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Plaquemines orders evacuation

Mandatory order comes as Katrina's aims at N.O.

Plaqumines Parish President Benny Rousselle has issued a Phase I mandatory evacuation for all of Plaquemines Parish.

The latest forecast track for Hurricane Katrina - issued at 4 a.m. CDT - has the strengthening storm crossing lower Plaquemines, then north on a line directly across the New Orleans metro area.

The storm has intensified and is now a Category 3, with sustained winds of 115 mph and higher gusts. Some major models have it strengthening to a Category 4, or even Category 5 by landfall Monday evening. It is moving to the west near 7 mph and is approximately 430 miles southeast on the mouth of the Mississippi River. A gradual turn to the west-northwest is expected during the next 24 hours.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency late Friday, making it easier to implement emergency procedures, including evacuations, if necessary.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said he will make a decision about evacuations and other emergency procedures today about noon.

Katrina, the 11th named storm of a busy season, was upgraded to Category 3 as it moved deeper into the Gulf of Mexico, after crossing Florida yesterday. Homes were flooded, fallen trees blocked roads and utility crews scrambled to restore power to more than 1 million homes and businesses Friday as South Floridians coped with Hurricane Katrina's messy aftermath.

Seven deaths were blamed on the storm as it crossed Florida. Much of the seven hours Katrina spent over land Thursday was over the moist Florida Everglades, allowing for only slight weakening.

"We were looking at it going up the East Coast two days ago and now it's looking like it will hit the central Gulf Coast," said Larry Ingargiola, director of the St. Bernard Parish Emergency Preparedness. "Like we always say, the only one who knows where a storm will go is the man upstairs."

More worrisome was that experts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned that the hurricane's track could move even further west, Ingargiola said.

"We just hope our people are prepared," he said. "It's kind of late in the year to be making disaster plans."

William Maestri, the emergency director for Jefferson Parish, said he was concerned about the movement west and how it was intensifying.

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