I pray to god to keep harms away from the poor and needy. Also, hopefully government officials learned from the Katrina mistakes and will be able to better respond to this yet another monstrous storm.
Excerpt from official reports:
GUSTAV STILL STRENGTHENING AS IT IMPACTS WESTERN CUBA...
AT 500 PM EDT ... A HURRICANE WATCH IS ISSUED FOR THE NORTHERN GULF COAST FROM EAST OF HIGH ISLAND TEXAS EASTWARD TO THE ALABAMA-FLORIDA BORDER...INCLUDING THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS AND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN.
...
AT 500 PM EDT...THE EYE OF HURRICANE GUSTAV WAS LOCATED ... ABOUT 130 MILES EAST-NORTHEAST OF THE WESTERN TIP OF CUBA AND ABOUT 80 MILES ... SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF HAVANA CUBA.
...
GUSTAV IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 15 MPH ... ON THIS TRACK THE CENTER OF GUSTAV WILL CROSS WESTERN CUBA TONIGHT THEN EMERGE OVER THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO EARLY ON SUNDAY AND REACH THE NORTHERN GULF ON MONDAY.
DATA FROM AN AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 150 MPH ... WITH HIGHER GUSTS.
GUSTAV IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. SOME FLUCTUATIONS WITH AN OVERALL SLIGHT STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS AND GUSTAV COULD REACH CATEGORY FIVE INTENSITY DURING THIS PERIOD.
GUSTAV IS FORECAST TO REMAIN A MAJOR HURRICANE THROUGH LANDFALL ALONG THE NORTHERN GULF COAST.
...
GUSTAV IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES ACROSS CENTRAL AND WESTERN CUBA WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF UP TO 20 INCHES POSSIBLE. THESE RAINS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODS AND MUD SLIDES. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE OVER FLORIDA KEYS AND EXTREME SOUTHERN FLORIDA. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE CAYMAN ISLANDS.
ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT OVER THE FLORIDA KEYS AND THE SOUTHERN FLORIDA PENINSULA.
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