Gustav Increases To Category 4, Evacuations Begin

While a mandatory evacuation has not yet been called for, officials are calling on New Orleans residents to "get out."

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin (D), along with a half-dozen police, fire and community leaders, encouraged residents Saturday to leave the city as soon as possible.

"We are strongly, strongly encouraging everyone to evacuate and go north," Nagin said. "Tourists, it is time for you to leave the city. Do not wait to start the evacuation. This storm is starting to be a little tricky. We want to encourage everyone to take this storm very seriously."
"We are telling people to get out today," he said, adding, "The next time you hear us, the message is going to be 'get the heck out.' "

Mayor Nagin, known as a straight shooter is telling everyone to leave the area residents and tourists alike and also indicated that they will step up the rhetoric as the storm gets closer to the City.

As you will see in an AP video below, the Mayor and police officials stated that while a curfew is not yet in effect, if you are in the City and not on your own property you will be arrested.

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

Note: This will most likely be our last update until landfall baring something extraordinary since most people seem to be following the evacuations.

AP Video

AP Video

Source 1
Source 2
Source 3 Map of New Orleans from Washington Post
Source 4

Gustav Becomes Category 3 Hurricane

Louisiana begins voluntary evacuations as Gustav Turns into Category 3 Hurricane.

New Orleans residents are being told there will be no shelters for those who stay as the city is calling for evacuations of residents and the city's emergency preparedness director, Jerry Sneed, is warning residents who ignore orders to leave accept "all responsibility for themselves and their loved ones."

New Orleans began city-assisted evacuations at 8 a.m. local time, an e-mail from Mayor Ray Nagin's office said. This time, the city has taken steps to ensure no one has an excuse not 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 President and the Governor of Louisiana took action yesterday by issuing a declaration of emergency which coincidently landed on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

See our other post on Hurricane Gustav for a current storm tracker. We also have the current Atlantic storm basin if you scroll to the very bottom of the page.

With another storm T.S. Hanna also in the area, it makes me wonder if we are going to see a full repeat of the one two punch of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita again.

Hopefully everyone will leave the area this time, but I suspect there will be a few who stay behind, there always is. With the Governments telling them they are on their own I wonder how the response to the aftermath will take shape.

I will make updates over the weekend as the situation changes. Be sure to check back.

AP Video.

Source 1
Source 2
Source 3

New Cold War Heats Up

Former President of Russia, Putin Warns of direct confrontation with United States, as Russia threatens nuclear attack on Poland over missile shield.

All of this as NATO, and U.S. ships are just a few miles away from Russian ships at separate Georgian ports in the Black Sea.

Putin, has gone as far as accusing the United States of starting the conflict in Georgia, and has received reports from his military officers that U.S. citizens were in the area of conflict, which he views as helping the Georgian military.

Russian General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said that any new US assets in Europe could come under Russian nuclear attack with his forces targeting "the allies of countries having nuclear weapons".

Source 1
Source 2
Source 3
Source 4 UN Map - Georgia
Source 5 UN Map - Poland

Gustav Becomes Catagory 1 Hurricane, Already A Killer Storm

On the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Gustav becomes Category 1 Hurricane and heads for New Orleans, as per current tracking of the storm.

Gustav as of this writing has already killed 78 people in the Caribbean, with Hatti suffering the worst number of casualties so far with a a death toll of 59, 11 in Jamaica and eight in the Dominican Republic, officials said.

The National Hurricane Center says "...STRENGTHENING SEEMS IMMINENT AND COULD EVEN BE RAPID."

With this post we are please to announce that we are now able to bring you storm pulse.
We will make posts with this incredible storm tracking data, and if you scroll to the bottom of our home page you will find the current data available.

Powered by hurricane-tracking software from Stormpulse.com.

Source 1
Source 2
Source 3

Series of Fast Moving Thunderstorms Hit Arizona Last Night

A series of fast-moving thunderstorms packing winds of up to 100 mph plowed through the Phoenix area, leaving tens of thousands without power, briefly shutting down the airport and ripping the roof off a brand-new college football facility.

There were no immediate reports of injuries from Thursday's storms. Arizona Public Service Company said Friday morning it still had 50,000 customers without electricity, while Salt River Project estimated 11,000 of its customers were without power.

The storm swept into the city at about 9 p.m., dumping up to a 1 1/2 inches of rain and three-quarter-inch hail in some areas.

Sky Harbor International Airport was shut down for about an hour during the height of the storm, which blew out of the area by about midnight. Flight delays continued early Friday as crews worked to remove debris blown onto the runways.

National Weather Service meteorologist Leslie Wanek said Sky Harbor recorded peak winds of 75 mph, but radar indicated gusts of up to 100 mph in parts of the metro area.

In Tempe, Arizona State University officials said the storm damaged the school's new $8.4 million indoor practice facility that's mostly used for football. A witness said the fabric roof on the structure was shredded and the bubble dome had completely deflated.

Source
Source 2