Holy crap

Ya know....when I was in NOLA the other week working on cleaning up a big oil spill, I joked, "Hey it's almost hurricane season, we'll have one come through and clean everything up for us."

I was kidding.

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New Orleans evacuation ordered
The Times-Picayune
Saturday August 30, 2008, 8:43 PM

Warning that Gustav is the "mother of all storms," Mayor Ray Nagin late Saturday ordered a mandatory evacuation of the West Bank of New Orleans for 8 a.m. Sunday and the east bank for noon.

"We want 100 percent evacuation," Nagin said. "It has the potential to impact every area of this metropolitan area."

Katrina had a footprint of about 400 miles, he said. Gustav is about 900 miles and growing, Nagin said.

"This is worse than a Betsy, worse than a Katrina," he said.

The mayor speculated that Gustav is so fierce Baton Rouge likely will experience 100 mph winds.

"You need to be scared and you need to get your butts out of New Orleans right now," Nagin said.

Nagin said he expects Gustav to "punch holes in the Harvey Canal," which could cause the West Bank to become a bathtub.

The West Bank has 8-foot-high to 10-foot-high protection, he said. Gustav's storm surge may be 15 to 24 feet high.

Anyone who opts to remain in New Orleans "will be on your own," Nagin warned, adding that services will not be available.