NEW ORLEANS was under curfew last night as thousands of people fled the city in advance of Hurricane Gustav, which was expected to crash into the Gulf Coast today.
Almost exactly three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, mayor Ray Nagin told everyone to leave New Orleans, warning those who stayed that they were on their own.
Republican Presidential candidate John McCain ordered most of the Republican national convention's activities suspended today, the first day of the gathering due in St Paul.
"This is a time when we have to do away with most of our party politics," McCain said. "We're going to suspend most of our activities except those that are absolutely necessary."
"I pledge that tomorrow night, and if necessary throughout our convention, we will act as Americans and not as Republicans because America needs us now," he added.
President George Bush cancelled a planned appearance at the convention saying the message to the people of the Gulf Coast is that "this storm is dangerous."
"Do not put yourself in harm's way, or make rescue workers take unnecessary risks. And know that the American people stand with you. We'll face this emergency together."
Mr Bush said he would visit emergency workers in Texas today but would not travel to Louisiana until he was sure his visit would not impede the relief effort.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said his campaign would consider organising volunteers to travel to the Gulf Coast to help with the emergency effort and would encourage the two million donors who have supported him to contribute to groups like the Red Cross.
"I think we can get tons of volunteers to travel down there, if it becomes necessary," he said, adding that he would not visit the region immediately.
Gustav has already killed more than 80 people as it tore across the Caribbean and meteorologists warned that the storm's surge waters could overwhelm the levees that protect New Orleans from flooding.
The city's Mayor said he was "strongly, strongly, encouraging everyone in the city to evacuate," describing Gustav as "the mother of all storms".
As fleeing residents jammed highways out of the city, hundreds of buses carried thousands of the city's poorest residents to shelters as far away as Memphis and Houston. Imposing a dusk to dawn curfew, Mayor Nagin warned that the lawlessness that followed Katrina would not be tolerated this time.
"Looters will go directly to jail. You will not get a pass this time," he said. "You will not have a temporary stay in the city. You will go directly to the Big House."
Most of the devastation that followed Katrina was caused not by the storm but by flooding after the levees broke and entire neighbourhoods were submerged.
"The Army Corps of Engineers informs me that while the levees are stronger than they've ever been, people across the Gulf Coast, especially in New Orleans, need to understand that in a storm of this size there are serious risks of significant flooding," Mr Bush said.
Local officials say they have learned the lessons of Katrina but a shortage of buses and computer delays in registering evacuees left many people waiting for hours in sweltering temperatures as they tried to leave New Orleans.
