source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26476001/The military was flying 1,500 civilian critical care patients from Louisiana and Texas to safer locations over the weekend. Some 16,000 other civilians could be flown from New Orleans to Dallas-Fort Worth, according to U.S. Northern Command, based in Colorado.
Edited to add:
As of 5:30am CDT, my neice says that there are major "discussions" (read that as arguments) within the NWS and NHC concerning Gustav and the official/publicly released forecast. Politics has certainly entered the mix - if officials stage a repeat of Katrina-level response and the damage is bad, they're screwed. If officials do not get people out "early" or Gustav ends up going "elsewhere" and the evacuation causes too much of a "hardship" for those who did evacuate, then they (the politicians) are screwed. It's a no win situation for the NWS/NHC. Despite what anyone thinks, the official forecasts are not based solely on "science"; regardless, the predictive models have significant room for error.
That said, the neice is staying in the area of Slidell hoping for the best. Personally, I'm riding it out on the East Bank area of Jefferson Parish with my elderly Dad who refuses to leave. I don't have much of a choice as I can't leave him here alone.
