Gulf Coast Residents Flee Ahead of Gustav
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Tens of thousands of residents of coastal parishes and cities streamed out of harm’s way Saturday as Hurricane Gustav, with winds reaching 150 mph, swelled to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 and took dead aim at the Gulf Coast.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation for all residents, effective 9 a.m. ET along the vulnerable west bank of the Mississippi River and at 1 p.m. ET on the east bank.
Nagin called Gustav the storm of the century and told residents to “get your butts out of New Orleans now.”
“This is the real deal, not a test,” Nagin said, emphasizing that the city will not offer emergency services to anyone who chooses to stay behind.
The National Weather Service issued a hurricane watch from near High Island, Texas, to the Alabama-Florida border. The weather service described the storm as “extremely dangerous.” Gustav hurtled past Cuba and into the Gulf Saturday night, with estimated wind speeds of about 140 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Gustav Could Become Extremely Dangerous
Gustav is now a Category 1 hurricane with top sustained winds of 90 mph and a direct threat to Haiti. But forecasters at the National Hurricane Center warn this morning that the storm will soon be moving over very warm waters, and “most indications are that Gustav will be an extremely dangerous hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean Sea in a few days.”
Here is the current advisory. And here is the view from space.
The current forecast track sends Gustav into the Gulf of Mexico by Sunday morning. Surface waters there are a bit cooler than those south of Cuba. But they are warm enough at this time of year, and conditions are sufficient to warrant concern.
Gustav – the seventh named storm of the 2008 Atlantic season – became stronger still over night after growing yesterday from a tropical distubance, to a tropical depression, tropical storm and finally a hurricane all in one day.
The storm’s center was about 75 miles south southeast of Port au Prince, Haiti this morning, moving toward the northwest at about 9 mph. Hurricane warnings were posted for the southern portions of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
A ridge of high pressure to the north was expected to steer the storm more toward the west for the next few days. A hurricane watch is posted for southeastern Cuba, including the U.S. military outpost at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The storm was expected to pass just south of Guantanamo on Wednesday.
Top sustained winds were forecast to reach Category 2 strength (top sustained winds 96 mph) later today before making landfall in southwestern Haiti. residents of that region were told to expect rainfall of 4 to 7 inches, with some spots receiving up to 15 inches. Storm surges of 2 to 4 feet above normal tides were anticipated.
