NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Hurricane Gustav has weakened to a Category 1, with top winds of 90 miles-per-hour.

It's expected to weaken further as it moves inland over Louisiana. But forecasters say there's still a danger from wind, rain, storm surge and possible tornadoes.

It could be a while before the extent of the damage from Gustav is known.

There's been no word out of the Cajun country west of New Orleans where the hurricane came ashore this morning with 110-mile-per-hour winds. The eye of the storm passed about 20 miles from a port that's a hub for the energy industry, and there are fears that damage there could be extensive.

In New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin says it's too soon to know whether the vulnerable West Bank will stay dry. Work on the levees in that area is years from completion.

In the city's Upper Ninth Ward, water has been sloshing over the top of the Industrial Canal's floodwall. About half the nearby streets are flooded with water up to knee-deep.

In Mississippi, a 15-foot storm surge flooded homes and inundated the only highways to coastal towns devastated by Katrina.

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One Looting Arrest Made In New Orleans Uptown District

Hurricane Gustav drove sheets of water over the protective levees around New Orleans' Industrial Canal early Monday afternoon.

However, the Army Corps of Engineers said the walls were holding up under the onslaught.

Mayor Ray Nagin says one man was arrested for trying to break into a gas station in the Uptown district.

"It's been very quiet. You know, thank god we've gotten most of our citizens out, and the ones that have stayed are staying indoors. We had no arrests last night. We had one looter we caught this morning, and he's sitting on a bus handcuffed getting ready to go to angola prison in louisiana," Nagin said.

Mayor Nagin says two scrapyard Navy ships and a barge that broke loose from their moorings are pinned against a wharf on the Industrial Canal.

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VIDEO: Gustav Downgraded

HURRICANE ALERT: Hurricane Hanna Forms; Warnings Issued For Bahamas

STORM TRACKER: Follow The Path Of Hurricane Gustav

VIDEO: Charlotte Rapid Response Team Headed To New Orleans To Help Storm Victims

SLIDESHOW: Hurricane Gustav Hits Landfall

HURRICANE SECTION: Current Maps, Storm Tracker, Printable Maps And More

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A weakened Hurricane Gustav closed in on flood-prone coastal Louisiana Monday, bringing punishing wind and sheets of rain. But the storm veered away from New Orleans, where only a few holdouts and those that refused to abandon Bourbon Street remained.

Gusts snapped large branches from the majestic oak trees that form a canopy over St. Charles Avenue. Tens of thousands were without power in New Orleans and other low-lying parishes, but officials said backup generators were keeping city drainage pumps in service.

As a nervous nation watched to see if Gustav would deliver another Katrina-style hit on the partially rebuilt city, officials steadfastly insisted three years of planning and infrastructure upgrades had prepared them for whatever was to come.

"We don't expect the loss of life, certainly, that we saw in Katrina," Federal Emergency Management Agency Deputy Director Harvey E. Johnson told The Associated Press. "But we are expecting a lot of homes to be damaged, a lot of infrastructure to be flooded, and damaged severely."

On the high ground in the French Quarter, nasty winds whipped signs and the purple, green and gold Mardi Gras flags hanging from cast-iron balconies. Like the rest of the city, the Quarter's normally boisterous streets were deserted save for a police officer standing watch every few blocks and a few early-morning drinkers in the city's famous bars.

"We wanted to be part of a historic event," said Benton Love, 30, stood outside Johnny White's Sports Bar with a whiskey and Diet Coke. "We knew Johnny White's would be the place to be. We'll probably switch to water about 10 o'clock, sober up, and see if we can help out."

FEMA estimated there were only about 10,000 people left in the city, and the state said about 100,000 remained on the coast. Nearly 2 million people answered the call to leave south Louisiana in the days before Gustav's arrival, a massive evacuation effort designed to avoid the nearly 1,600 deaths suffered when Hurricane Katrina struck an unprepared Gulf Coast in 2005.

New Orleans police superintendent Warren Riley said there had been no reports of looting or calls for rescue. The Superdome was locked up and city officials stuck to their pledge not to open a shelter of last resort. Public officials sternly warned in the days leading up to the storm that anyone leaving their homes after a dawn-to-dusk curfew was imposed would be swiftly thrown behind bars.

"We're determined to keep this city safe for our people," he said.

Evacuees watched television coverage from shelters and hotel rooms hundreds of miles away, praying the powerful Category 2 storm and its 115-mph winds would pass without the exacting Katrina's toll.

"We're nervous, but we just have to keep trusting in God that we don't get the water again," said Lyndon Guidry, who hit the road for Florida just a few months after he was able to return to his home in New Orleans. "We just have to put our faith in God."

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Gustav Affects On The Charlotte Region

Charlotte Douglas Airport was bussling Sunday with some people fleeing the Gulf -- and others heading there.

The local Red Cross sent one volunteer south Sunday. Brunetta Franklin said, "I'm looking forward to going and I'm looking forward to coming back."

North Carolina's Baptist Association said it plans to send about sixty people this week, including Tom Butts with Hickory Grove Baptist Church. Those volunteers will get ready to serve up to 35,000 meals per day if needed.

Butts said, "It just lifts you up. I receive a greater blessing than I give."

In the meantime, people from New Orleans and Houston are coming tp Charlotte. "It's different than before," New Orleans resident Hilda Lacayo said referring to Hurricane Katrina. "Now, people move quicker."

Flights out of New Orleans will soon become more difficult as Gustav strengthens and nears the Gulf Coast.

The Red Cross has already started fundraising efforts for flooding and eventual hurricane relief. To make donations to the Red Cross, just click here.

Flights in and out of Charlotte-Douglas International Airport are not being affected by Hurricane Gustav. But at least one airline is already preparing for the storm that's making its way across the Gulf of Mexico.

US Airways is advising its customers that the storm may force some flights to be canceled or delayed.

The airline is relaxing its ticket policy for flights going into places like New Orleans and Houston that are in Gustav’s track. That'll give travelers a chance to make changes without paying standard change fees.

Kimberly James lives in Houston and just flew into Charlotte on business. She said her hometown is getting ready for Gustav.

"Everybody is guarded and ready for additional forecasts. People are stocking up on water and nonperishable supplies,” she said.

James is set to fly back to Houston on Monday, but said her plans might change. If you're traveling to areas that could be affected by the hurricane, you're asked to check with your airline. a storm's track and intensity are difficult to predict days in advance, long-term projections showed the storm could come ashore along the border of Georgia and South Carolina late in the week.

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Hurricane Hanna Forms; Warnings Issued For Bahamas

The National Hurricane Center has upgraded Hanna to a hurricane as it brings waves, rain and blustery winds to the Turks and Caicos.

Hurricane warnings were issued for the island chain and the central and southeastern Bahamas on Monday and forecasters warned that the storm could strike the U.S. mainland.

Meteorologists say it could hit anywhere from Miami to the outer banks of North Carolina later in the week.

At 1:30 p.m. EDT, Hanna's center was located near Mayaguana Island in the southeastern Bahamas.

Hanna is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season and comes on the heels of Gustav, which battered the Gulf Coast on Monday.

A hurricane warning means hurricane conditions are expected within the next 24 hours.