Residents begin leaving Gulf Coast ahead of storm

NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Gustav strengthened into a dangerous storm Saturday, and as city officials started evacuation plans, some residents weren't waiting to be told to leave.Cars packed with clothes, boxes and pet carriers drove north among heavy traffic on Interstate 55, a major route out of the city. Gas stations around the city hummed. And nursing homes and hospitals began sending patients farther inland."I'm getting out of here. I can't take another hurricane," said Ramona Summers, 59, whose house flooded during Katrina. She hurried to help friends gather their belongings. Her car was already packed for Gonzales, nearly 60 miles away to the west of New Orleans.Gustav swelled into a major hurricane south of Cuba and could strike the U.S. coast anywhere from Mississippi to Texas by Tuesday.Forecasters said if Gustav follows the projected path it would likely make landfall on Louisiana's central coast, sparing New Orleans a direct hit. But forecasters caution its still too soon to say exactly where the storm will hit. "Any little jog could change where it makes landfall," said Karina Castillo, a hurricane support meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center said.Mayor Ray Nagin's spokeswoman said buses and trains would begin Saturday taking the city's estimated 30,000 residents who are disabled, elderly or need help leaving the area to shelters in central and northern Louisiana, as well as out of the state."We will start moving residents from the 17 pickup areas that are located throughout the city," Nagin spokeswoman Ceeon Quiett said.Police and firefighters were set to go street-to-street with bull horns over the weekend to help people direct people where to go. Unlike Hurricane Katrina, there will be no shelter of last resort in the Superdome. The doors there will be locked.Those among New Orleans' estimated 310,000 to 340,000 residents who ignore orders to leave accept "all responsibility for themselves and their loved ones," the city's emergency preparedness director, Jerry Sneed, has warned.Officials plan to announce a curfew that will mean the arrest of anyone still on the streets after a mandatory evacuation order goes out. Police and National Guardsman will patrol after the storm's arrival, and Gov. Bobby Jindal has said he requested additional search and rescue teams from other states.Evacuation of coastal parishes was likely to start on Saturday, Jindal said. In St. Mary Parish, which hugs the coastline, the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival — the state's oldest chartered harvest festival usually held over the Labor Day weekend_ has been canceled, officials said.Meanwhile, Jindal said the state would likely switch interstate lanes on Sunday so that all traffic would flow north, in the direction an evacuation would follow.For the third day in a row, Jindal stressed that people with the means should stock up on food, water and other essentials, and prepare to head away from the coast."We all still have personal responsibility," he said. "Now's the time to begin making evacuation plans." Gustav strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane early Saturday with top sustained winds near 120 mph as it headed for western Cuba. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said it was a dangerous storm and could strengthen once it gets over the warm waters of the Gulf bound for the U.S. coastline early next week.The storm has already killed 71 people in the Caribbean, and forecasters said it had become the second major hurricane of the Atlantic season, following Bertha in July.At 8 a.m. EDT, Gustav's center was about 225 miles east-southeast of the western tip of Cuba .New Orleans has taken steps to make sure everyone has a chance to leave. The state has a $7 million contract to provide 700 buses to evacuate the elderly, the sick and anyone around the region without transportation.LSU's Health Care Services Division began moving patients Friday from its hospitals to facilities north of Interstate 10. A complete evacuation from Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center in Houma and Dr. Walter O. Moss Regional medical Center in Lake Charles should be finished by Saturday evening. Partial evacuations are scheduled for hospitals in Bogalusa and New Orleans and University Medical Center in Lafayette has been placed on alert.The entire Louisiana National Guard, over 7,000 members, was activated on Friday. Over 1,500 were sent to New Orleans to assist with evacuations and prevent looting. Jindal sought to reassure New Orleans residents, who recall rampant looting during Katrina, that the guard and New Orleans police would fight any recurrence."We don't want folks worrying about their property. It is time for people to be worried about their personal safety," Jindal said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080830/ap_on_re_us/gustav_gulf_coast
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