NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) — Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal Wednesday declared a state of emergency and announced plans to begin evacuating coastal areas ahead of the storm forecast to strike the state on Monday afternoon as a Category 3 hurricane.
Residents of New Orleans, in particular, were tracking the path of Gustav, which looked set to strike the Big Easy within days of the third anniversary of the devastating Hurricane Katrina.
Residents were warned to document the repairs they've done to their homes since Katrina smashed the city's levees, destroying tens of thousands of homes and killing nearly 1,500 people.
Just over half of the city's residents have returned and large swathes of the city remain abandoned to rot and ruin after floodwaters as high as 15 feet (4.5 meters) swallowed around 80 percent of New Orleans.
Meanwhile, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who was criticized for his administration's botched response to Katrina, made plans to leave the Democratic National Convention early so he could help the city prepare for the oncoming storm.
The city's animal shelter began preparations to evacuate scores of animals to shelters in Texas and the state capital of Baton Rouge, and urged residents to include their pets in their evacuation plans.
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