Gulf Coast Residents Leave Ahead of Gustav
By Becky Bohrer
Associated Press Writer
August 30. 2008
CBNNews.com - NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Gustav strengthened into a dangerous storm Saturday, and as city officials started evacuation plans, some residents weren't waiting to be told to leave.
Cars packed with clothes, boxes and pet carriers drove north among heavy traffic on Interstate 55, a major route out of the city. Gas stations around the city hummed. And nursing homes and hospitals began sending patients farther inland.
"I'm getting out of here. I can't take another hurricane," said Ramona Summers, 59, whose house flooded during Katrina. She hurried to help friends gather their belongings. Her car was already packed for Gonzales, nearly 60 miles away to the west of New Orleans.
Gustav Aims for U.S. by Tuesday
Gustav swelled into a major hurricane south of Cuba and could strike the U.S. coast anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to Texas by Tuesday, but forecasters said there is a better-than-even chance that New Orleans will get slammed by at least tropical-storm-force winds. That raised the likelihood people will have to flee, and the city suggested a full-scale evacuation call could come as soon as Sunday.
Mayor Ray Nagin's spokeswoman said buses and trains would begin Saturday taking the city's estimated 30,000 residents who are disabled, elderly or need help leaving the area to shelters in central and northern Louisiana, as well as out of the state.
"We will start moving residents from the 17 pickup areas that are located throughout the city," Nagin spokeswoman Ceeon Quiett said.
Police and firefighters were set to go street-to-street with bull horns over the weekend to help people direct people where to go. Unlike Hurricane Katrina, there will be no shelter of last resort in the Superdome. The doors there will be locked.
Those among New Orleans' estimated 310,000 to 340,000 residents who ignore orders to leave accept "all responsibility for themselves and their loved ones," the city's emergency preparedness director, Jerry Sneed, has warned.
Officials plan to announce a curfew that will mean the arrest of anyone still on the streets after a mandatory evacuation order goes out. Police and National Guardsman will patrol after the storm's arrival, and Gov. Bobby Jindal has said he requested additional search and rescue teams from other states.
Evacuation Plans
Evacuation of coastal parishes was likely to start on Saturday, said Gov. Bobby Jindal. In St. Mary Parish, which hugs the coastline, the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival - the state's oldest chartered harvest festival usually held over the Labor Day weekend- has been canceled, officials said.
Meanwhile, Jindal said the state would likely switch interstate lanes on Sunday so that all traffic would flow north, in the direction an evacuation would follow.
For the third day in a row, Jindal stressed that people with the means should stock up on food, water and other essentials, and prepare to head away from the coast.
"We all still have personal responsibility," he said. "Now's the time to begin making evacuation plans."
Gustav strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane early Saturday with top sustained winds near 120 mph as it headed for western Cuba. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said it was a dangerous storm and could strengthen once it gets over the warm waters of the Gulf bound for the U.S. coastline early next week.
The storm has already killed 71 people in the Caribbean, and forecasters said it had become the second major hurricane of the Atlantic season, following Bertha in July. "We don't want folks worrying about their property. It is time for people to be worried about their personal safety," Jindal said.
Associated Press writers Janet McConnaughey, Alan Sayre, Mary Foster and Stacey Plaisance contributed to this report from New Orleans. Doug Simpson in Baton Rouge, La., Michael Kunzelman in Gulfport, Miss., and Jay Root in Austin, Texas, also contributed.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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