John Fitzhugh, Sun Herald via AP All lanes were northbound for traffic yesterday on Interstate 59 in Pearl River County, Miss., as motorists fled Hurricane Katrina. Click photo for larger image.

By Mary Foster
The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS -- Coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations Saturday as they frantically rushed to get out of the way of Hurricane Katrina, a vicious storm that could make a direct hit on New Orleans and submerge the low-lying city in more than two stories of water.

Charles Trainor Jr., Miami Herald via AP Carole Jacobs walks through the remains of her Park City Estates trailer, in Davie, Florida. Hurricane Katrina demolished her home after growing from a disorganized 50 mph tropical storm to a hurricane with 92 mph wind gusts in a few hours Thursday. The storm may hit the Gulf Coast as a Category 4 monster with winds exceeding 131 mph. Click photo for larger image. Local impact Hurricane Katrina is expected to bring lots of rain to Southwest Pennsylvania, but not the floods experienced when the remnants of Hurricane Ivan swept across the region.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a test. This is the real deal," New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin said. "Board up your homes, make sure you have enough medicine, make sure the car has enough gas. Do all things you normally do for a hurricane but treat this one differently because it is pointed towards New Orleans."

Katrina was a Category 3 storm with 115 mph sustained wind yesterday, but the National Hurricane Center said it was likely to gain force over the Gulf of Mexico. It could become a Category 4 monster with wind of at least 131 mph before striking the coast early tomorrow.

The storm formed in the Bahamas and ripped across South Florida on Thursday, causing nine deaths, before moving into the gulf.

Katrina could be a nightmare if it strikes New Orleans because the bowl-like city sits below sea level and is dependent on levees and pumps to keep the water out. The mayor said that in a worst-case scenario, a gigantic storm surge would sweep past the levees and flood the city with 18 feet of water. It would take weeks to pump all of the water out, he said.

Nagin said he spoke to a forecaster at the hurricane center who told him that "this is the storm New Orleans has feared these many years." Magin was exploring the idea of ordering a mandatory evacuation.

Making matters worse, at least 100,000 people in the city lack the transportation to get out of town. Nagin said the Superdome could be used as a shelter of last resort for people who have no cars, with city bus pick-up points around New Orleans.

"I know they're saying `Get out of town,' but I don't have any way to get out," said Hattie Johns, 74. "If you don't have no money, you can't go."

	NASA via AP This image released by NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team shows Hurricane Katrina building strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico yesterday afternoon. Click photo for larger image.

A hurricane watch extended from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, and President Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana. His spokesman urged residents along the coast to heed authorities' advice to evacuate.

"At this juncture, all we can do is pray it doesn't come this way and tear us up," said Jeannette Ruboyianes, owner of the Day Dream Inn at Grand Isle, Louisiana's only inhabited barrier island.

Owners of gas stations in and around New Orleans were forced to direct traffic as lines to the pumps stretched down surrounding streets. Gas stations were running low on gas by midafternoon yesterday.

"I was in line at the bank for an hour and have been waiting for gas for 30 minutes," said John Sullivan. "If it's anything like they say its going to be, we don't want to be anywhere close to the city."

Louisiana and Mississippi made all lanes northbound on interstate highways. Mississippi declared a state of emergency and Alabama offered assistance to its neighbors. Some motels as far inland as Jackson, Mississippi, 150 miles north of New Orleans, were already booked up.

By 5 p.m. EDT yesterday, the eye of the hurricane was about 380 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and about 240 miles west of Key West, Fla. It was moving west at nearly 7 mph, the hurricane center said.

"We know that we're going to take the brunt of it," Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said. "It does not bode well for southeastern Louisiana."

	G.M. Andrews, Mobile Register via AP Jason Kinsey boards up windows of a Dauphin Island, Alabama home yesterday. He was helping his uncle to prepare houses on the barrier island for the possible arrival of Hurricane Katrina tomorrow. Click photo for larger image.

Some tourists heeded the warnings and moved up their departures, and lines of tourists waited for cabs on New Orleans' famed Bourbon Street.

"The problem is getting a taxi to the airport. There aren't any," said Brian Katz, a salesman from New York.

But plenty of people in the French Quarter stayed put, and the bars were rocking Saturday.

"The only dangerous hurricanes so far are the ones we've been drinking," said Fred Wilson of San Francisco, as he sipped on the famous drink at Pat O'Brien's Bar. "We can't get out, so we might as well have fun."

New Orleans' worst hurricane disaster happened 40 years ago, when Hurricane Betsy blasted the Gulf Coast. Flood waters approached 20 feet in some areas, fishing villages were flattened, and the storm surge left almost half of New Orleans under water and 60,000 residents homeless. Seventy-four people died in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.

Katrina was a Category 1 storm with 80 mph winds when it hit South Florida Thursday. Rainfall there was estimated at up to 20 inches. Risk modeling companies have said early estimates of insured damage range from $600 million to $2 billion.

Nine people were killed in Florida as a result of Katrina, including two people discovered yesterday in their home after suffering apparent carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator.

South Florida utility crews were still working yesterday to restore power to about 700,000 customers, down from more than 1 million. Residents waited in lines that stretched for miles to reach state-operated centers distributing free water and ice for those without electricity.

Florida has been hit by six hurricanes since last August.

Katrina is the 11th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. That's seven more than typically have formed by now in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane center said. The season ends Nov. 30.

	Edmund Fountain, St. Petersburg Times via AP Pedro DeLeon bails water from his apartment on Sixth Avenue in Homestead, Florida. He shares the flooded apartment with seven other roomates. DeLeon says flood water generated by Hurricane Katrina began creeping into the apartment Friday morning. The building still had no electricity or running tapwater yesterday. Click photo for larger image.