Gustav Sends Gulf Coast Residents Fleeing
Gustav plowed toward mainland Cuba Saturday as a monstrous Category 4 hurricane while both Cubans and Americans scrambled to flee the path of the fast-growing storm
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city on Saturday, directing residents still recovering from the devastation left behind three years ago from Hurricane Katrina to flee from the approaching Hurricane Gustav.
Nagin said an informal evacuation that has taken place for days becomes mandatory at 8 a.m. Sunday on the city's west bank. It becomes mandatory on the east bank at noon.
Forecasters said Gustav was just short of becoming a top-scale Category 5 hurricane as it powered its way toward Cuba. Authorities evacuated at least 300,000 people across the country, including western communities, cities near Havana and on the Isla de la Juventud, or Isle of Youth, an island of 87,000 people south of mainland Cuba.
By late Saturday night, Gustav's eye had crossed over Cuba into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Gustav had weakened slightly, but was expected to regain strength on Sunday, possibly becoming a Category 5 hurricane with winds above 155 mph as it spins toward the U.S. coast, where it was expected to make landfall on Monday.
Gustav, ripped through the Isle of Youth, causing extensive damage, according to Ana Isa Delgado, head of Civil Defense on the island. Delgado said gusts of wind tossed parked cars and buses into the air leaving only twisted wrecks, ripped doors from their hinges, and carried off roofs and water tanks, reports CBS News producer Portia Siegelbaum
Even areas considered secure were severely damaged and streets are virtually blocked with downed trees and rubbish. There was flooding in some low-lying areas but not in the main cities. Several people have been hospitalized with storm related injuries but no one is critical and there are no reports of deaths.
The hurricane was projected to plow into the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico at full force Sunday, and make landfall along the U.S. coast anywhere from Texas to Mississippi as early as Monday afternoon, reports The Early Show weather anchor Dave Price. A hurricane watch was issued from Texas east to Florida, an area that includes New Orleans, which Hurricane Katrina devastated in 2005.
More than a million Americans took buses, trains, planes and cars as they streamed out of New Orleans and other coastal cities, where Katrina killed about 1,600 people.
Gustav already has killed 81 people by triggering floods and landslides in other Caribbean nations.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Gustav had sustained winds of 150 mph - with higher gusts - as the heart of the storm began hitting Cuba's outlying island province of Isla de Juventud, where officials cut power to many areas. (Visit CBSEyeMobile's Hurricane Center for more information on Gustav.)
In the Florida Keys, tropical storm warnings were posted in Monroe County from west of the Seven Mile Bridge westward to the Dry Tortugas.
Forecasters said there is a better-than-even chance that New Orleans will get slammed by the storm. That raised the likelihood people will have to flee, and the city suggested a full-scale mandatory evacuation call could come as soon as Sunday.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is scheduled to be in Louisiana Sunday morning to observe preparations in anticipation of the hurricane.
A day after marking the third anniversary of Katrina, thousands waited in line on a hot New Orleans day to board buses at the Union Passenger Terminal, reports CBS News correspondent Hari Sreenivasan, hoping to avoid a similar tragedy.
"You won't see any buses stranded this time," said Nagin. "You won't see people stranded in the Superdome. Every step that we've gone through this process, we've adjusted and we have a better plan now."
Evacuation plans will even include planes on standby Sunday, when New Orleans airport shuts down at 6 p.m, reports Sreenivasan.
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 Hurricane Katrina three years ago. 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.
Joseph Jones Jr., 61, wore a towel over his head to block the sun. He'd been in line at the bus terminal for over two hours, but wasn't complaining. During Katrina, he had been stranded on a highway overpass.
"I don't like it. Going someplace you don't know, people you don't know," Jones said. "And then when you come back, is your house going to be OK?"
At a press conference Saturday afternoon, Nagin said buses and trains have already started moving residents out of the city, and urged those who are disabled, elderly or need medical help in leaving the area to register for help in accessing transportation to transit points.
