Authorities in southern states of the United States on Tuesday urged residents to evacuate low-lying coastal areas, including New Orleans, as ferocious Hurricane Ivan barrelled across the Gulf of Mexico towards land.
Tens of thousands of people were told to leave their homes for safer ground ahead of Ivan’s anticipated US landfall early on Thursday morning.
Authorities ordered or recommended evacuations in north-western Florida, coastal Alabama and New Orleans, and were expected to do so in Mississippi later in the day.
On Tuesday morning, Ivan was located almost 700km south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, packing winds of 225kph.
Residents along the coastal swath that is expected to be battered by the deadly storm boarded up houses and stocked up on essentials, including water and batteries.
Military bases in the area also battened down the hatches and moved personnel, aircraft and ships to safer areas.
The most likely forecast track has the fierce storm making landfall on the Alabama-Mississipi border, which would affect the cities of Mobile, Biloxi and possibly New Orleans in Louisiana.
Ivan could also hit Florida, which is still recovering from the damage wrought by two other hurricanes over the past month.
Alabama Governor Bob Riley on Monday declared an official state of emergency, which enables him to take a series of measures, notably to prevent price gouging on essential supplies.
New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin called for an evacuation of the low-lying city, as officials pointed out that the weaker Hurricane Betsy had killed 110 people and left the city under more than 2m of water in 1965.
Oil companies were flying personnel off their rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.
Ivan killed more than 70 people as it moved from Grenada across the Caribbean to Cuba, whose western tip was slammed on Monday evening before the hurricane headed into the Gulf of Mexico.
It lost a little steam and was downgraded one notch from the top category five, but forecasters say it could regain strength before landfall. — Sapa-AFP
Ivan hits Cuba, moves towards US