NPR 2008-08-31

The exodus 1 from the Gulf 2 Coast has begun as Hurricane Gustav takes aim on the region. Tens of thousands of people have been leaving today. If the storm stays on its current path, a mandatory 3 evacuation will be ordered for the entire city of New Orleans in the morning. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour says all lanes of two major interstate highways will be rerouted to handle people leaving Louisiana. Gustav is expected to strengthen further by tomorrow to a Category-5 storm with winds of 160 miles an hour or more. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal says his state is in a projected bull's eye. "This could be as bad as it gets, based on the water temperature, based on the hurricane storm track. Obviously things can still change, but our people need to take the storm extremely seriously, not just because of the winds, but also because of the tidal surge." Jindal is assigning hundreds of National Guard troops to help patrol the streets of New Orleans after the expected evacuation.

Business has been brisk today at stores in the region as people buy supplies to secure their homes. Jevons Salastin works at a Home Depot 4 in Houma, Louisiana. “People all get their money out of the bank, get everything set aside to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” Some of the people leaving New Orleans have been evacuated 5 by train to Memphis, Cantus Ledlow from member station WKNO reports.

More than 3500 New Orleans’ evacuees 6 are expected to arrive in Memphis tonight by train. AMTRAK has suspended its regular passenger service so that the train called "City of New Orleans" could be used to transport people who would not otherwise have transportation. Three years ago, mass transportation was not used when Katrina hit, leaving many trapped in the city. Emergency officials and the Red Cross have set up ten shelters in Memphis for nearly 2000 of those coming in tonight. The remainder will take shelter in community centers east of Memphis. For NPR News, I'm Cantus Ledlow in Memphis.

Hurricane Gustav is currently pummeling Cuba's western tip. The storm has maximum winds of 150 miles an hour. It's expected to slam into the Gulf Coast late Monday or early Tuesday.

Democratic presidential nominee 7 Barack Obama is campaigning in Ohio today and other swing states this weekend. NPR's Don Gonyea has more from the campaign trail.

Senator Obama is campaigning with his running mate Joe Biden in Ohio today. The Obama campaign has been focusing on key battleground states in these days immediately following the wrap-up of the Democratic Convention. The Obama campaign has also released a new TV ad, reacting to Senator McCain's pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. They are not talking so much about Palin in that ad. They are talking about John McCain and saying while he has portrayed 8 his pick as another example of the kind of change he would bring the Washington, they say that, that really John McCain represents more of the same. Don Gonyea NPR News, traveling in Ohio with the Obama campaign.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown says Russia must not be allowed to subject Europe to what he called an energy stranglehold. In a Sunday article in a London newspaper, Brown says he has told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to expect a determined 9 response when European Union leaders meet Monday to discuss the situation in the former Soviet 10 Republic of Georgia. Brown added that it may be necessary to re-evaluate NATO's relationship with Russia and Russia's participation 11 in the Group of Eight Major Industrialized Nations.

The UN Refugee Agency has registered some 2300 people from villages in Georgia in the buffer 12 zone between the town of Gori and the breakaway South Ossetia region. Lisa Schlein has that story from Geneva.

The UN Refugee Agency says the internally displaced include about 800 elderly people who were forced to flee their homes by marauding militia 13, some reportedly from South Ossetia. Spokeswoman Helene Caux says they are staying in a tent camp near Gori. "The newly displaced in Gori all have stories of intimidation 14 including beatings by the militia in buffer zone villages north of Gori." Coe says some of these elderly Georgians have fled their homes a second time because they felt unsafe when they returned to their villages. They report their houses were damaged and looted, their cattle slaughtered 15. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein in Geneva.

In India, emergency workers have been hampered 16 by heavy rain and damaged roads as they tried to get relief supplies to millions of villagers displaced by widespread flooding. The waters have spread over more than 200,000 acres of farmland in that country. Despite a marathon rescue effort, thousands of people remain stranded 17.