New Orleans Clears Out as Hurricane Gustav Takes Aim at Coast (Brian K. Sullivan)

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  (Bloomberg) -- Residents along the Gulf Coast from Texas to Mississippi fled their homes in cars, trains and buses as what may be ``the storm of the century'' headed for landfall in areas scoured by Katrina and Rita three years ago.

  The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Hurricane Gustav may reach Louisiana as early as midday tomorrow. Coastal parishes and the city of New Orleans, much of which was covered by stinking, toxic water when Katrina overwhelmed levees and floodwalls in August 2005, called for mandatory evacuations.

  ``You need to be scared; you need to get your butts moving out of New Orleans now,'' Mayor Ray Nagin said at a press conference late yesterday. ``This is the storm of the century. This is the mother of all storms. I am not sure we have seen anything like it.''

  The state made highways one-way out of the city at 4 a.m. today, the state's emergency Web Site said. Outbound traffic clogged highways east and west of New Orleans, while convoys of school buses and ambulances rolled into town.

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