Millions flee New Orleans as Gustav bears down

New Orleans was a rain-lashed ghost city today, with just a handful of remaining citizens hiding in their homes as they braced themselves for the arrival of Hurricane Gustav.

After the evacuation of almost two million people from the city and surrounding areas, America waited to see whether the tropical storm would overwhelm the flood defences rebuilt since Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,600 people in August 2005.

Officials, acutely aware of the political damage to the Bush administration and local politicians, were determined not to make the same mistake. Planning for search and rescue and clean-up operations was advanced.

Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans said: "We cannot afford to screw up again.'' Officials ordered everyone to leave, threatened arrest for those that stayed and said looters would be shot.

Late last night, the Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal, delivered a final plea to the estimated 100,000 people still left in the coastal regions: "If you've not evacuated, please do so. There are still a few hours left."

Louisiana and Mississippi state authorities changed traffic flow so all highway lanes led away from the coast, and cars were packed bumpertobumper heading north.

Jerry Williams, a painter trying to catch one of the last buses out of town, said: "You're torn. Do you leave it and worry about it, or do you stay and worry about living?"

Hurricane Gustav is estimated at a Category Three storm, but was gaining strength as it approached the Louisiana coastline with rain and winds of around 135 mph. At midnight, the National Hurricane Centre said Gustav was centred about 175 miles south-east of the mouth of the Mississippi and moving north-west at around 17 miles per hour.

Officials were unsure of precisely where the eye of the storm will hit. Gustav was forecast to bring a storm surge of up to 14 feet, less than the 25 feet of Katrina, but enough to threaten the rebuilt flood defences around the city and the low-lying coastal areas of Louisiana and south-east Texas, from where thousands have also fled. Corey Walton, a hurricane support meteorologist with the National Hurricane Centre, said New Orleans was likely be on the "dirty" side of the storm - where rainfall is heaviest and tornadoes are possible. But if the city is east of where Gustav's eye crosses, the storm surge would be lower.

British officials in Houston said any UK citizens should leave the area and offered any help needed. Warwick University chemistry student, Martin Levere, 25, of Coventry, managed to get on a plane at two hours' notice "On the way out to the airport we saw many tourists preparing to abandon the city," he said. "I was glad I hadn't chosen to wait until things got really competitive."

James Lewis, 38, originally from London, landlord of the Crown and Anchor English pub in New Orleans, said he was determined not to see a repeat of the looting that destroyed his business after Katrina.

"We are very prepared here," he said. "It's the old adage - prepare for the worst, hope for the best. We're not a bunch of idiots staying here. I have a lot of friends here in the neighbourhood who are staying and the pub is a community centre for the neighbourhood."

Aileen Bennett, 43, also originally from London, said she and her husband Sean were staying and were focusing on what they had, not on what they might lose. "There are people in the world who live every day without electricity, air conditioning, endless supplies of food and shelter.''