Officials May Evacuate New Orleans As Gustav Nears

by Gh0s7 | August 27, 2008 at 04:51 pm

537 views | 65 Recommendations | 17 comments

Residents of New Orleans are starting to get nervous as they watch Hurricane Gustav make its way towards the Gulf Of Mexico. The predicted path of the hurricane has it hitting the United States somewhere between the Florida Panhandle and Texas. Forecasts have warned that Gustav could grow to a Category 3 hurricane before hitting the United States. The Associated Press is reporting that officials in New Orleans have made preliminary plans to evacuate people, pets, and hospitals. The preliminary plans would essentially lock down and evacuate the city in hopes of avoiding another post Katrina disaster.

"I'm panicking," said Evelyn Fuselier of Chalmette, whose home was submerged in 14 feet of floodwater when Katrina hit. Fuselier said she's been back in her home one year this month, and called watching Gustav swirl toward the Gulf of Mexico indescribable. "I keep thinking, 'Did the Corps fix the levees?', 'Is my house going to flood again?' ... 'Am I going to have to go through all this again?"'

Today the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin left the Democratic National Convention to return home to make preparations, while Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency and put 3,000 National Guard soldiers on standby. If the storm strengthens into a Category 3 hurricane or higher, the city plans to institute a mandatory evacuation order.

"Everybody learned a lesson about staying, so the highways will be twice as packed this time," Weaver said.

After Hurricane Katrina, the Army Corps of Engineers have spent billions of dollars trying to repair and improve the levees that protect New Orleans. The Army Corps of Engineers have installed floodgates on drainage canals to stop storm surges from going into the city, as well as raising and strengthening the levees.

In Grand Isle, tractor loads of dirt and clay mud were being hauled in to fill portions of the levee system damaged by Hurricane Katrina, said Grand Isle Mayor David Camardelle.

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julianw

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 16:59 on August 27th, 2008

Gh0s7, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Jarrett Martineau

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at 17:01 on August 27th, 2008

Gh0s7, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Vinny

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at 17:01 on August 27th, 2008

Gh0s7, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Vinny

at 17:17 on August 27th, 2008

Gustav has weakened a little and is still a Tropical Storm though expected to regain hurricane strength in the next day or two.

..GUSTAV TURNS WESTWARD AND WEAKENS A LITTLE MORE...

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR HAITI FROM THE DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC-HAITI BORDER WESTWARD TO LE MOLE ST NICHOLAS.

A HURRICANE WATCH AND A TROPICAL STORM WARNING ARE IN EFFECT FOR
JAMAICA.

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CUBA FOR THE PROVINCES OF
GUANTANAMO...SANTIAGO DE CUBA...AND GRANMA.

A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CUBAN PROVINCES OF LAS
TUNAS AND HOLGUIN AND ALL OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS.

INTERESTS IN CENTRAL AND WESTERN CUBA SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE
PROGRESS OF GUSTAV.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AT 800 PM EDT...0000Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM GUSTAV WAS
LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 19.0 NORTH...LONGITUDE 75.0 WEST OR 65
MILES...100 KM...SOUTH OF GUANTANAMO CUBA.

GUSTAV IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 7 MPH...11 KM/HR. A TRACK TO
THE WEST IS EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS WITH A TURN TO THE
WEST-NORTHWEST AFTER THAT WITH A GRADUAL INCREASE IN FORWARD SPEED.
ON THE FORECAST TRACK...GUSTAV SHOULD PASS BETWEEN JAMAICA AND THE
SOUTHEASTERN COAST OF CUBA ON THURSDAY. HOWEVER...ANY DEVIATION TO
THE LEFT OF THE FORECAST TRACK WOULD BRING THE CENTER OF GUSTAV
VERY NEAR JAMAICA.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE DECREASED AND ARE NOW NEAR 45 MPH...75
KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. HOWEVER...SLOW STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST
ONCE GUSTAV MOVES FARTHER AWAY FROM HAITI...AND THE STORM COULD
REGAIN HURRICANE STRENGTH WITHIN THE NEXT DAY OR TWO.

TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 50 MILES...85 KM
FROM THE CENTER.

AN AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT REPORTED A MINIMUM CENTRAL
PRESSURE OF 999 MB...29.50 INCHES.

GUSTAV IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO
12 INCHES OVER HAITI...EASTERN CUBA...JAMAICA...AND THE CAYMAN
ISLANDS...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF UP TO 25 INCHES
POSSIBLE. THESE RAINS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LIFE-THREATENING FLASH
FLOODS AND MUD SLIDES.

COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 1 TO 3 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS
CAN BE EXPECTED IN AREAS OF ONSHORE WINDS IN THE TROPICAL STORM
WARNING AREA.

REPEATING THE 800 PM EDT POSITION...19.0 N...75.0 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...WEST NEAR 7 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...45
MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...999 MB.

THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL
HURRICANE CENTER AT 1100 PM EDT.

Criticom

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 18:25 on August 27th, 2008

Gh0s7, I like this story. It's good stuff.

amyjudd

at 19:11 on August 27th, 2008

It seems as if New Orleans is going to be evacuated:

Gustav stalled offshore Wednesday and poured more misery onto Haiti after landslides and flooding killed 23 people. Oil workers began leaving their rigs and New Orleans drew up evacuation plans as forecasters warned the storm could plow into the U.S. Gulf coast as a major hurricane.

Gustav killed 15 people on Haiti's deforested southern peninsula, where it dumped 12 inches or more of rain. A landslide buried eight people, including a mother and six of her children, in the neighboring Dominican Republic.

Gustav weakened to a tropical storm over Haiti, but was expected to become a hurricane again as early as Thursday over the warm Caribbean waters between Cuba and Jamaica. Its expected track pointed directly at the Cayman Islands, an offshore banking center where residents boarded up homes and stocked up on emergency supplies.

Rhonda J Mangus

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 19:21 on August 27th, 2008

Gh0s7, I like this story. It's good stuff.

amyjudd

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at 19:26 on August 27th, 2008

Gh0s7, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Sanjay Jha

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at 19:46 on August 27th, 2008

Gh0s7, I like this story. It's good stuff.

nukegingrich

at 20:20 on August 27th, 2008

A lot of us down here are getting nervous, not just Nola.

Mike Wood

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at 20:39 on August 27th, 2008

Gh0s7, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Paschen

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at 21:54 on August 27th, 2008

Gh0s7, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Milieunet

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at 00:47 on August 28th, 2008

Gh0s7, I like this story. It's good stuff.

They jave some expierence over there, so i hope they act in the right way this time.

Dave Keating

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 02:11 on August 28th, 2008

Gh0s7, I like this story. It's good stuff.

René

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at 09:28 on August 28th, 2008

Gh0s7, I like this story. It's good stuff. Have listed your story on my Now Public one. Preparations now well underway. Going out to get gas and supplies this afternoon.

Gh0s7

at 09:40 on August 28th, 2008

Thank you for the response. I had not realized until now that you lived in New Orleans! Good luck and let us know how things go for you and others. Of course if you able to access the site.

René

at 11:15 on August 28th, 2008

For more information about the levees in and around New Orleans, and why many did not evacuate during Katrina, see Levees.org. For everyone's information, no one in the New Orleans area actually trusts the levees anymore or the Corps reassurances that what has been rebuilt is now safe. Too much not adequate building materials, levees not built to height claimed, and big gaps not finished yet.