Text of Bush’s remarks on Hurricane Gustav
August 31, 2008
Text of Bush
The Associated Press — President Bush’s statement after a Sunday briefing on Hurricane Gustav at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as provided by the White House.
I’m here at the FEMA Headquarters where I just received a briefing, and I’ve also come to thank the people behind me for working the long hours that they’re doing to make sure that we’ve got the preparations in place for Hurricane Gustav. There’s been a lot of work done to get ready for the storm. Across the Gulf Coast there’s governors and state officials and local leaders that are taking this storm very seriously and are preparing proactively.
(Homeland Security) Secretary (Michael) Chertoff and FEMA Administrator (David) Paulison report that the federal government has pre-positioned teams of emergency managers, doctors, ambulances, search and rescue teams, aircraft and commodities throughout the region. There are millions of meals and millions of liters of water pre-staged, as well as a lot of blankets and cots. In other words, there’s a lot of preparations that have gone in in anticipation of this storm.
We’re working with governors to identify and secure out-of-state shelter for people in the path of the storm. Several states, including Missouri, Texas, and New Mexico, are preparing to and have accepted a lot of evacuees. People are leaving those areas that are of concern and we’re working hard to make sure that they have a place to go.
The Army Corps of Engineers informs me that while the levees are stronger than they’ve ever been, people across the Gulf Coast, especially in New Orleans, need to understand that in a storm of this size there is serious risk of significant flooding.
The message to the people of the Gulf Coast is, this storm is dangerous. There’s a real possibility of flooding, storm surge and high winds. Therefore, it is very important for you to follow the instructions and direction of state and local officials. Do not put yourself in harm’s way, or make rescue workers take unnecessary risks. And know that the American people stand with you. We’ll face this emergency together.
In the coming days I encourage people across our nation to help their neighbors in need. You can contribute to charities, such as the Red Cross. You can volunteer your time to help those in need. And, of course, you can pray for those who might be suffering.
In light of these events, I will not be going to Minnesota for the Republican National Convention. I’m going to travel down to Texas tomorrow to visit with the Emergency Operations Center in Austin, where coordination among federal, state, and local government officials is occurring. I intend to go down to San Antonio where state and local officials are pre-positioning relief materials for Texas and Louisiana, and I’ll have a chance to visit with residents of both states who have been evacuated.
I will not be traveling to Louisiana tomorrow because I do not want my visit to impede in any way the response of our emergency personnel. I’ve been talking to the governors, yesterday and today; I also spoke with Mayor Nagin of New Orleans to make sure that they’re getting everything they need from the federal government to prepare for what all anticipate will be a difficult situation. I hope to be able to Louisiana as soon as conditions permit.
This nation has come to know the strong and resilient spirit of the people of the Gulf Coast. They’ve made it through great challenges in the past and they’re going to make it through this one, as well. In the meantime, all those preparing for this storm are in our thoughts and our prayers from me and Laura and our whole nation.
Thank you very much.
Source: worldnews.com
August 31, 2008
Pro-government supporters shout slogans at a Sunday rally outside parliament in Bangkok, Thailand.
Thailand’s Parliament has convened an emergency session seeking a political solution to the country’s spiraling political crisis.
Thousands of protesters remain camped out at his official compound, known as Government House, for a sixth day demanding that Samak resign.
Samak, who took office seven months ago, has defiantly refused to step down.
Protesters accuse Samak’s government of serving as a proxy for ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 bloodless coup.
On Saturday Samak refused to resign despite growing pressure for him to step down as anti-government protests disrupted rail and air service in some of the country’s most popular tourist destinations.
Samak’s refusal to bow to protesters came ahead of an evening meeting with King Bhumibol Adulyadej at his seaside palace in Hua Hin, south of Bangkok. Bhumibol is a constitutional monarch with no formal political role but has repeatedly brought calm in times of turbulence during his six decades on the throne.
“I, the prime minister, have come to office in the appropriate way and I won’t resign,” Samak said during a televised ceremony for the royal family. In an apparent effort to end speculation that the king would seek his resignation, Samak said he had requested the meeting to brief the monarch on the political situation.
“I have been very patient and have refrained from using force,” he said. “Many have criticized me for being too soft, but if the government (cracked down) we would be criticized for using excessive force.”
