New Orleans Airport To Shut Sunday, Officials Evacuating Residents North By Bus

August 30, 2008 11:22 a.m. EST

New Orleans, LA (AHN) - Mandatory evacuations are underway in New Orleans where the airport will be closed at 6 p.m. Sunday ahead of Hurricane Gustav.

Elderly, disabled and poor people without their own transportation are being registered and bused to safe cities north of New Orleans. Registering people will allow officials to provide accurate information to relatives of evacuees and make sure that everyone makes it safely back home.

Unlike Hurricane Katrina, three years ago, when people ended up in shelters in the city without any food, water or help, or stranded in the attics and on the roofs of their flooded homes alone, there will be no shelters of last resort in the city this time. And officials are making sure that not having personal transportation won't prevent any resident from evacuating the city to safety.

Traffic has been bumper-to-bumper Saturday morning as residents head north out of New Orleans ahead of Gustav.

Gustav is currently a category 3 hurricane, but U.S. National Hurricane Center forecasters expect it to strengthen once it enters the warm water of the south central Gulf of Mexico sometime Sunday or Monday.

At 11 a.m., Gustav was moving at about 14 miles per hour east of the western tip of Cuba packing winds of 125 miles per hour. There are hurricane force winds extending up to 60 miles out from the center of the storm and tropical force winds extend up to 160 miles.

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the lower Florida Keys west of the seven mile bridge to the Dry Tortuga.

Mandatory evacuations are underway in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, while residents in some other Gulf Coast areas are leaving voluntarily.

Earlier this week, oil companies began evacuating crews from oil rigs in the gulf. Some shrimp boat crews are also leaving.

About 25 percent of oil production comes from the Gulf of Mexico and shutting down operations could drive oil prices higher if a big storm hits and prevents companies from restarting oil production in a week or so, or if a bad storm damages oil rigs and platforms.

Gustav has killed several people in the Caribbean.