942 mlb, 150 mph sustained, plowing into Cuba as of 5:40 PM CDT. At 156 mph he becomes a category 5.

So word is we are to expect a 15 foot storm surge in Old Mandeville and Slidell is to expect between 16 (which is how high Katrina got) to 22 foot surge.

Gustav is going to bomb out to around 160 mph winds once in the Gulf - if not higher, which would not surprise me. But he will lose power when he gets to the 'cooler' waters of the low 80s in the northern Gulf - plus lose depth.

Sandbagging, moving plants, etc...today, this evening and tomorrow.

Got plenty of beer for now. Gas stations out of gas. Mobile had zero gas when I drove through there yesterday, and parts of lower Alabama were out of gas. But not all - I found a Shell this morning around 2AM that had gas so I filled up.

Ha ha - I made it home from Fairhope, AL to Mandeville, LA in exactly 2 hours. I was going a little fast. Good show last night at Pirate's Cove, sold a bunch of copies of the new record, sweated my ass off, blah blah blah...we did Sweet Virginia, had everyone singing along.

Best wishes and luck to all who are or might be concerned.

Hope you all will doin´ fine ,not getting hurt and without any damages.

That´s all I can do,unfortunately

but with a

Having just gone throuh Fay last week(and watching to see where Hanna is going to go) I can tell you its a frightening thing to face the possibitity of losing evverything you've worked your whole life for in a matter of hours! Fay stalled overtop of us for 48 hours and dropped 14 inches of rain here(my sister who lives 25 miles south of us got 25 inches!) Thousands of peoples homes are still flooded up to five feet deep...several rivers and lakes have yet to reach their highest levels yet and the possibility of yet more rain from Hanna(not to mention normal afternoon thunderstorms which are almost a daily occurence has everyone stressed out here. Our prayers go out to those of you bracing for Gustav on the Gulf coast...my advice to you is to GET THE HELL OUT OF DODGE!!! You can replce your homes and possesions but not your lives and those of your loved ones!

Um...

I love how these things change - it's better than a Stones set list.

Now the prediction for Old Mandeville is 17-22 feet. That puts my house underwater just under a half mile from the lake. Got a lot of work to do. Gonna get my CDs, some books, clothes, got my girlfriend, my guitars and amps and my cat. The surge is expected to sit for two days. And just to let you know - we don't have levees over here.

Going to Covington, LA.

I'm all for warning people but this constantly changing prediction bullshit is getting on my nerves in a very bad way. They say this they say that and then they say what they said earlier and then they change that to Oh it's what we first thought only worse....

And Mayor Nagin is calling this the worst possible - I guess he doesn't know his hurricane history very well - there's Camille, the strongest ever (wind wise), 1935 Labor Day hurricane, Andrew, Katrina, Rita, Mitch, Gilbert, Charley, Ivan and Wilma that were all pretty damn bad - most of them worse than Gustav - so far (Camille was the strongest wind wise, which I think I may have said in an earlier post - 190 mph sustained 220 mph gusts and a 35 foot storm surge at landfall, not out in the middle of the Gulf).

So, like drummer_dude, I'm guessing y'all won't see me posting here for quite some time (seeing that I'm going to be homeless for a while).

So good luck to Edith and drummer_dude and to anyone else in the path of Gustav. And for that matter, good luck to anyone in south FLA with Hanna next week...Ike is out there and then Josephine...it's going to be a long hot humid sticky wet windy September...and I'm supposed to go on tour starting around Sept 11th or so for the new record for 3 weeks. I'm doubting I'll be able to.

Tommy MacLuckie
graysoncapps.com

Hi EG,

Just woken up here in England to hear that you guys are expecting the storm of the century and that the NO has to be evacuated by lunchtime today. What's the latest situation in NO. Is there panic? Are people planning to ride it out? We're sayng a prayer for you all and your wonderful city. Good luck and remain in contact please.

Good luck, skipstone, Edith Grove, drummer-dude and anyone else caught up in this. I've had the experience of being homeless after a bad fire - it's sad to lose possessions, but it makes you realise that as long as you and your loved ones are OK, all the rest is just things. You're in our thoughts.

Hello, and thanks everyone!

It's 04:15 here, just "woken," couldn't really sleep last night. Police riding through the neighborhood announcing the evacuation on their bullhorns.

There is no panic here in N.O., people have been leaving since Friday and yes, there are a few people that are determined to stay.
As of now, all major highways are one-way out of the city.

I'll be here until about 06:30-07:00, then plan on loading up the car and getting out. Going to Jackson, Mississippi.

I'm trying to stay optimistic in spite of the news, but it's inevitable that many people will be seriously affected by this.

keeping the safe-and-dry incense lit for you all

BEST OF LUCK to ALL ....And prayin' ya stay close to the ground...God with ya



ROCKMAN

Thanks for the update EG. Let us know how you are once you get to Jackson. And good luck too to drumer-dude, Skipstone and anyone else affected by Gustav. Keep in touch if you can.

Luck greetings from me to, Edith Grove - and to you others over there

Best wishes and good luck to all of you who are in this difficult situation.
Take care!

Thanks again, ya'll. Time for me to go. I'm taking lots of Stones to listen to on the road.

I don't carry a laptop, so perhaps I'll find a computer somewhere so I can say hello over the next few days.

Say a prayer for drummer_dude, he's in the direct path of the hurricane.
Say one for skipstone as well, they expect flooding where he's at.

Later,
Lee

Again, my best wishes and prayers

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

Best wishes to you all. I've been through the waiting before but have been lucky so far...but I understand what you are going through. Stay safe.

Hope you all stay safe over there! Would be good to read something nice Stones-related stuff soon from your aerea, when things get quiet again.

People should be born in (...) hurricanes, not die in them!

Jelle

Hopefully this time around the fed's are ready if it gets too bad. Sounds to me like FEMA's ready. If they say get out don't try to ride the storm out!

Good luck, skipstone, Edith Grove, drummer-dude. You're in our thoughts and prayers.

Prayin' fer you folks. I had to dodge Camille AND Agnes, when I used to spend summers in New Orleans....

Keep a good thought, and get to high ground.

JR

Holding my breath for all of you in the path - I hope you get out, and ride it out, in safety and that the damages are minimal.

best wishes to Edith and all our other mates, down there.

thinking of you and sending you good thoughts, at this time.

It's like Deja Vu all over again....Good luck everybody.

i'll never complain about the rain in london again!!

good luck and take care!!!

Best wishes for all in the affected areas.

Hope you're all safe after the hurricane.

Good Luck!

best wishes for you, I hope it won't maintain its strength

Edith, you know we're thinking about you over in Pensacola. Stay safe and ready for the next tour.

God bless. Sure ya gonna make it, Edith. Keep cool.

How about the other hurricane; on its way to Lukester-land!?

Winds 115 mph and barometric pressure 954 mb. This could be encouraging.

Gustav is very interesting. I'm in Covington. We've gotten 3 rain bands so far, with another decent sized one on the way or if it's here it's not much at all.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Gustav has been a force 3 hurricane 120 mph sustained winds for most of the day. Yet the Hurricane Hunters have found winds to be basically at 105.y

The storm is looking like it's barely at 100. Perhaps the NHC is like Ronnie Wood - making a lot out of nothing.

I can't speak for anyone else here, drummer_dude specifically. His area is going to get a good dose of Gustav. New Orleans will get category 1 inds at best. Where I live we're not even under a hurricane warning but rather a tropical storm warning.

So far so good. Going home tomorrow, all 5 or so miles away...in the middle of the storm. Gotta take pictures of the storm surge!

skipstone ,please post your pictures .