New Orleans evacuated in face of hurricane

An immediate mandatory evacuation for the southern US city of New Orleans was ordered today as Hurricane Katrina bore down with winds up to nearly 175 mph and a threat of a massive storm surge.

Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city of 485,000 people set up 10 places of last resort including the Superdome arena.

“There doesn’t seem to be any relief in sight,” Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said, joining city Mayor Ray Nagin at a news conference.

The mayor called the order unprecedented, but said Katrina’s storm surge would likely top the levees that protect the city from the surrounding water of Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi River and marshes. The bowl-shaped city must pump water out even during normal times, and the hurricane threatened pump power.

“We are facing a storm that most of us have long feared,” Mr Nagin said.

The governor said Interstate 10, which was converted yesterday so that all lanes headed one-way out of town, was totally gridlocked.

At 11am local time (4pm Irish time), the National Hurricane Centre said Katrina’s maximum sustained wind speed had stepped up to nearly 175 mph, with higher gusts. The hurricane’s eye was around 225 miles south-south-east of the mouth of Mississippi River.

“This is a once in a lifetime event,” the mayor said. “The city of New Orleans has never seen a hurricane of this magnitude hit it directly.”

The mayor said people who opted to go to the Superdome should come with enough food and supplies to last three to five days.