New Orleans begins evacuations ahead of Gustav

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) — Desperate to avoid a repeat of the Hurricane Katrine catastrophe in 2005, New Orleans prepared to begin mandatory evacuations on Saturday ahead of a deadly new hurricane, Gustav.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic clogged roads leading out of the city to the north and east, as the dangerous category three hurricane barreled toward the Gulf of Mexico after leaving 85 people dead in Caribbean nations.

The National Hurricane Center said Gustav could strengthen to a category four storm before hitting the US coast late Monday or early Tuesday.

Coastal parishes in New Orleans were due to begin the first mandatory evacuations at noon (1600 GMT), as residents boarded up windows and piled sandbags to build temporary levees, three years after...