State gearing up

• By AMY WOLD
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Aug 28, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 5:25 a.m.

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Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency Wednesday in anticipation that Gustav, now a tropical storm, might slam into the Louisiana coast as a Category 2 hurricane. 

More than three days out, it’s difficult to forecast where the system may go, according to a forecast released by the National Hurricane Center; however, preliminary tracks for the storm show it has the potential to impact Louisiana sometime Monday evening.

At 10 p.m. Wednesday, the hurricane center said Gustav was near 18.8 degrees North and 75.4 degrees West, moving west-southwest at 8 mph. Maximum sustained winds were at 45 mph. It’s estimated that Gustav might strengthen to a Category 2 hurricane. 

Jindal, at Wednesday’s news conference, said 3,000 Louisiana National Guard members have been activated and will begin deployment today to help with various missions, including security at shelters across the state.

In addition, the governor said, state contracts with bus providers have been activated for as many as 700 buses to evacuate 35,000 people, as have the contracts for railroad and airplane transportation, and contracts for trucks to transport pets. 

The state has also asked the federal government to provide up to 300 ambulances in case patients need help evacuating to shelters, he said. 

Jindal said there are 10,000 spaces in the state shelters for those with special needs, with a possibility of more spaces if needed. Those special-needs shelters have been ordered to start opening today.

In addition, food and water have been placed in key areas so they’ll be readily available after the storm passes, he said. 

If the storm continues on a path to Louisiana, general-population shelters in the state will likely open Friday followed by a possible contraflow order on Saturday. 

Contraflow directs traffic in southeast Louisiana to the north and west and makes certain parts of the highway system available only for one-way travel to help get more people out of the urban areas in and around New Orleans.

Contraflow is enacted 30 hours before tropical force winds hit the coast, said Brendon Rush, a spokesman for state Department of Transportation and Development. 

The contraflow system begins in New Orleans and ends to the north in locations in Mississippi or to the west at Sorrento, a community in Ascension Parish. 

Rush cautioned that people should choose their routes carefully based on where they want to end up because once a route is chosen, drivers are locked into that route.