US coast braces for deadly hurricane

Men sit in a boat after Hurricane Ivan went through Isabel Rubio, Cuba on Tuesday. Hurricane moved across western Cuba packing 160 mph winds causing widespread damage. PHOTO: AFP

Tens of thousands of people were told to evacuate their homes along some 800 kilometers (500 miles) of US coastline as the powerful storm threatened western Florida, Alab-ama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The ferocious storm was expected to land early Thursday along the northern US Gulf Coast, somewhere between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Pensacola, Florida, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.

Because Ivan's powerful winds reach 410 kilometers (260 miles) from the center of the hurricane, the landfall would affect a large swath of land.

If the storm veers of its predicted track, it could also hit parts of Florida, a southeastern US state still mopping up from the ravages wrought by hurricanes Charley and Frances over the past month.

At 0001 GMT, Ivan's center was about 525 kilometers (325 miles) south-southeast of the Mississippi river.

It lost some strength and was downgraded a notch after hitting the western tip of Cuba Monday, but was still packing ferocious winds of 225 kilometers per hour (140 mph), and could regain category five strength, forecasters said.

As the mayor of low-lying New Orleans urged residents to seek shelter on higher ground, officials recalled that the far less powerful Hurricane Betsy had killed 110 people and left the city under more than two meters (seven feet) of water in 1965.

Schools shut down and residents along the threatened areas boarded up their homes and bought emergency supplies, while military bases deployed personnel, planes and ships to safety.

The port of New Orleans was closed through at least Wednesday, said Cynthia Swain, director of safety and security for the port.

"Depending on what the storm does will determine what we do on Thursday," she said.