Aug 31, 2008 10:34 am US/Eastern
Thousands Flee New Orleans Ahead Of Gustav
NEW ORLEANS (CBS4) ―
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Padro and Smokey wait for their owners to board a city bus during early evacuation as hurricane Gustav approaches Aug. 30, 2008, in New Orleans, La.
Stephen Morton/Getty Images
Three years after Hurricane Katrina decimated much of New Orleans, residents of the Big Easy are being ordered out of town in the face of a new storm.
Hurricane Gustav is barreling across the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to make landfall on Monday somewhere between western Mississippi and east Texas.
CBS4 reporter Jorge Estevez is in New Orleans where Mayor Ray Nagin has ordered mandatory evacuations.
Estevez found at the bus depot in Union Station hundreds of city residents were boarding buses and didn't even know where they were headed, all that was important was that they were getting out. I-10, a major thoroughfare in and out of New Orleans, has been placed in contraflow; meaning all lanes go in one direction – and that is away from the city.
From the airport to the highways, lines of people move at snails pace as they flee the city.
About a million residents and tourists have left already and more will be on the highways and in the air out of town on Sunday.
"I'm scared to death," said one New Orleans resident as she stocked up on supplies as she prepared to evacuate the city.
Most shoppers at area grocery stores picked up last minute food items they would need for the road.
"Just the necessities," said another shopper who had decided to stay in her home and ride out Gustav, "Coke, bread, ham, water. If I survived Katrina, I can do this, I can do this one."
Business owners spent much of Saturday boarding up their offices and stores and sandbagging the doorways. Late Saturday night, the normally busy Canal Street was virtually empty.
For residents who have refused to evacuate without their pets, special buses have been designated to take both man and beast to safety.
Unlike Katrina, the city will not offer emergency services to those who choose stay behind, Nagin said, and there will be no "last resort" shelter. The city said in a news release that those not on their property after the mandatory evacuation started would be subject to arrest.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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