Stormin Mormon wrote:
Does the man own an ammeter? Very useful in such cases. Clean the
terminals on top of the compressor. Try starting it again, and check
the amp draw. Might be bad compressor, or just dirty terminals. Is
the compressor really getting 220 volts?

Yes, he had an ammeter. The compressor is drawing current, but doesn't
compress.

And to correct an earlier answer, the fan does activate and run normally -
it's just the compressor that won't go.

As an aside, I would think, in my neighborhood, there should be MANY
available used condensing units due to Ike. Heck, there are subdivisions
where the house is gone but the AC condensing unit remains, alone and
forgotten.