Hurricane Gustav 2008

Remembering the incredible pluck of the Times Picayune during Katrina and the aftermath, we returned to this long-neglected source and found it better than ever. Hurricane Gustav News and Storm Tracking
BBC, as usual, does a fine job of reporting the story and the context, including photos from the destruction wreaked in Cuba
Reuters/Planet Ark FACTBOX – Possible Scenarios for Hurricane Gustav

After the storm: Did officials over-react?

The men who predicted New Orleans would be destroyed by “the mother of all storms” faced charges of over-reacting today as residents dusted themselves down and tried, with limited success, to pick their way home to the battered city.
1 September
Downgraded Hurricane Gustav Largely Misses City
The storm smashed through the bayou country of rural Louisiana, raising fears of widespread coastal erosion and damage to fishing villages that state officials were unable to confirm Monday evening. But before making landfall, it was downgraded from a Category 3 hurricane to Category 2 when its winds slowed to 110 miles per hour, from 115 m.p.h., and state officials said they believed that their worst fears had not been realized.

Weakened hurricane hits Gulf coast
Hurricane Gustav crashed into a mainly-deserted US Gulf coast as a slightly weakened Category 2 storm today.
Harvey Johnson, deputy director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said: “We don’t expect the loss of life, certainly, that we saw in Katrina.
“But we are expecting a lot of homes to be damaged, a lot of infrastructure to be flooded, and damaged severely.”
Gustav will test New Orleans’ levee system, which has only been partially rebuilt since Katrina struck. It was not expected to be completed until 2011.
31 August
‘Mother of all storms’ heads for Gulf Coast
A mass evacuation is under way along the Gulf Coast with Hurricane Gustav gathering pace as it moves towards the U.S. coastline. The mayor of New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, called Gustav “the mother of all storms” and warned residents: “You need be scared.” full story

Thousands Stream From New Orleans Ahead of Storm
Photos from Times Picayune
(NYT)  Mayor C. Ray Nagin said Hurricane Gustav was larger and more dangerous than Hurricane Katrina, and he pleaded with residents to get out or face flooding and life-threatening winds. “We should start to see tornado threats starting tonight and in the morning,” he said at a news briefing Sunday morning. “This is still a big, ugly storm. It’s still strong and I strongly encourage everyone to leave.”
Mr. Bush said that he was canceling his plans to attend the Republican convention in Minnesota because of the hurricane and that he would be traveling instead to San Antonio, where emergency workers are providing food and shelter to evacuees.
No pets left behind in New Orleans evacuation
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Authorities evacuating residents from New Orleans ahead of Hurricane Gustav are making amends with four-legged friends after thousands of pets perished in Hurricane Katrina three years ago.
Animal welfare groups tried to make sure that evacuees had their pets with them, while shelters away from the Gulf Coast accommodated animals this time around.
At Gustav’s epicenter many are staying put
by Jan Moller, The Times-Picayune
Bush: No to convention, plans Gustav trip to Texas
(Denver Post) WASHINGTON—Bracing for a storm that could surpass Hurricane Katrina, President Bush on Sunday said he would skip the Republican National Convention and head instead to Texas to be with evacuees and emergency responders. He warned a jittery Gulf Coast that it could face “significant flooding.” [We are sure that refugees and responders alike are thrilled to hear that “the president’s quick change of travel will put him in the region on the very day that Gustav was expected to slam into the United States”. See below]
Obama will mobilize volunteers for Gustav
“The thing that I always am concerned about in the middle of a storm is whether we [visiting politicos]’re drawing resources away from folks on the ground because the Secret Service and various security requirements, sometimes it pulls police, fire and other departments away from concentrating on the job.” [our point exactly]
“I’m assuming that where he [John McCain] went that wasn’t an issue. Were going to try to stay clear of the area until things have settled down and then we’ll probably try to figure out how we can be as helpful as possible.”
CNN video of Gustav’s path in Cuba