Models Shift A Bit To The East

Here is the 00Z model set:

This paints a very ugly scenario for New Orleans. The city is now under a mandatory evacuation… here is the latest from WWLTV.COM

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin issued a mandatory evacuation of the city, the first time since Katrina struck the region three years ago, during a Saturday evening new conference at City Hall, telling residents that this is “the mother of all storms.”

Nagin said the evacuation begins first with the Westbank at 8 a.m. followed by a noon mandatory evacuation on the Eastbank.

“You need to be scared. You need to be concerned,” Nagin said during a Saturday evening news conference. “You need to get your butt out of New Orleans. This is the storm of the century.”

As of 7 p.m., Hurricane Gustav had winds of 150 mph, with gusts up to 185 mph. That puts it at a Category 4 storm, five mph short of Category 5 status.

Nagin said he doesn’t know of a building rated for winds higher than 150 mph in New Orleans.

Contraflow begins at 4 a.m. in Louisiana, cutting off all incoming traffic into New Orleans.

Nagin said nearly 10,000 people have been evacuated through the city’s assisted evacuation process. The process will continue until midnight tonight before resuming at 6 a.m. It will end at noon Sunday.

The mayor urged with strong language that people get out of the city as quickly as possible.

“This is so powerful and it’s gaining more power,” Nagin said. “I’m not sure we’ve seen anything like it.”

He added, “If you ride it out, it will be one of the biggest mistakes you can make in your life.”

Nagin said that the Westbank will be the first hit, with water being pushed up by a storm surge that could potentially hit 20-feet and higher. He said that because the Harvey Canal is not completed, leaving the area vulnerable to catastrophic flooding.

“For the Westbank, you were spared in Katrina,” Nagin said. “This is not that type of storm. The Harvey Canal is not complete. There’s holes in it. The surge will punch holes and will fill up the Westbank.

“This is not the storm to ride out.”

Orleans Parish joins a long list of parishes that already have called for a mandatory evacuation. Those include:

Assumption;
Lafourche;
Plaquemines;
St. Bernard;
St. Charles;
St. John;
St. Mary;
Terrebonne.

Additionally, Jefferson Parish president Aaron Broussard called for a mandatory evacuation of the Westbank of his parish beginning at 8 a.m. Sunday morning. He also called for a voluntary evacuation of the Eastbank.

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