New Orleans Mayor Calls Gustav "Storm of the Century"

Mandatory evacuations begin as Gustav closes in on the New Orleans area. But as should be expected not everyone is leaving.

As ABC News reported, Larry Denny isn't worried enough about Hurricane Gustav to leave. Denny says that there is "no way" he and his wife Charlotte will evacuate New Orleans.

"Why do we stay?" asked Denny, who was raised in Louisiana and returned to New Orleans 15 years ago to settle in Orleans Parish, just north of the French Quarter. "Because we know the government won't protect our house, so we have to."

"I won't be coming back to a shell," said Denny, who added that just like he rode out Katrina he'll do it again for Gustav.

The Mayor of New Orleans is issuing stern warning to residents to leave. "This is going to be the storm of the century," said Nagin, admitting that while he's usually "very calm," this time is different. "You need to be scared," said Nagin. "This is the mother of all storms, and I'm not sure we've seen anything like this."

With all the warnings from officials to leave and changes in rules in which people are being allowed to take their pets, it seems more people are leaving the area this time around, but as mentioned earlier some are still choosing to stay.

The Mayor is telling these people they will be on their own, and depending on how many people do stay, we still might see a bit of a mess. Especially if it takes some time to reach these people after the storm.

With the storm surge predicted to be twice as high as the levees even if they hold the water will just go right over the top causing massive flooding once again for the second time in three years.

For Current Status of Gustave with historical track of Katrina.

Earlier posts on Gustave in order:

New Orleans Considers Evacuations

Gustave becomes Cat 1, Killer Storm

Gustave Becomes Cat 3, Evacuations Begin

Gustav Increases To Category 4, Evacuations Begin

Source 1 ABC NEWS - Great Video news cast on this page
Source 2