Thousands of protesters remained camped out at the prime minister’s official compound, known as Government House, in Bangkok where leaders called for 1 million people to join their ranks to demand an end to Samak’s seven-month tenure. The crowd size has ranged from 2,000 to about 30,000.
“The protest has already developed into a people’s revolution,” protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul told The Associated Press. “I do believe that Samak is going to resign.”
Saying that Western-style democracy has allowed corruption to flourish, the protest group has proposed a blueprint for a new government which would make parliament a mostly appointed body with only 30 percent of lawmakers elected.
Samak called an emergency parliamentary session Sunday for both houses to debate the crisis and try to resolve it through political means, said Surachai Phuprasert, a top aide to the prime minister.
Thailand’s international image took a blow as airports in the southern beach areas of Phuket and Krabi remained closed for a second day Saturday. Protesters occupied the runways, preventing flights from departing and arriving, and there was no indication of when the airports would reopen, authorities said. Hat Yai airport, also in the south, reopened Saturday.
Bangkok’s two airports were not affected by the strikes, the airport authority said.
Hundreds of railway workers continued their second day of a work stoppage by taking emergency sick leave, forcing the cancellation of more than 70 passenger trains throughout the country, said State Railways of Thailand spokesman Pairat Rojcharoen-ngarm.
Despite Samak’s refusal to budge, his strength appeared to be fraying amid the growing chaos.
The country’s influential army commander, Gen. Anupong Paochinda, rejected a request by Samak on Friday to declare a state of emergency, a top army official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information. Anupong has vowed that the army will not intervene and has called for resolving the crisis by political means.
The Chart Thai Party, a key member of Samak’s six-party ruling coalition, said it was ready to suggest that Samak leave office.
“The coalition partners have the impression that the situation is deteriorating, and we are thinking of telling the prime minister to decide on the future of the government,” said Somsak Prisana-anantakul, deputy leader of Chart Thai.
The People’s Alliance for Democracy, the protest organizer, accuses Samak of corruption and of serving as a proxy for ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 bloodless military coup and banned from public office until 2012. Thaksin, who fled into exile in Britain, faces an array of corruption charges.
Samak led Thaksin’s political allies to a December 2007 election victory, and their assumption of power triggered fears that Thaksin would make a political comeback on the strength of his continued popularity with Thailand’s rural majority.
Anti-government protests started in May but gained momentum Tuesday when protesters occupied the Government House compound. The unrest escalated Friday when protesters clashed with police.
After police forced their way into the Government House compound to deliver a court eviction order, the alliance fought police in running street battles, charging, punching and hitting officers with sticks. They withdrew to display minor injuries they received when police fought back.
Claiming police brutality, alliance members later laid siege to city police headquarters, demanding the surrender of officers they accused of violence. As they pressed against the gates, police fired tear gas to disperse them.
Source: cnn.com
Gustav weakens, but remains on collision course with Gulf
August 31, 2008
People line up at an evacuation point in New Orleans Saturday, as Gustav approaches the Gulf Coast.
Hurricane Gustav, weakened only slightly by its passage over Cuba’s western tip, emerged over Gulf waters Sunday on a path toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The latest tracking map from the hurricane center predicts a U.S. landfall somewhere between Galveston, Texas, and the Mississippi-Alabama line — with New Orleans, Louisiana, near the middle of the “cone of uncertainty.”
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin called Gustav “the mother of all storms,” saying its destruction could outstrip that from Katrina, which flooded much of his city.
“You need to be scared,” Nagin said of the Category 4 hurricane tearing along Cuba’s western coast. “You need to be concerned, and you need to get your butts moving out of New Orleans right now. This is the storm of the century.”
The city’s west bank is to evacuate at 8 a.m. Sunday.
Nagin said, so far, the city had evacuated roughly 10,000 people Saturday on buses, trains and planes, in addition to the thousands who left on their own. Buses from collection points would resume at 6 a.m. Sunday, he said. “This storm is so powerful and growing more powerful every day,” Nagin said. “I’m not sure we’ve seen anything like this.”
At 2 a.m. ET, Gustav’s eye was located 485 miles (780 kilometers) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with sustained winds near 135 mph.
Hurricanes are ranked 1 to 5 in intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale. A Category 4 has winds of 131 to 155 mph and can cause extreme damage.
