New Orleans prepares for Hurricane Gustav to hit

The coastline is all but deserted: just a handful of people remain in New Orleans. Long lines of cars and buses have streamed out of the city as forecasters said winds could reach a hundred and twenty five miles an hour.

But it's a storm surge which could threaten to overwhelm the levees, which haven't been tested since Hurricane Katrina struck exactly three years ago.

The Mississippi river in New Orleans could be under strain with the extra rainfall from the storm.

Hurricane Gustav has been gathering momentum in the Gulf of Mexico, and is expected to hit land at midday local time - six o'clock in the UK - just south east of New Orleans.

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