Mississippi And Louisiana Prepare For Topical Storm Gustav
Fay has passed over and left some cities in utter ruin due to its high winds and heavy rain - which touched certain parts of Florida and Georgia. The next tropcial storm to take form is Gustav - which at this time is building up strength and headed for a course straight into the Gulf of Mexico. Officials in Louisiana and Mississippi are preparing early for the disaster that could strike as soon as next week and are setting parts of the state on high alert.
Earlier this week Gustav was unleashing hurricane force winds and heavy rain on both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Gustav was 80 miles off the coast of the eastern part of Jamaica today and every hour it is picking up speed. Forecasters have stated that the storm have wind of 70 mph and could reach 111 mph (category 3 speed) as it makes its way to the Gulf.
Emergency officials in Mississippi warned of evacuations, as residents flocked to stores to stock up on gas, power generators and other supplies. Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana declared a state of emergency and prepared hundreds of buses and emergency shelters to help residents flee should Gustav strike as expected on Tuesday.
Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans has already returned from the Democratic Convention in Denver to help his city prepare. And Mr. Jindal said he was ready to cancel his upcoming plans to attend the Republican Convention in Minneapolis, where he is scheduled to speak on Tuesday night, immediately after Sen. John McCain’s wife, Cindy, and just before the vice presidential nominee.
“My first responsibility is here in Louisiana,” he said at a news conference on Wednesday. “As long as the hurricane has Louisiana in its sights, this is where I’ll be. We’re still hopeful that the storm will miss us, but we’ve got to prepare as if it’s coming our way.”
Concern that the storm might wreak havoc in the Gulf prompted the evacuation of oil platforms and sent oil prices higher. One of the world’s largest offshore drillers, Transocean, evacuated 1,600 workers from its rigs in the Gulf, while Royal Dutch Shell PLC pulled nearly 400 people from its rigs.