Authorities hoped to move 30,000 people. So far 20,000 people have registered for transportation, so many that pre-registration crashed the system, according to the mayor.
As of 1 p.m. this afternoon, according to Mayor Nagin, 1,100-1,200 people had been evacuated on 22 buses, most going to Shreveport or Alexandria. Another 1,500 people had boarded trains to Memphis.
"Once the storm gets into the Gulf, I think that's when we're going to see another surge (of people seeking to evacuate)," he said.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal issued an executive order closing schools in central and north Louisiana Tuesday and Wednesday to free up shelter space and bus resources for local residents and residents in south Louisiana
In Mississippi, Governor Haley Barbour said he has agreed with Louisiana officials to open all four lanes of Mississippi interstates 55 and 59 to evacuees from Louisiana.
Barbour says the contraflow will take effect at 4 a.m. Sunday and run at least until midnight. He says hours could be extended if traffic remains heavy.
Earlier Saturday, Nagin told all tourists in the city it was time to leave.
"We need to get them out of the way so we can deal with our senior citizens and those who need our assistance," he added.
With tourism being the economic engine of the city, employing 69,000 people and generating $5 billion a year in spending, the evacuation of tourists carries a heavy economic toll on the city, reports CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston.
Police and firefighters were set to go street-to-street with bull horns over the weekend to help 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.
Though he strongly urged residents to leave, Nagin said a curfew would be imposed for those who stayed to watch over their property and possessions. "If you decide to stay, you will be required to stay inside of your property," he said.
He also said there would be double the number of police officers and National Guard prepared to patrol the streets once the storm hits. Fifteen Guardsmen are reported already in New Orleans.
"Emotionally can we handle it? I think there is a lot of fragileness about our psyche right now in this city," Nagin said. "I wouldn't be honest with you if I told you something different.
"It's going to be a tough but New Orleaneans are very resilient and they are very tough and we'll get through this."
FEMA Praises Preparedness Plans
FEMA administrator David Paulison told CBS Early Show anchor Bianca Solorzano that New Orleans is prepared. "I was there yesterday, met with the mayor, met with the governor. It's the best preparedness I've seen. I'm very proud of what they've done in the last couple of years to get not only the city but the entire state ready."
Compared to Katrina, which slammed into New Orleans on the east side of the city, Gustav is projected to make landfall west of New Orleans, posing the problem that levees on the west side of the city have not been tested under a storm of this strength.
"So the governor and the mayor and the parish called for evacuations," Paulison said. "We're asking people to pay close attention to that. When called to evacuate, please evacuate.
"What you're seeing is a total culture change in not only how this organization is going to respond but how the states and local communities are going to respond. The things you saw happening after Katrina - buses coming in, ambulances coming in, food moving in, urban rescue teams coming in - [are happening] before the storm. The state has contracted for over 700 buses. They've started to arrive. Ambulances are arriving. Urban search and rescue teams, on the ground. The Coast Guard is standing by ready. Everyone is ready for the storm."
Although Paulison said the Army Corps of Engineers is claiming that work on the city's levees is making them higher and stronger than they were at the time of Katrina, residents should not count on them holding up to Gustav. "If people living there are asked to evacuate, they should not depend on the levees," he told Solorzano. "Evacuate. Take shelter and come back to the city after the storm's over."
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 Guardsmen will patrol after the storm's arrival, and Jindal has said he requested additional search and rescue teams from other states.
Evacuation of coastal parishes was likely to start on Saturday, said Jindal. 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 holiday weekend - has been canceled, officials said.
Meanwhile, Jindal said the state would likely switch interstate highway 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."
President Bush, confronted with the prospect of a second monster hurricane striking the still-battered Gulf Coast, checked in with governors and federal officials Saturday to make sure Washington was doing all it can.
The president called state leaders in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas in the early morning from the White House, spokesman Scott Stanzel said. Those states are in the potential path of Gustav.
Bush also received regular updates from aides about the storm's path and the government's preparations.
