With Gustav approaching hurricane strength and showing no signs of veering off a track to slam into the Gulf Coast, authorities across the region began laying the groundwork Thursday to get the sick, elderly and poor away from the shoreline.
The first batch of 700 buses that could ferry residents inland were being sent to a staging area near New Orleans, and officials in Mississippi were trying to decide when to move residents along the coast who were still living in temporary homes after 2005's Hurricane Katrina.
The planning for a potential evacuation is part of a massive outline drafted after Katrina slammed ashore three years ago, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans and stranding thousands who couldn't get out in time. As the region prepared to mark the storm's anniversary Friday, officials expressed confidence those blueprints made them ready for Gustav.
Hanna, the eighth named storm of the 2008 hurricane season, is spinning about 1,450 miles east-southeast of Miami with 40 mph winds. Forecasters said Hanna could grow into a hurricane by Labor Day but likely wouldn't threaten the U.S. coast until later next week, if at all.
Wind shear had ''taken its toll on Hanna,'' and the fledgling storm was ''struggling,'' according to a 5 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade County.
Gustav is expected to plow into Louisiana on Tuesday. We could have two hurricanes hit the mainland in the space of a few days.
With Gustav approaching hurricane strength and showing no signs of veering off a track to slam into the Gulf Coast, authorities across the region began laying the groundwork Thursday to get the sick, elderly and poor away from the shoreline.
The first batch of 700 buses that could ferry residents inland were being sent to a staging area near New Orleans, and officials in Mississippi were trying to decide when to move residents along the coast who were still living in temporary homes after 2005's Hurricane Katrina.
The planning for a potential evacuation is part of a massive outline drafted after Katrina slammed ashore three years ago, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans and stranding thousands who couldn't get out in time. As the region prepared to mark the storm's anniversary Friday, officials expressed confidence those blueprints made them ready for Gustav.
Hanna, the eighth named storm of the 2008 hurricane season, is spinning about 1,450 miles east-southeast of Miami with 40 mph winds. Forecasters said Hanna could grow into a hurricane by Labor Day but likely wouldn't threaten the U.S. coast until later next week, if at all.
Wind shear had ''taken its toll on Hanna,'' and the fledgling storm was ''struggling,'' according to a 5 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade County.
Gustav is expected to plow into Louisiana on Tuesday. We could have two hurricanes hit the mainland in the space of a few days.
