New Orleans prepares for Gustav

[glopst7162]

New Orleans prepares for Gustav

01:40 PM CDT on Saturday, August 30, 2008

"From Mayor Nagin 4 p.m. press conference:

* Nagin to tourists: It's time for you to go
* Nagin - Mandatory evacuation likely to be called at 7 pm
* Nagin: Strongly encourages everyone to evacuate now.
* No need to register any longer for bus service, just go to pickup points."

Also I herd on CNN that people can take their pets.

http://www.wwltv.com/local/orleans/stor ... dbf4a.html

West Jefferson under mandatory evacuation at 8 a.m. Sunday

Flights to cease Sunday evening at N.O. airport

http://www.nola.com


Agriculture commissioner issues pet shelter update

"State Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain said pet shelters for animal owners with "critical transportation needs" are ready for service during the Hurricane Gustav evacuation."

http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf ... issue.html

General Evacuation Guidelines
http://www.cityofno.com/Portals/Portal4 ... 6&tabid=18

[glopst7162]

New Orleans orders mandatory evacuation, 12:45 AM Sunday Aug 31:

"NEW ORLEANS - Residents were ordered to flee an only partially rebuilt New Orleans Sunday as another monster storm bore down on Louisiana nearly three years to the day after Hurricane Katrina wiped out entire swaths of the city.

Hurricane Gustav, which already killed more than 80 people in the Caribbean, strengthened quickly into a Category 4 and was poised to become a Category 5 storm, packing winds in excess of 156 mph. It slammed Cuba's tobacco-growing western tip before moving away from the island country into the Gulf of Mexico.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin used stark language to urge residents to get out of the city, calling Gustav the "storm of the century."

"This is the real deal, not a test," Nagin said as he issued the evacuation order Saturday night. "For everyone thinking they can ride this storm out, I have news for you: that will be one of the biggest mistakes you can make in your life."

Forecasters were slightly less dire in their predictions, saying the storm should make landfall Monday afternoon somewhere between western Mississippi and East Texas, where evacuations were also under way. It's too early to know whether New Orleans will take another direct hit, they said, but city officials weren't taking any chances.

The mandatory evacuation of the city's west bank, where levee improvements remain incomplete, was to begin at 8 a.m., with the east bank to follow at noon. It's the first test of a revamped evacuation plan designed to eliminate the chaos, looting and death that followed Katrina."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/gustav_gulf_ ... tLDd.s0NUE

[glopst7162]

Hurricane-force winds will hit New Orleans, surge flooding threat rises for West Bank

"The 10 p.m. forecast for Hurricane Gustav calls for its landfall to be just east of Morgan City early Monday afternoon as an intense Category 4 hurricane, a track that would bring hurricane force winds over most of the New Orleans area.

The eastern jog also would increase the potential for storm surge flooding of West Bank communities. The Slidell office of the National Weather Service this evening warned that it expects between 15 feet and 20 feet of storm surge near and to the right of the hurricane's center as it goes ashore.

While it's still unclear how high the water would be on the West Bank, farther away from the storm's center, it could be high enough to overtop the incomplete levee system in that area.

Moving the diagonal path Gustav will take closer to New Orleans also increases the potential of surge water rising in Lake Borgne, the Industrial Canal and Lake Pontchartrain, which could test levees and walls in St. Bernard, eastern New Orleans and the Lower and Upper 9th Wards, as well as areas south of Slidell and Madisonville.

Heavy rainfall also is expected to accompany Gustav, with between 10 and 15 inches of rain expected in areas nearest its center.

Tropical storm force winds are expected to reach the coast early Monday morning, followed by hurricane force winds only a few hours later, the National Weather Service said.

Gustav continues to confound expectations. Senior Hurricane Specialist Jack Beven, in a discussion message accompanying the forecast, said the rapid intensification of Gustav over the past 24 hours, from tropical storm strength to maximum sustained winds of 150 mph as it hit the Cuban coast west of Havana, apparently occured despite 20 mph wind shear was occurring."

http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf ... l_hit.html


It is interesting to note that this predicted tract takes the storm approximately 25 miles further to the west than Derek’s #12 track. And the landfall time is several hours later.

[glopst7162]

As of 11 PM Sun Aug 31

RT 59 out of New Orleans still a bit congested. All other routs around New Orleans are flowing well.