gustav is coming.
new orleans mayor ray nagin and the city of new orleans is now enforcing a MANDATORY evacuation.
the
city’s more than 239,000 residents are exoduses the city today in the face of
powerful Hurricane Gustav, which nagin called “the mother of all storms.”
a
monstrous Category 3 to 4 storm that will most likely approach the central louisiana
coast just west of new orleans on monday.
“you need to be concerned and you need to get your butts moving and
out of here right now,” nagin said at city hall. “this is the
storm of the century.”
just a refresher:
category one — winds 74-95 miles per hour
category two — winds 96-110 miles per hour
category three — winds 111-130 miles per hour
category four — winds 131-155 miles per hour
category five — winds greater than 155 miles per hour
as of now, gustav has gone down to a category three hurricane (from four and a brief five standing) BUT that doesn’t diminish the dangers of the storm. in fact, they are predicting it to go back up to a cat. 4 before it makes landfall tomorrow morning.
another interesting thing of note from nagin: looting will simply NOT be tolerated. offenders will be sent straight to angola prison. no city stay, no excuses, nothing except a trip straight to prison with the general population. people better think hard before they steal their neighbor’s shoes.
get the hell out of dodge.
most of my louisiana family are on their way out of the city as we speak. i’m not sure where they’ll all end up (some in alabama, some in kansas, most in northern louisiana), but please keep them — and all the evacuees — in your prayers.
my nephews are scared beyond all reason. they are old enough to remember katrina (they didn’t evacuate far enough) and are terrified of the natural disaster that is heading straight for them.
what does that mean for the republican convention?
for now, we know that bush and cheney will not be there. whether the convention spans four days or a mere two hours has yet to be decided.
i agree with the news casters: if gustav is any sort of destructive, the convention will receive little-to-no coverage. in a bittersweet way, this could work to republican’s advantage (they can concentrate their strengths into the smaller windows of coverage, and sweep away their weaknesses, thanks to the altered time frame).
we’ll see how everything plays out in the morning. God speed, evacuees, and stay safe!