The president asked each governor what was needed from the federal government, Stanzel said. Bush praised them for mobilizing their states so effectively to get ready.
"He told each of the governors that federal officials were monitoring Hurricane Gustav very closely," Stanzel said. "President Bush pledged the full support of the federal government."
On Friday, Bush pre-emptively declared states of emergency for Louisiana and Texas; such a move is rarely taken before a disaster hits. The declaration clears the way for federal aid to supplement state and local efforts and formalizes coordination. The administration did the same thing before Katrina struck.
Bush was also reconsidering making his scheduled appearance Monday at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. According to press secretary Dana Perino, the White House is making contigencies in the event Bush decides against making the trip.
Republican officials themselves are weighing their options should Gustav make a disastrous landfall, including pushing back the convention.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Federal Emergency Management Agency chief David Paulison were in the region monitoring developments. Equipment was put in position and safe shelters readied, with cots, blankets and hygiene kits en route.
The Bush White House was badly burned by its fumbling response after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005.
Likely GOP presidential nominee John McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, are traveling to Mississippi to check on people getting prepared for Hurricane Gustav.
McCain aides say McCain and his wife Cindy will join Palin in traveling to Jackson, Miss., Sunday at the invitation of Gov. Barbour. They said the McCains and Palins want to check on preparations because they are concerned about the people threatened by the storm.
Sen. Barack Obama, speaking in Ohio prior to attending a memorial service for the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, expressed Saturday that the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina three years ago would help to protect the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Gustav this time.
Obama told reporters that a properly orchestrated evacuation would be key to protecting the Gulf Coast.
"It wasn't last time, and hopefully we've learned from that tragedy," Obama told reporters.
"We are deeply concerned. I've instructed my Senate staff to monitor the situation closely, make sure we've contacted both FEMA but also private relief organizations just to make sure that whatever happens, people are prepared.
"We're praying for New Orleans but we want to make sure that people are making all the necessary precautions."
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.
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.
High Death Toll In The Caribbean
Gustav first struck Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, the smaller easternmost "Sister Islands" in the chain. Storm surge and heavy rains flooded the streets.
There were reports of damaged homes in Cayman Brac and flooding throughout the islands but authorities had not yet fully assessed the situation, said Hemant Balgobin, disaster manager for the Red Cross on Grand Cayman.
"Things weren't really as bad as they could have been," he said.
More than 1,100 people spent the night in government shelters in the three islands as high waves and heavy winds battered the chain, the National Emergency Operations Center said in a statement. Most people hunkered down in private homes or hotels.
Caymans authorities did not impose a curfew but urged people to remain indoors to avoid interfering with emergency workers.
Hotels asked guests to leave and, after the airport closed, prepared to shelter those who remained. Chris Smith, of Frederick, Maryland, said his hotel handed out wrist bands marked with guests' names and room numbers so that "if something happens they can quickly identify us."
"That was a little bit sobering," he said, standing outside the hotel with his luggage.
The storm killed four people in a daylong march across the length of Jamaica, where it ripped off roofs and downed power lines. About 4,000 people were displaced from their homes, with about half relocated to shelters. Prime Minister Bruce Golding said the government sent helicopters Friday to rescue 31 people trapped by floods.
At least 59 people died in Haiti and eight in the Dominican Republic.
Rise In Gas And Oil Prices
As much as 80 percent of the Gulf of Mexico's oil and gas production could be shut down as a precaution if Gustav enters as a major storm, weather research firm Planalytics predicted. Oil companies have already evacuated hundreds of workers from offshore platforms.
Retail gas prices rose Friday for the first time in 43 days as analysts warned that a direct hit on Gulf energy infrastructure could send pump prices hurtling toward $5 a gallon. Crude oil prices ended slightly lower in a volatile session as some traders feared supply disruptions and others bet the U.S. government will release supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hanna was projected to curl westward into the Bahamas by early next week. It had sustained winds near 50 mph early Saturday.