New Orleans joined the growing list of local governments in south Louisiana ordering mandatory evacuations on Saturday and Sunday as Gustav roared past Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico.
Jindal did not order mandatory evacuations at a state level, but he urged residents to take the evacuations seriously.
“I wouldn’t worry about whether the evacuation in your parish begins at 4 p.m. today or 8 a.m. tomorrow,” he said. “When it comes to evacuation, do it sooner rather than later.”
Jindal said the state planned to begin “contraflow” procedures, opening both sides of interstates to outgoing traffic only, at 4 a.m. Sunday.
Thousands of people had begun fleeing the coast by the time a hurricane watch was issued Saturday afternoon for southeastern Texas to the Alabama-Florida border.
The watch, which means hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours, was announced the day after many in the region marked the third anniversary of Katrina’s landfall.
In New Orleans, anxiety was high Saturday as residents fled, leaving behind a ghost town of boarded-up homes and empty streets. Hundreds of people lined up for buses and trains to take them out of New Orleans and thousands of other Gulf Coast residents drove inland, clogging major highways.
At the Union Passenger Terminal in downtown New Orleans, people began arriving as early as 5:30 a.m., forming a line that snaked behind the main Amtrak terminal. Humvees circled the crowds of people, many who waited as long as 2½ hours, enduring the heat and relentless sun, unsure of their destination.
New Orleans officials designated 17 sites for people without transportation to board buses to take them to the terminal, where they will be moved to shelters outside New Orleans. However, scores of residents went directly to the terminal, prompting confusion, as did a glitch in the computer system being used to register people.
Jindal suspended registration at the terminal and instructed people to register when they arrive at shelters. By Saturday afternoon, 1,100 to 1,200 people had left the city on those buses, Nagin said.
“I’m not sure where I’m going,” Margie Hawkins of New Orleans said. “My last 24 hours have been somewhat worrisome and very, very prayerful, because this is a very serious threat, and it’s a lot of people to get to safe ground or be safe where they are.”
The city also arranged with Amtrak for more than 7,000 seats to evacuate the elderly by train. About 1,500 people left for Memphis, Tennessee, Nagin said.
There were also crowds at New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport, which the city plans to keep open through 6 p.m. CT Sunday. Both Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways said they planned to continue flights in and out of New Orleans until the airport is closed.
Vehicles jammed Interstate 10 headed west toward Texas. Cars also clogged Interstates 55 and 59 heading north out of eastern Louisiana. Heavy volume was also reported on Interstates 65 and 59 as Mississippi evacuees streamed north.
Gustav is projected to make landfall as a Category 3 or 4 on the U.S. Gulf Coast late Monday or Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour announced Friday that Hurricane Katrina victims living in government-issued trailers or mobile homes along his state’s coast would begin evacuating Saturday.
The storm called up uneasy memories Friday of the deadly 2005 hurricane season, particularly of Katrina. When Katrina hit, more than 1,800 people died in five states, 1,577 of them in Louisiana.
Unlike the situation during Katrina, there will be no “shelter of last resort,” the city said. In 2005, the city’s Louisiana Superdome housed thousands of New Orleanians who couldn’t, or didn’t, heed the mandatory evacuation order.
Source: cnn.com
Pole trek needs last explorer
August 31, 2008
The adventurers need a seventh trekker to complete the team
Descendants of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his team are looking for a final budding explorer to complete their ancestors’ journey to the South Pole.
Legend has it Sir Ernest recruited his expedition members with an advert promising “small wages”, “constant danger” and a “doubtful safe return”.
A century later, the new team wants someone with a “relentless passion to succeed” and a supply of “good jokes”.
They will also have to be fit and their cup must always be “half-full”.
Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, best known for leading the Endurance expedition of 1914-16, never made it to the South Pole.
But he came close to being the first on his 1908-1909 Nimrod mission.
Aiming to finish the job, the 21st century expedition is being led by Army Lt Col Henry Worsley, a relation of Frank Worsley, the skipper on Shackleton ’s ship the Endurance.
Their 80-day trek leaves in October - exactly 100 years after the Nimrod expedition.
They will follow the same 900-mile route as their predecessors, and will face temperatures of -35C and headwinds of 50mph (80km/h).
‘Lifetime opportunity’
Candidates applying for the final and seventh place on the Matrix Shackleton Centenary Expedition do not need a family connection or previous Polar experience.
