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Hurricane Gustav forces New Orleans evacuation

31/08/2008

A mandatory evacuation of New Orleans is taking place at the mayor's orders today as locals anticipate the arrival of Hurricane Gustav on the United States gulf coast.

The category four hurricane grew from a tropical storm 24 hours ago before making landfall on the island of Cuba yesterday.

Local authorities there evacuated over 300,000 residents from various areas in the country's western regions, which were worst affected by the heavy rains and strong winds.

And yesterday evening in an empassioned televised address to the citizens of New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a "100 per cent evacuation" of his city - predicting it would be "the mother of all storms".

An evacuation of the city's west bank is already well underway, having begun at 08:00 local time (14:00 BST), with the east bank now beginning emptying having started at noon local time (18:00 BST) in a staggered evacuation procedure.

Regional roads are already becoming congested as people flee the New Orleans area.

"It is growing more powerful every day," Mayor Nagin said of the weather system.

"The national weather service is saying this is the worst possible storm that they can imagine."

He added: "This is the real deal, it is not a test. For everyone who is out there thinking they can ride this out, I have news for you: that would be one of the biggest mistakes you could make in your life."

Last night Mr Nagin said the winds of Hurricane Gustav were reaching 150mph sustained, with maximum winds of 165mph - meaning it is likely to be upgraded to a category five hurricane as it crosses the gulf today.

He predicted "significant flooding" on the city's west bank before resorting to shock tactics to encourage his citizens to leave town.

"You need to be scared, you need to be concerned and you need to get your butts moving out of New Orleans," Mayor Nagin continued.

"This is the storm of the century."

As part of the city's plans to deal with the predicted destruction the hurricane will bring, Mayor Nagin has imposed a dusk to dawn curfew that will begin from sunset on Sunday.

He also vowed to issue hefty punishments to any potential looters in a bid to avoid the carnage that engulfed the city during and after Hurricane Katrina. The mayor said anyone caught looting would be sent directly to prison, rather than being dealt with leniently.

Thus far, Gustav has passed through the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

It is estimated to have claimed up to 80 lives to date, with Haiti and the Dominican Republic worst affected by the hurricane.

Today the storm is moving through the Gulf of Mexico, which is home to thousands of oil refining facilities, before it reaches the US.

Jerry Sneed, the city's emergency preparedness director, warned that residents who ignore orders to leave must accept "all responsibility for themselves and their loved ones".

Gustav is the seventh storm of the hurricane season. It is currently one category below the devastating Katrina but as it moves across the warm gulf waters it is expected to gather strength to hit similar heights.