Officials: Gustav Twice As Large As Katrina

[tekisui]

NEW ORLEANS -- Residents who try to ride out Hurricane Gustav will be making the biggest mistake of their lives, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin warned on Saturday, WDSU-TV reported.

"You need to be scared. You need to be concerned. You need to get your butts out of New Orleans. This is the storm of the century," Nagin said.

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for Westbank starting at 8 a.m. Sunday, and mandatory evacuations of the Eastbank will begin at noon.

"Riding it out would be the biggest mistake you could make in your life," Nagin said.

Nagin warned that no emergency services will be available to residents who choose not to leave. He told residents who want to stay to make sure they have an ax, as they will be cutting through their roofs to get out of their flooded homes.

Nagin said 2005's Hurricane Katrina came ashore as a Category 3 storm. Gustav is expected to hit as either a Category 4 or 5.

On Saturday, Gustav stretched 900 miles across and it continued to grow. In contrast, the footprint of Katrina was about 400 miles in diameter when it hit.

http://www.wsbtv.com/weather/17349439/detail.html

[malaise]

1. Gustav will be a massive rain event

from Texas to Florida. I don't know who'll get the worst of the wind, but no one will be spared that rain. The good news for everyone is that Gustav is moving fast.

[sellitman]

2. Those poor folk down there don't stand a chance.

I hope to heck they all leave.

Time to start a new City inland I think.

[malaise]

3. I heard Chertoff saying he didn't think the levies would hold

Imagine that. I'm waiting for his press conference in a few minutes.

[sellitman]

9. No global warming here.

Nope

[stray cat]

4. Katrina was a category 5 before it hit - but Gustav may reach that as well

[Ezana]

6. Katrina was category 3 when it hits the gulf coast. Not category 5

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/12/21/katrina/index.html

[Blarch]

7. Katrina was a 3

and N.O. may have only experienced cat 1 or 2 winds.

[HooptieWagon]

5. Typical republican math?

If Gus is twice the diameter of Katrina, then the area is 4 times as much. Strength aside, Gustav will affect a much larger area, for a greater time, than Katrina.

Note: Here in FL (I'm in St Pete), we began getting the outer bands of Gus yesterday, while the storm was still south of Cuba. My boss is aboard a boat holed up in Venice (a little south of Sarasota), last night he reported winds of 25-30 knots, and sizeable seas in the GoM. Right now we have overcast skies, gusty winds, and intermitant squalls.

[csziggy]

8. The contr-flow on the interstates does not seem to be working

Shots of I-10 on the news channels shows stop & go on the regular lanes away from NO and few cars hauling butt on the other side. No way to get vehicles across the median to the empty side because the "medians" have ditches or culverts down the middle. I have not seen coverage of the flow north on the causeway over Lake Pontchartrain - most of the shots are from Kenner, LA, west of NO.

Here is the new nightmare - thousands of people caught on the highways as the storm hits. Since many of the highways run through low areas, many could drown in their cars. And no one will want to try to escape the highways on foot in the kinds of winds they will be having.

I did find web cams in NO - little traffic at all: http://www.dotd.louisiana.gov/press/traffic_cameras/cameras_no.asp?camera=Cam3

So hopefully everyone on the highways will make it to a safe place before Gustav hits.

[fishnfla]

10. it has weakened and may not restrengthen

according to reports, may "only" be a cat3 at landfall

[applegrove]

11. How terrifying. A thousand miles across. Get out, get out, get out now!