Lt Col Worsley, 47, from Hereford, said: “The type of person we will be looking for is someone whose cup is always half-full, never half-empty.
“Someone who can laugh at themselves, a strong team player who sees this as a lifetime opportunity and can tell a good joke to keep spirits up.
“Above all else we want a candidate with a relentless passion to succeed whatever the adversity.”
The other members of the expedition are:
- Henry Adams, 33, shipping lawyer, from Snape, Suffolk, great-grandson of Jameson Boyd-Adams, Shackleton’s number two on the Nimrod expedition
- Will Gow, 35, city worker, from Ashford, Kent, is related to Shackleton by marriage
- Patrick Bergel, 36, from London, Shackleton’s great-grandson, who works in advertising
- Tim Fright, 24, from Billingshurst, West Sussex, great-great-nephew of Frank Wild, the only explorer to accompany Shackleton on all his missions. He works as a PA to Cobra Beer founder Lord Bilimoria
- David Cornell, 38, from Andover, Hampshire, a City fund manager and another great-grandson of Boyd-Adams
Lt Col Worsley, Mr Gow and Mr Adams will set out from the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf on 29 October, as Shackleton and his team did a century earlier.
They will meet the other four team members 97 miles from the Pole, the point at which the original explorers had to turn back due to dwindling rations and icy blizzards.
Shackleton wanted to become the first person to reach the South Pole
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The final expedition member, who will take part in the second leg of the trek, will be chosen through a gruelling selection process culminating in endurance training in North Wales.
He or she will then be put through their paces with a crossing of Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic.
Even though Shackleton failed in his bid to become the first person to reach the South Pole, he travelled further south than anyone else before and was knighted on his return home.
The new expedition is being used to launch a £10 million Shackleton Foundation, which will fund projects that embody the adventurer’s spirit and hunger for “calculated risk”.
The exploits of the expedition will be covered on a special edition of Timewatch on BBC Two early next year.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Chemical coat to mean drier socks
August 31, 2008
The process makes water bead on any surface
Almost any surface or fabric can be made waterproof but remain breathable thanks to a former military technology.
The process was originally developed to ensure soldiers’ clothing remained impermeable to chemical weapons.
Shoe maker Hi-Tec has signed a deal with the developers of the process to use the technology to waterproof many of its shoes.
The first commercially available shoes treated with the process were shown off in London this week.
Chemical coat
The technology was funded by the Ministry of Defence and developed at its Defence Science and Technology Laboratory for making military clothing resistant to nerve agents.
The process - dubbed ion-mask by its inventors - works using a chemical based on the element fluorine. In a closed chamber, the chemical is vaporised and attaches, molecule by molecule, to all the fibres in a fabric.
The chemical makes the surface “hydrophobic” or water-repelling, so that instead of water spreading out it forms droplets on the surface.
The chemical coating covers just the fibres, rather than forming a “skin” across the whole surface, as with currently available waterproofing treatments. That means the spaces between fibres remain open and the fabric is still breathable.
“The normal way in which you’d make a shoe waterproof is put a membrane inside the shoe; Gore-Tex is a well-known example,” says Ian Robins, business development director of P2i, the company marketing the process.
“That’s effectively putting a plastic bag inside the shoe. No water gets inside your shoe, but at the same time that reduces the breathability both in terms of sweat and of heat escaping.”
Treated materials stay cleaner too
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Shoe fabric made with the ion-mask process was tested for breathability in an air-flow test, outperforming commercial waterproof fabrics such as Gore-Tex by more than a factor of 100, P2i claims.
The shoes were also subjected to flexing and wear tests, maintaining their breathable waterproof properties even after 100,000 flexes.
The fabrics are also inherently stain-resistant and easier to clean, says P2i.
Dr Robins says coating a pair of shoes using the ion-mask process requires just a tenth of a gram of the fluorine compound, and costs in the region of a few dollars - significantly less than the cost of integrating membranes like Gore-Tex into a pair of shoes.
The process can easily be applied to any garments or any material, and Dr Robins suggests that it might also become the basis for a separate after-purchase service business, like dry cleaning.
It can also be used to waterproof outdoor gear. High Street outdoor equipment retailer Millets, owned by Black’s Leisure Group, will be stocking the men’s Hi-Tec ion-mask shoes in 75 stores.
