New Orleans evacuates for 'big, ugly storm'

Thousands of people in New Orleans and across the US Gulf Coast fled their homes yesterday as Hurricane Gustav barrelled through the Gulf of Mexico packing a punch potentially as powerful as Hurricane Katrina.

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin ordered mandatory evacuation of the city of 239,000 and told residents: "This is still a big, ugly storm, still strong and I encourage everyone to leave."

The storm evoked memories of Katrina which struck almost exactly three years ago, flooding 80 per cent of the city, killing 1,500 people in five states and costing $80 billion.

Mr Nagin warned anyone who defied evacuation orders they would face extreme danger. Travel trailers that had housed some of those displaced by Katrina might "become projectiles" in the hurricane-force winds. He laid down a dusk-to-dawn curfew and told looters they would be sent straight to prison.

By most accounts, evacuations from New Orleans and other coastal cities were proceeding smoothly although traffic was moving slowly on clogged highways. More than 11.5 million residents in five states could feel the impact of the storm.

President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, accused of a slow and botched response to Katrina's chaos, said they would not attend this week's Republican National Convention in St Paul, Minnesota. Mr Bush would travel to Texas to oversee emergency efforts. Republican presidential nominee John McCain headed to the Gulf to survey preparations. Republicans were trying to figure out how to adjust their convention schedule to take account of events on the Gulf coast. The oil industry from Texas to New Orleans was shutting down offshore platforms and flood-prone refineries on shore as the storm moved towards the region that pumps around a quarter of the nation's oil supply.

If, as currently predicted, Gustav lands west of New Orleans today as a Category 4 hurricane with wind speeds up to 249 kph, its 4.9-metre storm surge could break through the same levees that failed three years ago.

Federal officials say the levees protecting New Orleans are stronger now but still have gaps.

Thousands of people, still carrying emotional scars from Katrina, yesterday jammed highways out of New Orleans. The government lined up hundreds of buses and trains to evacuate 30,000 people who could not leave on their own and Mr Nagin said 15,000 had been removed from the city, including hundreds in wheelchairs.

Residents boarded up the windows of their shops and homes before leaving town.