Nation & World

<< Previous   of   Next >> Associated Press  (click to enlarge) Carl Bates (left), 13, and his brother Deshawn, 10, of New Orleans sit in the back seat of their family's vehicle during their long evacuation from Hurricane Gustav on Sunday in Orange, Texas. The family traveled more than 16 hours from New Orleans when they ran into heavy traffic in Texas and decided to turn back and go toward Georgia. (click to enlarge) This satellite image shows Hurricane Gustav moving toward the Gulf Coast on Sunday.   ADVERTISEMENT   Search for families displaced by Gustav The new National Emergency Family Registry Locator system -- with access by phone toll-free or through the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Web site -- enables a search for family members lost or displaced by Hurricane Gustav. Those family members must have registered with the system. www.fema.gov 1-800-588-9822   Related Stories • One million without power in Louisiana 9/1/08 • How Hurricane Gustav could affect Republicans 9/1/08 • Text of Bush's remarks on Hurricane Gustav (with video) 8/31/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Do you have a news tip? newstips@heraldnet.com | 425.339.3400   Published: Monday, September 1, 2008 Gulf Coast counts hours before Hurricane Gustav hits Associated Press NEW ORLEANS -- With a historic evacuation of nearly 2 million people from the Louisiana coast complete, gun-toting police and National Guardsmen stood watch as rain started to fall on this city's empty streets Sunday night, waiting to see if Hurricane Gustav would be another Katrina. The storm was set to crash ashore late this morning as a Category 3. The storm has already killed at least 94 people on its path through the Caribbean. Painfully aware of the failings that led to more than 1,600 deaths during Katrina, this time officials moved beyond merely insisting tourists and residents leave south Louisiana. They loaded thousands onto buses and threatened to put looters behind bars. They were confident that they had done all they could. "It's amazing. It makes me feel really good that so many people are saying, 'We as Americans, we as the world, have to get this right this time,'" New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said late Sunday. "We cannot afford to screw up again." Col. Mike Edmondson, state police commander, said he believed that 90 percent of the population had fled the Louisiana coast. The exodus of 1.9 million people is the largest evacuation in state history, and thousands more had left from Mississippi, Alabama and flood-prone southeast Texas. Late Sunday, Gov. Bobby Jindal issued one last plea to the roughly 100,000 people still left on the coast: "If you've not evacuated, please do so. There are still a few hours left." Louisiana and Mississippi temporarily changed traffic flow so all highway lanes led away from the coast, and cars were packed bumper-to-bumper. Stores and restaurants shut down, hotels closed and windows were boarded up. Some who planned to stay changed their mind at the last second, not willing to risk the worst. The only sign of life on New Orleans' St. Bernard Avenue -- a four-lane artery through the partially rebuilt Gentilly neighborhood that flooded during Katrina -- was a brown and black rooster meandering along the street. Forecasters said Gustav could strengthen slightly as it marched toward the coast. Late Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said Gustav was centered about 220 miles southeast of New Orleans and was moving northwest near 16 mph. It had top sustained winds of 115 mph, and was likely to stay a Category 3 storm when it made landfall west of New Orleans. Category 3 storms have winds between 111 mph and 130 mph. Rain started falling in New Orleans before sunset, and tropical storm-force winds had reached the southeastern tip of the state. New Orleans will likely be on the "dirty" side of the storm -- where rainfall is heaviest and tornadoes are possible, but the storm surge is lower. If forecasts hold, the city would experience a storm surge of 4 to 6 feet, compared with a surge of 10 to 14 feet at the site of landfall, said Corey Walton, a hurricane support meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center. Katrina, by comparison, brought a storm surge of 25 feet. Surge models suggest large areas of southeast Louisiana, including parts of the greater New Orleans area, could be flooded by several feet of water. Against all warnings, some gambled and decided to face the storm's wrath. On an otherwise deserted commercial block of downtown Lafayette, about 135 miles west of the city, Tim Schooler removed the awnings from his photography studio. He thought about evacuating Sunday before deciding he was better off riding out the storm at home with his wife, Nona. "There's really no place to go. All the hotels are booked up to Little Rock and beyond," he said. "We're just hoping for the best." Angelique Robinson said she learned her lesson three years ago, when her family remained in their working-class Upper Ninth Ward neighborhood only to see Hurricane Katrina devastate their home. "It was a nightmare," the 37-year-old told The Washington Post. But as Robinson fled the city with her children Sunday, her husband remained hunkered down at home. His is a case of "foolish pride," she said. "He feels like he'd be abandoning his city," she said. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said search and rescue will be the top priority once Gustav passes. High-water vehicles, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, Coast Guard cutters, and a Navy vessel are posted around the strike zone.

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