“This could change waterproof footwear as we know it,” says Michelle Swan, a senior footwear buyer at Black’s.
She said the company would keep an eye on the “revolutionary” technology and perhaps use it in other areas of its business.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Farm pregnancy ‘cuts asthma risk’
August 31, 2008
Living on a farm while pregnant may benefit the baby
Living on a farm during pregnancy may help reduce the chance of the child developing asthma, eczema and even hayfever, say scientists.
The New Zealand researchers suggest that exposure to animals and the bacteria they carry may affect the foetus’s immune system.
Writing in the European Respiratory Journal, they said exposure before and after birth halved the risk.
But experts warn some animals carry infections which may harm the baby.
The research, carried out at Massey University, adds to other studies which have suggested that living on a farm, with regular contact with animals, during the early years of life, could cut the risk of asthma and other allergic diseases.
But the study of more than 1,300 farmers’ children goes further, suggesting that this protection could start building even before birth.
It found that the greatest apparent protection - a 50% reduction in asthma, and an even greater reduction in eczema and hay fever - was gained by children whose mothers had been exposed to farm life during pregnancy, and who currently lived on a farm.
The reasons why this might happen are unclear, although they are likely to be related to the way that the child begins to develop its immune system.
Milk bacteria
Living on a farm means frequent contact with animal bacteria, perhaps through the consumption of unpasteurised milk, or contact with the animals directly.
The researchers suggested that this might suppress the production of particular immune cells linked to the development of asthma.
However, they suggested that while exposure during pregnancy might be useful, it might only persist if the child was exposed after its birth as well.
The findings are unlikely to lead to any change in current advice to pregnant women, which urges caution about contact with certain farm animals.
In particular, an infection which can cause miscarriage in pregnant ewes can lead to the same result in humans.
The faeces of other animals can also carry infections which can affect a pregnancy.
Dr Elaine Vickers, research manager at Asthma UK, said: “This study adds to existing evidence supporting the hygiene hypothesis, which states that early exposure to potential allergens results in a reduced risk of asthma development.
“However, the causes of asthma are still largely unknown and the processes involved in asthma development are incredibly complicated, including family history, environment and lifestyle.”
Source: bbc.co.uk/
New flood relief efforts in Bihar
August 31, 2008
Many of those who found solid ground are still awaiting food
Relief efforts are increasing in the Indian state of Bihar, hit by some of the worst flooding in years.
Authorities say they have so far rescued more than 300,000 people left stranded after heavy monsoon rains caused the Kosi river to flood.
However, more than twice that number are still homeless and in urgent need of aid, and relief is being hampered by extensive damage to roads.
The waters have affected vast numbers of people in India and Nepal.
The BBC’s Sanjoy Majumder, in Bihar, says extra boats have been pressed into service and additional troops deployed.
Rescue teams are still to reach some remote villages and have been dropping aid to from the air to those affected.
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In some areas the water level has begun receding but the floods have also spread to other districts, affecting yet more people.
The forecast is for more rain in the coming days and the continuing bad weather is hampering efforts to get aid to about 2.5 million people who have been displaced.
More than one million people are now being housed in relief camps, where they are being given cooked food, water and medicines.
But many of the camps are already overflowing and there are more people streaming in by the hour, our correspondent says.
Aid workers estimate that many will have to live in temporary shelters for months until their homes and villages are rebuilt.
Burst dam
Amid relief efforts, the suffering of many of those affected continues. On Saturday at least 20 people were killed when a boat capsized while carrying dozens of police.
He has announced an aid package worth $230m (£115m).
But aid agencies say many of the victims are being moved to temporary shelters which lack basic amenities.
A report released by Unicef says there are fears of infectious diseases at the camps.
Army and air force helicopters are continuing to provide aid to the flood-ravaged parts and 600 boats are helping with the relief and rescue work.
But the floods have washed away roads and railway tracks, and water and electricity supplies have been affected in many areas.
“This situation is beyond comprehension,” Bihar resident, Arshad Khaqani, told the BBC News website.
The Kosi river flows from Nepal where it is called the Saptakoshi river.
On 18 August a dam on the Saptakoshi burst, triggering the subsequent flooding in Bihar.
