Sunday, August 31, 2008

godspeed GUSTAV

"Gustav roared into the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico as a ferocious Category 4 hurricane Sunday after destroying homes and roads in Cuba. The mayor of New Orleans ordered residents to flee the "storm of the century" by morning.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Gustav weakened slightly over Cuba but was expected to regain strength as it moves over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and toward the U.S. Coast, possibly becoming a top-scale Category 5 hurricane on Sunday.
Forecasters said Gustav was just short of Category 5 strength when it made landfall Saturday on mainland Cuba near the community of Los Palacios in Pinar del Rio — a region that produces much of the tobacco used to make the nation's famed cigars.
At least 300,000 people were evacuated from Gustav's path as screaming 140 mph (220 kph) winds toppled telephone poles and fruit trees, shattered windows and tore off the tin roofs of homes."

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