New Orleans In Path Of Gustav, Repeat Of Katrina Devastation Feared

August 27, 2008 7:52 p.m. EST

New Orleans, LA (AHN) - New Orleans residents are bracing for another Katrina-like devastation as Louisiana, together with Florida and Texas, are the likely landfall of approaching Tropical Storm Gustav, which left 22 dead in the Caribbean Wednesday.

The exact location of Gustav's path will be known Friday or Saturday, meteorologist and National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen told ABC News Wednesday. New Orleans officials are yet to order an evacuation of the city's 30,000 residents. But Col. Jerry Sneed of the city's office of emergency preparedness said an evacuation plan can move all residents to 17 shelters by bus and train in 24 to 36 hours.

Meanwhile, Gustav is moving away from Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where its 60-mph winds knocked down electricity poles and rains caused mudslides. The hurricane killed 14 people and injured seven others in Haiti. It also killed eight people in the Dominican Republic.