SLUGGISH GEORGES PACKS LINGERING PUNCH.(MAIN)

Byline: JERRY SCHWARTZ Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS -- Hurricane Georges pummeled the Gulf Coast on Sunday, bringing high wind and heavy rain to Mississippi and Alabama as New Orleans held its breath in hopes it had dodged a catastrophe.

Waves from the Gulf of Mexico leaped across beachfront roads along U.S. 90 in Mississippi, and thousands crowded into almost 250 shelters along the state's coast. Georges' 25-foot waves clipped off fishing piers along Alabama's coast, where there were reports of waves smashing over concrete walls to demolish a pier. No deaths or injuries were reported from the storm, which earlier killed more than 300 in the Caribbean. …