Hurricane Katrina slams Louisiana coast

By Rick Wilking

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Hurricane Katrina slammed into the
Louisiana coast on Monday with 140 mile per hour (224 kph)
winds as the powerful storm came ashore from the Gulf of Mexico
and took aim at low-lying New Orleans.

The coast, much of it lightly populated swamps, was being
pounded with high winds and heavy rains while New Orleans, 55
miles northeast, braced for the worst of Katrina.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm, now
Category 4 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, was not quite
the monster it had been in the open Gulf, but still packed a
powerful punch. It had been a Category 5 with 175 mile per hour
(280 kph) winds.

In New Orleans, wind gusts had already topped 85 miles per
hour (135 kph), well above hurricane force, and the powerful
center of the storm was still two to three hours away, the
center said.

Even into early Monday, Louisiana highways were thick with
traffic as residents sought safety as far away as Texas, 265
miles to the west.

“The only thing I was worried about was the water. We don’t
worry about no wind,” said Cray Bruce as he stopped for gas in
Crowley, Louisiana, 160 miles west of New Orleans.

The winds shook street signs, whipped trees about and
knocked out electricity in some areas, but streets were largely
abandoned after officials said at least 1 million people fled
the storm.

Weather forecasters said Katrina may veer just east of New
Orleans and head toward neighboring Mississippi, where strong
winds were already building.

In Baton Rouge, officials said three people from a New
Orleans nursing home had died during their evacuation to a
Baton Rouge church. They said they were among nearly two dozen
people from the home who were on a bus stuck in traffic for
hours during the 80 mile trip.

NEW ORLEANS IN DANGER

Weather experts had warned of a possible storm surge as
high as 28 feet, enough to damage or destroy thousands of homes
and leave 1 million people homeless.

New Orleans is nearly surrounded by water, including Lake
Pontchartrain and the Mississippi, and about 70 percent of it
lies below sea level, protected only by a series of levees.

Mayor Ray Nagin, who ordered a mandatory evacuation, warned
the predicted storm surge could push water over the levees and
flood the city, including its historic French Quarter.

Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said 26,000 people had taken
shelter in the Superdome, a giant, enclosed stadium near the
French Quarter.

“Please Pray for New Orleans” read a giant hand-painted
sign, appearing to sum up the fears that had seized the city
known as the Big Easy for its relaxed life and party
atmosphere.

New Orleans has not been hit directly by a hurricane since
1965 when Hurricane Betsy blew in, flooding the city. The storm
killed about 75 people overall.

Katrina was making its second U.S. landfall after striking
southern Florida last week, where it caused widespread flooding
and seven deaths.

As Katrina plowed through the Gulf of Mexico, oil companies
shut down production from many of the offshore platforms that
provide a quarter of U.S. oil and gas production.

At least 42 percent of daily Gulf oil production, 20
percent of daily Gulf natural gas output and 8.5 percent of
national refining capacity was shut on Sunday, producers and
refiners said.

U.S. oil futures jumped nearly $5 a barrel in opening trade
to touch a peak of $70.80. The rise in oil prices fed through
to other financial markets, hurting stocks and the dollar on
fears that economic growth might be curtailed but boosting safe
havens such as government bonds and gold.