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New Orleans Empties as Gustav Closes In
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City buses fanned out across the city Saturday morning to start carrying people to the passenger terminal from 17 designated pickup spots. There are between 310,000 to 325,000 people living in New Orleans -- about 75 percent of the population pre-Katrina, according to city officials.
Three years after this city was devastated by Katrina, another Category 5 storm, Mayor C. Ray Nagin said he is strongly considering a mandatory evacuation starting Sunday, and curfews for those who stay. And he told those visiting New Orleans, "It is time for you to leave the city."
"We are telling people to get out today," Nagin said, adding, "The next time you hear us, the message is going to be 'Get the heck out.' "
Unlike with Hurricane Katrina, the city is not opening any shelters of last resort for Gustav. Those who stay behind accept "all responsibility for themselves and their loved ones," said the city's emergency preparedness director, Jerry Sneed.
For government officials here, in the state capital of Baton Rouge and in Washington, the storm presented a grim challenge to redeem their poor performances from three years ago.
Outside of the New Orleans metropolitan area, state officials were preparing to evacuate Louisiana's coastal parishes. Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said that process was likely to start on Saturday. He again warned Louisiana residents who have the means to stock up on food, water and other essentials and prepare to head away from the coast.
In Washington, federal authorities noted that trains, buses, planes and ambulances were already operating 72 hours before landfall to take the most vulnerable out of harm's way. No such mechanisms were in place in August 2005. And they said mayors, governors and federal officials were working much more closely together than before.
"I'm not asking for people to believe me. I'm asking people to watch and see what we're doing," said R. David Paulison, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
President Bush called the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas early Saturday morning from the White House, checking on whether the officials need more from his administration ahead of Gustav.
Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), who chaired a House panel that investigated the response to Katrina, said lessons clearly were learned from that catastrophe.
The White House, Davis said, had the chance "of wiping Hurricane Katrina from people's minds a little bit by how they react this time."
As the storm approached Saturday, consumers and oil companies scrambled to protect facilities and supplies.
