Homecoming after the storm

SCRIPT:

Packing their bags in Jackson, Mississippi, and crowding the highways into New Orleans, hundreds of thousands of evacuees who fled the U.S. Gulf Coast as Hurricane Gustav threatened are heading home.

Rob Quinn and his family weathered the storm in Alabama.

SOUNDBITE: Rob Quinn, Evacuee, saying (English):

"We can take this. Fourteen hours to get there. three to get home. We are very happy.

Still, part of New Orleans will remain in the dark as crews across the state keep working to clear downed trees and restore power.

SOUNDBITE: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, saying (English):

"I can't emphasize this enough. It is the number one obstacle to a quick recovery for our impacted regions.

President George W Bush visited the state's emergency operations center in hard hit- Baton Rouge...praising the official response three years after Hurricane Katrina, but recognizing there's more work to be done.

This as the flood waters keep spreading. Wind and water damage has now cut the lights to more than one hundred thousand as far north as Arkansas.

Now the East Coast is bracing for Hanna...one of three storms that could hit the U.S. coast in the next two weeks.

Katharine Jackson Reuters.