Mandatory evacuation just ordered:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/2...ina/index.html
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Emergency officials along the Gulf Coast urged residents to move to safer ground as powerful Hurricane Katrina churned toward shore with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast could expect storm surges of up to 25 feet as the Category 5 storm makes landfall early Monday.
"It has the potential for a large loss of life," said Max Mayfield, director of the NHC. (Watch CNN meteorologist explain storm outlook)
Katrina is blamed for at least seven deaths in Florida, where it made landfall Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane. As much as 18 inches of rain fell in some areas, flooding streets and homes. (See video of the damage floodwaters left in one family's new house)
"The time has come to evacuate," Louisiana National Guard Lt. Col. Pete Schneider told CNN on Sunday. "This is a dangerous, dangerous hurricane, and it poses a huge threat to southeastern Louisiana." (See video from New Orleans, where not all are ready to leave)
At 8 a.m. ET, Katrina was centered about 250 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. It was moving to the west-northwest at about 12 mph.
NHC forecaster Ed Rappaport said Katrina's strength could fluctuate before it reaches shore but noted the difference between a high Category 4 and a low Category 5 was practically inconsequential.
"There will be extensive to potentially catastrophic damage to many structures ... and inland," he said. "We'll have a lot of trees that are going to come down, perhaps millions of trees. But the first threat is going to be the storm surge. You must get away from the coast now."
By 8:30 a.m. ET, the first bands of rain were falling over extreme southeastern Louisiana.
CNN meteorologist Brad Huffines said the Katrina would come ashore "sometime between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m." Monday.
"The news doesn't get good, unfortunately," he said. "These rain showers will slow down the evacuation process, and that means you need to hit the road quickly, very quickly."
Officials fear New Orleans is vulnerable because it sits an average of 6 feet below sea level. (Watch video of how New Orleans reacted to warning)
Worst case scenario
In worst case scenarios, most of New Orleans would end up under 15 feet of water, without electricity, clean water and sewage for months. Even pumping the water out could take as long as four months to get started because the massive pumps that would do the job would be underwater.
New Orleans was under a voluntary evacuation order Sunday morning, but city officials were meeting and expected to issue a mandatory order later in the morning. Interstates into the city were turned one-way out to facilitate evacuations.
City officials told those who cannot evacuate, such as tourists, to stay at least at third-floor levels and stay away from windows. A shelter was set up at the Superdome.
Traffic out of the city was bumper to bumper -- but officials were concerned too many people might not take the warnings seriously.
"People in New Orleans tend to think that the storm we've always planned on would never come," said Schneider. "But people need to heed that warning."
Rappaport cautioned that New Orleans was not the only area threatened -- the storm's hurricane winds spread out as far as 100 miles. As far east as Mobile, Alabama, warned of storm surges reaching 8 to 10 feet.
Hurricane warnings were posted from Morgan City, Louisiana, eastward to the Alabama-Florida state line, including New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. A hurricane warning means hurricane conditions, including winds of at least 74 mph, are expected in the warning area within the next 24 hours.
A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch from the Alabama-Florida state line eastward to Destin, Florida, and from west of Morgan City to Intracoastal City, Louisiana. Another tropical storm warning was issued Sunday from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, west to Cameron, Louisiana, and from Destin, Florida, eastward to Indian Pass, Florida.
A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions, including winds of at least 39 mph, are expected within 24 hours. A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are possible, usually within 36 hours.
Governors of both Louisiana and Mississippi declared emergencies Friday in anticipation of the strengthening storm.
Robert Latham, director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, said the state was recommending evacuations along the coast "and even several counties inland." Mandatory evacuations could follow later, he said.
Category 5 is the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity. Only three Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall in the United States since records were kept. Those were the Labor Day hurricane of 1935, 1969's Hurricane Camille and Hurricane Andrew, which devastated the Miami area in 1992. Andrew remains the costliest U.S. hurricane on record, with $26.5 billion in losses.
Camille came ashore in Mississippi and killed 256 people.
Oil rig evacuations
Some oil platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico have been evacuated.
Six oil companies operating offshore facilities evacuated a total of at least 150 people. Most of those employees were described as "nonessential" to production, and rigs and platforms continued to operate.(Watch the video of drilling crews securing rigs and seeking safety.)
Two companies -- Newfield Exploration and Murphy Exploration -- said they may pull out production workers and shut down some facilities Saturday, depending on the hurricane's path.
At least 12 platforms and nine oil rigs in the Gulf have been evacuated, a small portion of the 953 manned rigs and platforms operating there, according to the Interior Department's Mineral Management Service.