The bar that defied Katrina defies Hurricane Gustav

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2008

NEW ORLEANS (AFP) — Johnny White's, the New Orleans bar that famously stayed open during Hurricane Katrina, was on Monday full of customers who chose to stay for a stiff drink instead of fleeing as Hurricane Gustav struck the region.

"We never close," proudly reads a sign inside the bar.

The bar is located on a corner of Bourbon Street, in the city's tourist district. It is a small establishment with several bar stools but no tables.

Johnny White's prepared for Hurricane Gustav -- which touched just west of New Orleans early Monday as a Category Two storm -- by hammering planks of wood over its doors.

But one door was left open wide enough so that locals thirsty for a drink could find refuge.

When Katrina struck in 2005 Johnny White's...