Truemors
Hurricane Gustav Cat 2, heads for Cuba.
Gun sales up in New Orleans area, as residents prepare to protect their property. Inspite of the police and National Guard. "They can't be everywhere," was one comment.
The right to bear arms became a flash point of controversy after Katrina, when police officers seized guns from civilians. The outcry from Second Amendment activists led more than a dozen states -- including Louisiana -- to pass laws restricting local officials from confiscating firearms during disasters.
On top of that were videos and rumors of police officers doing the looting themselves during and after Katrina.
"If the cops are looting, who's going to protect my ass?" one gun purchaser asked.After Katrina, some police officers were spotted taking basic supplies from stores, and, in isolated cases, items that didn't appear necessary for survival.
(I also heard some wild stories of violent confrontations after Katrina during the flood, before they began to let anyone who had evacuated back in to the city.)
(Think the weathermen also do the zig-zag. Swear one reported Gustav as a Cat 4 last night on Weather Channel.) Sat. 5:30 am.
Now a Hurricane, Gustav heading for Cayman Islands and Cuba.
Evacuation on the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts begin.
Gas prices jumped from $3.24 to $3.69 in a matter of hours on Thursday, (had to go to four stations to get gas).
Interstate 10 is backed up by early evacuees.
Predicted computer storm tracks keep moving further west, but are still all over the Gulf Coast from Florida Panhandle to the middle of the Texas coast.
Once Gustav passes Cuba, it will enter the 'Sweet Spot', the dreaded hot spot in the Gulf waters that feeds hurricane strength. This is the areas that made Hurricanes Katrina and Rita into Category 5 with winds over 150 mph. (Just added two graphics of the hot spots of the Gulf and Caribbean waters from 2005 and 2008. Please note that the hot spots are a lot less this year. from the WunderBlog)
Tomorrow we will know the dread news, where Gustav will hit the Gulf Coast. Friday, August 29, 2008
Hurricane updates from New Orleans Times-Picayune.
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Still a tropical storm stalled over eastern Jamaica.
Now there's Tropical Storm Hanna in the Atlantic heading west.
And another storm entering the Gulf from Mexico.
Satellite Services live view of the Gulf and Caribbean.
Other Storm stories on Now Public at Hurricane channel.
Gustav continues to confound, confuseby Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
Thursday August 28, 2008, 7:55 AM
There's a reason for experienced New Orleans area meteorologists to warn hurricane watchers not to put much stock in predictions of a storm's ultimate landfall until it gets into the Gulf of Mexico, and Gustav continues to prove them right.
This morning, the National Hurricane Center took the unusual step of issuing a special discussion message to update the one they'd issued only three hours earlier. Gustav had changed his mind again.
As it neared Jamaica, Gustav had decided to spin up quickly and was nearing hurricane strength at 6:30 a.m. And as the swirling package of thunderstorms kept changing shape overnight, predictions of where it would be five days later shifted again -- west towards the central Louisiana coast.
To top all this off the levees in New Orleans and on the Westbank are not finished!
The West Bank is in the thick of an unprecedented amount of levee and floodwall improvements, but it will continue to have some of the most vulnerable areas in the New Orleans area until the full system is complete.
More on the Area's Flood Shield Dangers, including the Industrial Canal.
Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal has declared a State of Emergency for Louisiana and is implementing call-up of the National Guard, evacuation measures, including transportation measures for those in need. More Storm Plans on the Times-Picayune.
All across the area are getting ready.
With the uncertainty of the projected path, even Texas is freaking. From Houston and from Dallas.
Other NowPublic Storm reports:
- Vinny's Tropical Storm Hanna heading to Florida? and Gustav Hurricane Warning Jamaica.
- Gh0s7's New Orleans may Evacuate. FYI, evacuation plans are progressing.
Contraflow evacuation map. But which way to go? Will you end up in the path?
Live storm tracking from the wunderweatherunderground.
Regular New Orleans Transit Service to be ended Friday, buses and streetcars to be moved to safe places:
Bus and streetcar service in New Orleans will be shut down indefinitely beginning Friday night to allow the Regional Transit Authority the time needed to move vehicles to safety before Hurricane Gustav makes landfall along the Gulf Coast.
RTA officials said Thursday that they will have 40 buses on standby to participate in a possible evacuation of residents who have no means of transportation out of the city. The agency also plans to use eight vans to evacuate disabled riders with special needs.
Ctiy officials, who continue to monitor the storm's movement toward the Gulf of Mexico, have not yet made a decision on whether to order an evacuation.
As part of a disaster plan developed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the RTA buses will pick up residents at 17 designated sites across the city and bring them to the Union Passenger Terminal downtown. From there, the plan calls for people to be evacuated by chartered buses and possibly by train to shelters in northern Louisiana and other states.
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