NEW ORLEANS — More than 1.2 million people in metropolitan New Orleans were warned to get out yesterday as 140-mph Hurricane Ivan churned toward the Gulf Coast, threatening to submerge this below-sea-level city in what could be the most disastrous storm to hit in nearly 40 years.
Residents streamed inland in bumper-to-bumper traffic in an agonizingly slow exodus amid dire warnings that Ivan could overwhelm New Orleans with up to 20 feet of filthy, chemical-polluted water. About three-quarters of a million more people along the coast in Florida, Mississippi and Alabama also were told to evacuate.
Forecasters said Ivan, blamed for at least 68 deaths in the Caribbean, could reach 160 mph and strengthen to Category 5, the highest level, by the time it blows ashore as early as Thursday somewhere along the Gulf Coast.
“Hopefully the house will still be here when we get back,” said Tara Chandra, a doctor at Tulane University in New Orleans who packed up his car, moved plants indoors and tried to book a Houston hotel room. “All the news reports are kind of freaking her out.”
The National Hurricane Center in Miami posted a hurricane warning for about a 300-mile swath from Apalachicola in the Florida Panhandle to New Orleans and Grand Isle in Louisiana. Forecasters said Ivan could bring a coastal storm surge of 10 to 16 feet, topped by large, battering waves.
New Orleans, the nation’s largest city below sea level, is particularly vulnerable to flooding, and Mayor Ray Nagin was among the first to urge residents to get out while they can. The city’s Louis Armstrong Airport was ordered closed last night.
Up to 10 feet below sea level in spots, New Orleans is a bowl-shaped depression that sits between the half-mile-wide Mississippi River and Rhode Island-size Lake Pontchartrain. It relies on a system of levees, canals and huge pumps to keep dry.
Experts said Ivan could be worse, sending water pouring over levees, flooding to the rooftops and turning streets into a toxic brew of raw sewage, gas and chemicals from nearby refineries.
Nagin said he would “aggressively recommend” people evacuate, but that it would be difficult to order them to, because at least 100,000 in the city rely on public transportation and would have no way to leave. In addition, he said 10,000 people were in town for conventions, and there was nowhere for many of them to go except their hotels.
In the French Quarter, businesses put up plywood and closed their shutters. A few people were still hanging out at Cafe du Monde, a favorite spot for French roast coffee and beignets, and a man playing a trombone outside had a box full of tips.
“They said get out, but I can’t change my flight, so I figure I might as well enjoy myself,” said George Senton, of Newark, N.J., who listened to the music. “At least I’ll have had some good coffee and some good music before it gets me.”
Tourist Dee Barkhart, a court reporter from Baltimore, was drinking Hurricane punches at Pat O’Brien’s bar.
“I looked into earlier flights, but they were hundreds of dollars more and I wasn’t sure I could switch flights,” she said. “I figure I’m happier sitting here drinking hurricanes than sitting at the airport worrying about them.”
Elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, thousands of residents, gamblers and tourists crowded northbound roads. Motels were booked as far north as Jackson, Miss., and Montgomery, Ala.
“I don’t worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow. We can’t control it anyway,” said Ed Bak of Fairfield, Ohio, who dropped quarters into a machine at the President Casino.
In Alabama, Gov. Bob Riley ordered the evacuation of coastal resorts. “This is a serious storm that requires serious action to get people out of harm’s way,” he said.
“We are just hoping to still be here,” said Matt Claxton, an assistant manager of a Perdido Key seafood restaurant as workers brought the patio furniture inside.
