nagin on gustav: 'this is the storm of the century'

fema: gustav to be category 5
from ap: The government's disaster relief chief says Hurricane Gustav is growing into a monster Category 5 storm. The storm that hit Cuba Saturday could reach landfall along the Gulf Coast by early Tuesday. Federal Emergency Management Agency chief David Paulison told reporters several times at a briefing Saturday that the storm was strengthening into a Category 5 hurricane.

with eye on gustav, blackwater seeks personnel
from ap: Security contractor Blackwater Worldwide is seeking personnel that could possibly be deployed into areas affected by Hurricane Gustav. The Moyock-based company issued a call Friday for law enforcement officers and armed security officers who already have the credentials to work in such an environment, including those with arrest powers. Blackwater responded to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and reported pulling 128 people to safety. The company started work there without a client, but won both government and private sector business within days.

global hawk may be called for storm duty
from sun herald: Something that's being manufactured in part right here on the Coast could forever change the face of hurricane predictions, hurricane monitoring and even hurricane relief. But whether it's detecting land mines in a faraway country or monitoring contraflow in a hurricane evacuation, it's all the same equipment, officials with Northrop Grumman said Wednesday. And if Gustav becomes enough of a threat, the Global Hawk's capabilities might get a hurricane test run.

mandatory evacuations to begin sunday morning in new orleans
from cnn: New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city beginning 8 a.m. Sunday but urged residents to consider escaping "the mother of all storms" before then. "You need to be scared," Nagin said of the Category 4 hurricane tearing along Cuba's western coast. "You need to be concerned, and you need to get your butts moving out of New Orleans right now. This is the storm of the century." The city's west bank is to evacuate at 8 a.m.