HURRICANE GUSTAV General Update 05:00 Hrs CDT USA 30 August 2008.
Please note the header color change to RED indicating a potential threat to US life and property. Hurricane Gustav is a high Category 2 Hurricane and will most likely be a Major, Category 3 storm within hours. Central winds as reported by the Hurricane Hunter aircraft just minutes ago are at 110 MPH with gusting to near 135 MPH. This killer storm has already been responsible for nearly 100 lost lives in the Caribbean and with the development to Major status sometime today, that toll will increase as it passes near the western tip of Cuba.
Persons from Houston, Texas, to just east of Pensacola, Florida, are at risk. The center of the tracking projections places tentative landfall near Morgan City, Louisiana, late Monday into early Tuesday. This track may change, however, so please use the links below for hourly updates concerning Hurricane Gustav’s intensity, track and potential landfall locations. This is an extremely dangerous storm and everyone along the COASTAL areas mentioned above should have their properties secured, evacuation supplies ready to go and should be constantly monitoring the National Weather Service, NOAA and local media for regional updates and official orders from local government.
We are also monitoring Tropical Storm Hanna, but since it’s development is slow, we will concentrate mainly on Gustav at this time.
Use the first link below for Tropical System information and the second link below for active watches, warnings and data.
http://www.weather.gov/largemap.php
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“THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL ADVISORY. These updates and advisories are based upon information from our own computer models, NOAA, Local Weather Data Centers, deep water Buoy Data, and other publicly available sources. FOR THE SAFETY OF YOUR PROPERTY AND PERSON, please refer to your Local, State, and Federal Authority updates for Official Advisories and Orders. For up to the minute advisories and official updates, it is essential that you monitor your local Emergency Government, NOAA and Local Media Broadcasts. Please do not make personal safety decisions based upon information presented here in this Unofficial Advisory.”
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