Hurricane Gustav

Hurricane Gustav Notes, Stats, Facts
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9:17 a.m. ET 9/1/2008
Editor's Note: This is a running collection of notes, reports, and statistics about Hurricane Gustav.
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9:15 am ET
The National Hurricane Center reported at 8 am CT that Hurricane Gustav has weakened to Category 2 storm.
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9 am ET
A Grand Isle, Louisiana, wind instrument measured a 105 mph gust around 8:15 am ET.
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8:55 am ET
FEMA says it has enough food, water, ice and other supplies stockpiled for 1 million victims over the next three days.
FEMA Deputy Director Harvey E. Johnson says an estimated 2 million people have been evacuated from Louisiana, but as many as 10,000 remain in the New Orleans area.
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8:50 am ET
President Bush is headed to the Gulf Coast. He's going to Texas, a staging ground for emergency response efforts and a shelter state for evacuees. He was supposed to have addressed the Republican National Convention tonight, but that speech has been canceled.
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8:40 am ET
Heavy rain has been falling in southern Louisiana. The National Weather service reported at 7:19 am CT that Grand Isle had gotten 14.61 inches in the previous 24 hours.
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8:05 am ET
The Weather Channel meteorologists and reporters are all over the Southeast covering the effects of Gustav. Currently, Jim Cantore is in Houma, La., Jeff Morrow is in New Orleans, and Mike Seidel is in Gulfport, Miss, and Stephanie Abrams is in Morgan City, La.
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7:50 am ET
As of 7:30 am ET, Belle Chase, Louisiana, was reporting sustained winds of 69 mph, power was out over the entire island of Grand Isle and Point a la Hache has reported a storm surge of 9 feet and rising quickly.
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7:25 am ET
Strong bands of heavy rain and damaging winds are rotating through New Orleans at this hour. New Orleans Naval Air Station recently reported a wind gust of 63 mph.
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6:50 am ET
A Gustav-spawned tornado is being reported. A trained spotter saw one come onshore in Gulfort, Miss., near highway 49 at about 5 am CT.
Check severe weather alerts in the Southeast for any watches or warnings.
-- 6:45 am ET
Hurricane Gustav will be quite the rain maker. Areas in its path including New Orleans could get more than 18 inches of rain, while other areas could get at least 6 inches.
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6:20 am ET
The same station at Southwest Pass, Louisiana, recorded sustained winds of 88 mph and a gust of 98 mph at 6 am ET.
Farther east, a buoy 74 miles south of Dauphin Island, Alabama is recording wave heights of 26.9 feet at this hour. Earlier this morning, wave heights were measured near 34 feet.
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5:55 am ET
The 5 am ET advisory from the National Hurricane Center, reported that Boothville, Louisiana, recorded a wind gust of 70 mph. Another station, at Southwest Pass, reported sustained winds of 76 mph and a gust to 108 (observation point was at an elevation of 79 feet above sea level).
Map showing current winds and reported gusts over Louisiana.
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How do Hurricanes Gustav and Katrina compare in terms of size?
Hurricane Katrina was a large hurricane. At one point, hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 105 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extended outward up to 230 miles.

Diameter across = 460 miles.
For Hurricane Gustav, hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 220 miles.
Diameter across = 440 miles