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Officials closely monitor Gustav’s path |
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Thursday, 28 August 2008 |
By BRIAN HAWKINS
Starkville Daily News
Though still several days away from any potential landfall in the United States, early tracking models for Tropical Storm Gustav have local, state and national emergency management officials urging residents take precautions for a major hurricane.
Late Wednesday night, Gustav had moved over Haiti, and its eye was positioned northeast of Jamaica.
The storm had weakened somewhat, with maximum sustained winds at 45 mph Wednesday, but the National Hurricane Center is forecasting a slow restrengthening over the next few days as the storm tracks toward western Cuba and into the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The possibility exists that the storm will regain hurricane strength by Friday and could become up to a Category 3 storm once it enters the Gulf of Mexico late Saturday night or in the predawn hours Sunday morning, according to a public alert posted online by the Hurricane Center Wednesday night.
“It’s still too early to actually know where this thing’s going to go, but all the models so far have it coming on a similar path to Hurricane Katrina once it enters the Gulf,” said Jim Britt, Oktibbeha County emergency management director, Wednesday afternoon.
“Bearing that in mind, we want folks to be aware of what’s happening and take the necessary precautions in case we do end up in a severe weather situation. They need to have some cash on hand, check flashlight and radio batteries, make sure there is plenty of drinking water and check their First Aid kits, among other things.”
Britt also encouraged local homeowners to prune tree branches around their homes to help minimize potential damage should Gustav work its way into the Golden Triangle.
Monitoring weather forecasts the next several days — particularly heading into the extended Labor Day weekend — will be critical, Britt said.
“If it does what people are saying it’s going to do, we could see something similar to Katrina in this area sometime Tuesday or Wednesday,” Britt said.
“We’ll have a better idea once the storm starts moving into the Gulf over the weekend.”
Based upon conditions and available information Wednesday night, the Hurricane Center’s tracking model show’s Gustav’s eye passing north of Jamaica today and then over the Cayman Islands Friday.
The tracking model has the storm making landfall along the extreme southeast coast of Louisiana or along the western Mississippi Gulf Coast sometime Monday night.
Local American Red Cross officials are already gearing up to be ready to respond to the storm locally and in the coastal areas.
The Oktibbeha County Red Cross chapter has been placed on alert, said Executive Director Becky Wilkes Wednesday afternoon.
“This means we’re evaluating our resources, making sure our volunteer base is ready and preparing to offer assistance to chapters further south in Mississippi or Louisiana if we’re needed,” Wilkes said. “We’ve been requested to send volunteers to Hattiesburg, where the Red Cross is setting up an operations center for this particular storm.”
Before and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — which struck 3 years ago this Friday — the local Red Cross chapter opened a shelter and service center for storm evacuees at First United Methodist Church and worked in conjunction with other agencies to coordinate local relief efforts.
The chapter will be directed to open a shelter to respond to Gustav as needs dictate at the state and regional level, Wilkes said. Current Red Cross policy is to fill shelters in the south and central areas of the states with Mississippi evacuees first, and then shelters in the northern areas would open to serve additional evacuees from Louisiana and other areas, she said.
Wilkes said national Red Cross officials are encouraging preparedness. Information about disaster readiness — including preparing a family disaster kit — is available online at http://www.redcross.org or at the Homeland Security Department’s preparedness Web site at http://www.ready.gov.
Editor’s note: Additional information about local storm response preparation efforts will be published in the Starkville Daily News and on the newspaper’s Web site at http://www.starkvilledailynews.com as needs arise over the next several days.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 29 August 2008 )
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