Memo To Gulf Coast: Heed The Warnings

The latest hurricane in the 2008 season, Hurricane Gustav, is tearing through Haiti and Cuba, but is expected to make landfall somewhere along the Gulf Coast some time next week. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is already warning his residents to be aware and prepared for the possibility of landfall or the need to evacuate.

In a news conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said he could declare a state of emergency by Thursday and warned residents to be prepared.

"Be ready, now's the time to review your plans," Jindal said. "This is a serious storm."

Gustav triggered flooding and landslides that killed at least 11 people before weakening to a tropical storm, but forecasters said Wednesday it's still a major threat to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

That means that oil rigs in the Gulf may have to shut down to avoid damage and to evacuate the rigs in advance of the storm. It also means that energy prices will increase as the market takes into account lower supply.

We're about to find out whether the Gulf Coast has learned anything in the three years since Katrina made landfall.

Jindal may miss the GOP Convention if Gustav hits along the Gulf Coast, but that should be the least of his concerns right now. He's got to make sure that state and local officials, including New Orleans Mayor "Whiplash" Ray Nagin, don't replay the absolute disaster of a state and local response that made the situation in Katrina as bad as it was.

For all the talk about how slowly the federal government responded, the problem started first and foremost with a wholly inadequate and feeble state and local response that didn't even bother to utilize resources on hand, such as buses in the Ray Nagin Memorial Motor Pool.

That means he's got to be on top of the situation in New Orleans and make sure that they evacuate and have the necessary equipment and personnel in place to respond. It means being proactive instead of reactive, incompetent, and tentative as Gov. Blanco was.

Jammie has more.

UPDATE:
For those following Hurricane Gustav, the GFDL model has it pretty much hitting Louisiana dead on. Most of the other models are also predicting a hit on Louisiana. However, Brendan Loy points out that several meteorologists and models are showing Gustav slowing and/or stalling, which makes predicting landfall more difficult.

UPDATE:
Whiplash Nagin was interviewed by CNN tonight about the preparedness of the city in case Gustav makes landfall in or near NOLA. He says all the right things, but the fact is that this highlights how criminally negligent he was in 2005 when he didn't do anything until it was too late, and even then dawdled while his residents suffered immeasurably from his failings. To this day, I still don't get how and why New Orleans residents ever reelected him.