New Orleans Evacuation from Gustav

Almost 2 million people have taken to the roads out of New Orleans. The French Quarter is virtually shut down and all tourists have been asked to leave. There will be no mass shelter (ie. No Superdome situation). All routes into the city have been turned into one-way routes out.

"You need to be scared, you need to be concerned, and you need to get your butts moving out of New Orleans right now. This is the storm of the century," warned Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans, as he issued a mandatory evacuation order.

"This storm is so powerful that I'm not sure we've seen anything like it ... this is the real deal, this is not a test, so anyone out there thinking they can ride this storm out, I have news for you: that would be the biggest mistake of your life."

The Associated Press reports the city's 311 hot line has been inundated with calls from residents trying to get information or sign up for rides out of town ahead of Hurricane Gustav. The city has been using 311 as a way to register the elderly, infirm, people without transportation and others who need the city's help evacuating. New Orleans' assisted evacuated plan is set to begin Saturday morning with city buses slated to pick residents up at 17 sites and take them to a processing site, where they will be put on buses expected to go to shelters in the state or on trains bound for Memphis.

The Causeway Bridge was scheduled to be closed at 7 p.m. to allow for sandbagging.