Members of New Orleans Jewish community were expected to start returning to their homes this week after Hurricane Gustav prompted a mass evacuation and forced synagogues, schools and community centres to shut.

Amid warnings from Mayor Ray Nagin that the impending hurricane represented the “storm of the century”, the local community went into emergency mode with the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans setting up a hotline to provide regular updates for those joining the largest evacuation in Louisiana history.

“We have back up cell phones, back up servers, we have special committees which are activated,” the organization’s Executive Director Michael Weil told Totally Jewish. “We closed down the building, secured the roof, cut off all electricity except the alarm, everybody disconnected computers. Everything that could be damaged was moved into a safe place. We collected Torah scrolls from a number of synagogues because we have a very strong sturdy three story building and acted as a storage facility for scrolls.”

In stark contrast to three years ago when many in the Jewish community and the wider population remained behind in the face of Hurricane Katrina, an estimated 95 percent of the now 7,500-strong Jewish community followed a mandatory evacuation order put in place on this occasion to join the largest evacuation in Louisiana history. Many were welcomed “with open arms” by Jewish communities in areas including Memphis, Houston and Dallas.

(Source: Totally Jewish)