Officials in Nepal say hundreds of people there have been hit by illnesses such as diarrhoea and pneumonia and an estimated 50,000 are homeless.
They say nearly 1,000 houses have been completely destroyed. Power supplies and transport have been severely affected.
The costs to the economy are now estimated at one billion Nepalese rupees ($14.25m).
Source: bbc.co.uk/
New Lebanese army chief promoted
August 31, 2008
Gen Kahwaji is a Maronite Christian like his army chief predecessors
The new chief of the Lebanese army, Jean Kahwaji, has been promoted to general in a ceremony attended by his predecessor, President Michel Suleiman.
Gen Kahwaji was appointed to the post at a meeting of the national unity government on Friday evening.
The 54-year-old Maronite Christian had been a brigade commander since 2002.
Many Lebanese regard the army as one of the country’s few neutral institutions, and say it plays an important role in preventing sectarian conflict.
However, it has repeatedly come under attack since Gen Suleiman became president in May, ending months of political division.
On Thursday, an army helicopter was shot down whilst flying over an area of south Lebanon where Hezbollah is known to have a presence.
The Shia Islamist movement described the incident as “tragic”, but did not confirm reports that the attackers were its members.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
UK warns over ‘Russia aggression’
August 31, 2008
Gordon Brown
UK prime minister Gordon Brown has said Nato and the EU must reassess their relations with the Kremlin to prevent further “Russian aggression”.
His comments came amid fears Russia could cut oil and gas flows in the row over Georgia.
Mr Brown, writing in the Observer, urged the EU to do a “root and branch” review of relations with the Kremlin.
On Saturday President Dmitry Medvedev and Mr Brown spoke by phone as Russia moved to ease tensions with Europe.
Rights and responsibilities
Mr Brown wrote in Sunday’s Observer newspaper one day ahead of a summit of European heads of state to discuss the South Ossetia crisis.
The conflict in the region began on 7 August when Georgia tried to regain control of South Ossetia by force, which was followed by a Russian counter-attack deep into Georgia.
Mr Brown said: “When Russia has a grievance over an issue such as South Ossetia, it should act multilaterally by consent rather than unilaterally by force.”
He went on: “My message to Russia is simple. If you want to be welcome at the top table of organisations such as the G8, OECD and WTO, you must accept that with rights come responsibilities.
“We want Russia to be a good partner in the G8 and other organisations, but it cannot pick and choose which rules to adhere to.
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“That is why I will argue tomorrow that Russia should accept Georgia’s territorial integrity and international mechanisms for addressing these conflicts, and withdraw troops to their previous positions.
“And, in the light of Russian actions, the EU should review - root and branch - our relationship with Russia.”
He added: “We are also reflecting on the Nato response. We must re-evaluate the alliance’s relationship with Russia, and intensify our support to Georgia and others who may face Russian aggression.”
Mr Brown also said the summit “must add urgency to the work on Europe’s energy agenda”.
“We must more rapidly build relationships with other producers of oil and gas,” Mr Brown said.
‘Non-existent threats’
The prime minister said he had told Mr Medvedev to expect a “determined response” from European leaders.
During their conversation, Mr Medvedev said Russia was in favour of the deployment to Georgia of additional monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
In a separate development, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
They agreed on the need to “put an end to attempts to use the situation surrounding Georgia… to raise tensions in Europe by speculating on non-existent threats concerning other post-Soviet countries”, said the Russian foreign ministry.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
New Orleanians told to flee storm
August 31, 2008
The mayor of New Orleans has issued a mandatory evacuation order for the entire city, as Hurricane Gustav bears down on the US Gulf Coast.
The mayor of New Orleans has issued a mandatory evacuation order for the entire city, as Hurricane Gustav bears down on the US Gulf Coast.
Ray Nagin said residents of the city’s West Bank should begin moving out at 0800 (1300 GMT) on Sunday, with the East Bank leaving at midday (1700 GMT).
He called it “the storm of the century” and added: “You need to be scared”.
Gustav, which is forecast to strengthen to a Category 5 storm over the Gulf, powered through western Cuba overnight.
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 Anyone who’s thinking of staying - rethink it, get out of town  Ray Nagin
New Orleans mayor |
Gustav ploughed through Cuba’s Isla de la Juventud, or Isle of Youth, overnight on Saturday before hitting the mainland in Pinar del Rio province, home to Cuba’s lucrative tobacco plantations.
