NOLA Mayor Calls For Evacuations
Gustav Menaces Cuba; U.S. Braces
POSTED: 7:45 am EDT August 27, 2008
UPDATED: 9:26 pm EDT August 30, 2008
Residents who try to ride out Hurricane Gustav will be making the biggest mistake of their lives, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin warned on Saturday.
Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, directing residents of a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina to flee the approaching Hurricane Gustav. Developing.
“You need to be scared. You need to be concerned. You need to get your butts out of New Orleans. This is the storm of the century,” Nagin said.
Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for Westbank starting at 8 a.m. Sunday, and mandatory evacuations of the Eastbank will begin at noon.
“Riding it out would be the biggest mistake you could make in your life,” Nagin said.
Nagin warned that no emergency services will be available to residents who choose not to leave.
Nagin said 2005’s Hurricane Katrina came ashore as a Category 3 storm. Gustav is expected to hit as either a Category 4 or 5.
The footprint of Katrina was about 400 miles when it hit. Gustav currently has a footprint of 900 miles and continues to grow.
Hurricane Gustav was menacing Cuba Saturday night with winds of nearly 150 mph as it continues its threatening march toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.