Jindal, La. keeping eye on Hurricane Ike

• By JORDAN BLUM
• Advocate Westside bureau
• Published: Sep 7, 2008 - UPDATED: 7:30 p.m.

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Gov. Bobby Jindal today announced a state of emergency declaration in preparation for Hurricane Ike, which projections show could make landfall Friday.

Although Ike has yet to enter the Gulf of Mexico, Jindal said he also has requested a federal, pre-landfall emergency declaration, which could free up additional resources.

"We all need to keep an eye on its projected path," Jindal said at a press briefing today. "There's a lot of uncertainty."

As Hurricane Gustav recovery continues in the Baton Rouge region, projections for Ike vary and show it could make landfall anywhere along the Gulf Coast.

At 7 p.m. CDT, Ike had weakened slightly to a Category 3 hurricane with top winds of 120 mph (195 kph). It was about 30 miles off Cuba's northern coast, moving westward at 14 mph. Ike is moving toward the west near 14 mph. Four of six computer models forecast the storm moving toward the Texas Gulf Coast.

But Jindal emphasized that could easily place strong tropical storm winds in south Louisiana.

12:05 a.m.

With the possibility of Hurricane Ike heading toward the Gulf Coast, city-parish officials are trying to speed up the debris-removal process — from 30 days to less than a week — in East Baton Rouge Parish.