The storm, which has now moved into the Gulf of Mexico, currently has maximum sustained winds of nearly 240km/h (150mph), with even stronger gusts.
At least 300,000 people have been evacuated in Cuba, says the BBC’s correspondent there, Michael Voss. There has been extensive flooding and reports of severe damage where the storm has hit, but no reports of fatalities.
Officials on Isla de la Juventud said that nearly all the island’s roads were washed out and many areas were underwater.
No help
Hours before Mr Nagin spoke, a hurricane watch was put in place along America’s North Gulf coast, from Texas along to the Alabama-Florida border.
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HURRICANE CATEGORIES
FIVE: Winds over 155mph (249km/h). Storm surge more than 18ft (5.4m) above normal. Only three such US landfall hurricanes - Labour Day 1935, Camille 1969 and Andrew 1992
FOUR: Winds 131-155mph. Storm surge 13-18ft
THREE: Winds 111-130mph. Storm surge 9-12ft. Katrina hit New Orleans as a three.
TWO: Winds 96-110mph. Storm surge 6-8ft
ONE: Winds 74-95mph. Storm surge 4-5ft
Source: Saffir-Simpson Scale/US National Hurricane Centre
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The BBC’s Kevin Connolly, in New Orleans, says Mr Nagin spoke in “passionate and desperate” terms, telling a televised news conference the storm was “so powerful” and growing more powerful every day.
“I’m not sure we’ve seen anything like it,” he told reporters at City Hall.
Mr Nagin said Gustav - expected to make landfall on Monday or Tuesday - was more powerful than Hurricane Katrina.
That storm, which hit New Orleans in 2005, killed some 1,800 people and caused hundreds of billions of dollars worth of damage.
Addressing anyone considering riding out Gustav, Mr Nagin said: “I have news for you - that would be one of the biggest mistakes of your life”.
The mayor said he was aiming for a 100% evacuation, which extends to members of the emergency services - fewer than 50 city workers will remain in the city.
Mr Nagin described the threat facing New Orleans in stark terms, calling Gustav “the mother of all storms” and urging people to follow the evacuation order.
Mr Nagin said that there would be no emergency services to help anyone who chose to remain in the city.
“If you are stubborn enough, if you are not taking this as seriously as we need you to take it, and if you decide to stay; you are on your own.”
The mayor, who was in office when New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said those who stayed would almost certainly be stranded in a flooded city.
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 Predicted route of Hurricane Gustav (30 August 2008)
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“Anyone who decides to stay, I’ll say it like I said it before Katrina: make sure you have an axe, because you will be carving your way, or busting your way out of your attic to get on your roof with waters that you will be surrounded with in this event,” he said.
“So anyone who’s thinking of staying, rethink it, get out of town.”
Our correspondent says that thousands of people were already beginning to leave the city before the evacuation order was announced, joining a continuous stream of vehicles heading north.
State governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal was in New Orleans to observe the evacuation taking place.
“We’re pleased to see so many people taking the evacuation order seriously, you’re literally seeing tens of thousands of people being evacuated from this Union passenger station right here.
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You know it just wouldn’t be appropriate to have a festive occasion while a near tragedy or a terrible challenge is presented in the form of a natural disaster John McCain, on the Republican National Convention
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“You’re seeing people go by bus, by train, they are being taken by bus to the airport to be flown out of harms way as well. We can fly 700 people per hour out.”
Meanwhile, Republican party presidential candidate John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin announced they would travel to Mississippi on Sunday to observe storm preparations there.
Republican officials are considering what to do about the party’s National Convention (due to open on Monday) depending on when and where the storm hits.
Mr McCain hinted there might be changes to the tone of the gathering, rather than a cancellation of the event.
He told Fox News: “You know it just wouldn’t be appropriate to have a festive occasion while a near tragedy or a terrible challenge is presented in the form of a natural disaster, so we’re monitoring it from day to day and I’m saying a few prayers, too.”
The hurricane has already claimed the lives of more than 80 people in the Caribbean.
It has swept through Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica over the past week, causing widespread damage.
It has strengthened rapidly from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane, and is expected to grow to a Category 5 storm - the maximum on the scale - as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico.
Source: bbc.co.uk/