New Orleans Restaurants And Clubs Close As Hurricane Nate Makes Landfall

As Hurricane Nate makes landfall, New Orleans restaurants and clubs closed in advance in preparation for the storm. Mayor Mitch Landrieu imposed a citywide hurricane curfew from 6 p.m. tonight through tomorrow morning. Hurricane Nate has just touched down on the Gulf coast but is not expected in New Orleans until early Sunday morning. But ahead of the hurricane, New Orleans is already experiencing high winds and driving rain. The New Orleans French Quarter jazz clubs and restaurants are shuttered in anticipation of Hurricane Nate.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu put a hurricane curfew in place and got the word out to New Orleans residents early so that everyone could prepare for Hurricane Nate. Even though none of the hurricanes this season have hit New Orleans and the French Quarter, the city has still experienced flooding with some of the more severe summer storms.

In early August, Mayor Mitch Landrieu was criticized for not warning residents in advance that certain neighborhoods in New Orleans were flooding. The New Orleans City Council met afterward to figure out what went wrong and how to prepare for the next round of storms and the rest of hurricane season.

“If they had gotten word sooner… they could have gotten out and moved their car onto the sidewalk and saved their car.”

In preparation for Hurricane Nate, New Orleans started handing out sandbags for the critical areas.

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New Orleans officials are urging residents not to take any chances with Hurricane Nate approaching in light of the pump failures and flooding that happened in early August. Restaurants in the French Quarter and throughout New Orleans are working hard to reschedule reservations due to the hurricane curfew.

Chef John Besh took time away from preparing meals for victims of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey to batten down the hatches in his own New Orleans restaurants (August and Besh Steak).

“A lot of the times we think we have these storms figured out but we don’t and we need to just err on the side of caution and safety. Each one of these storms are totally different. Just when you think you kind of have a plan, you have to plan on Murphy’s Law.”

Chef and restaurant owner Susan Spicer said she was most concerned that her employees did what they needed to do to be safe in advance of Hurricane Nate.

“It’s been a tough summer and we’ve already lost a couple of Saturday nights due to storm and hurricane threats. But the important thing is making sure our employees are doing what they need to do to be safe and hopefully we can accommodate some local residents.”

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There are several cameras with live video streams across the region that will allow locals and others to watch Hurricane Nate make its progress towards and through New Orleans. A camera located in Exchange Alley in the French Quarter will allow the public to get a peek at how hard it’s raining and the strength of the wind.

Do you think Mayor Mitch Landrieu made the right decision forcing New Orleans restaurants and clubs to close as Hurricane Nate approaches?

[Featured Image by Sean Gardner/Getty Images]