, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. [News Source]

Arctic melting shows global warming serious - expert. The incredibly rapid rate at which Canada's Arctic ice shelves are disappearing is an early indicator of the "very substantial changes" that global warming will impose on all mankind, a top scientist said on Wednesday. [News Source]

Dutch government warned against rising sea levels. Low-lying Netherlands must spend more than 100 billion euros on dike upgrades and coastal expansion to avoid the ravages of rising sea levels due to global warming, experts warned Wednesday. [News Source]

Global warming ‘heat stress’ a threat to nations. Climate change is likely to first hurt developing countries which could become almost too hot to successfully grow essential crops, international experts told a conference Wednesday. [News Source]