UPDATED AGAIN & Moved Up:
Mayor Ray Nagin is ordering the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, turning informal advice to flee from the approaching Hurricane Gustav into an official order to get out.
Mayor Ray Nagin late Saturday warned that Gustav is the “mother of all storms” and ordered a mandatory evacuation for the West Bank of New Orleans for 8 a.m. Sunday and noon for the East Bank.
“We want 100 percent evacuation,” said Nagin. “It has the potential to impact every area of this metropolitan.
Katrina had a footprint of about 400 miles, he said. Gustav is about 900 miles and growing, Nagin said.
“This is worse than a Betsy, worse than a Katrina,” Nagin said.
The mayor speculated that Gustav is so fierce Baton Rouge likely will experience 100 mph winds.
“You need to be scared and you need to get your butts out of New Orleans right now,” Nagin said.
Here is a CNN Projected Path:
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Wonderful TMV commenters have pointed out that Hurricane Gustav has now reached Category 4 and that excellent coverage is available at Eric Berger’s SciGuy Blog of the Houston Chronicle.
In addition, Moira Whelan at HuffPo asks “What’s wrong with this Hurricane?”
“I am strongly, strongly encouraging everyone in this city to evacuate,” New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said at a news conference Saturday. “Start the process now.”
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Hurricane Gustav, heading for Louisiana by way of Cuba, has reached Category 3.
Here is an NOAA 5-Day Cone:
