With the lights off, food spoiling and gas pumps out of order, New Orleans faces extended power failure

On Louisiana State University’s campus in Baton Rouge, backup generators kept up electricity in most of the college’s dormitories, said Lara Nicholson, a senior and editor of Reveille, the student newspaper. But off campus, power was out almost everywhere, she said, including in the homes of most of her family members — her mother, grandparents and aunts and uncles all live in town. They piled into a single home to share limited resources from a generator.