From: clarinews@clarinet.com (STEVE WATSKY)
Newsgroups: biz.clarinet.sample,clari.news.disaster,clari.local.texas,clari.news.weather,clari.news.urgent
Followup-to: biz.clarinet.sample
Subject: Hurricane Andrew socks Louisiana coast, spawns tornado
Keywords: severe weather, trouble, municipal goverment, government,
	general weather, weather
X-Supersedes: <andrewU2aQ205ae@clarinet.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 23:03:21 PDT
Location: texas
ACategory: national
Slugword: andrew
Priority: regular
Format: breaking
ANPA: Wc: 787; Id: z0676; Sel: txnbw; Adate: 8-26-1255pcd; Ver: 15/14; V: ld
Codes: ynbwbtx., yngcbtx., ynwwbtx., xxxxxxxx
Note: urgent
 (complete writethru -- fresh quotes from governor, morgan city mayor;
 barrier island under water)

	LAFAYETTE, La. (UPI) -- Hurricane Andrew's deadly 125 mph winds aimed
at Morgan City on the nearly deserted Louisiana coast early Wednesday,
spawning tornadoes inland where 2 million people had fled earlier for
high ground.
	Andrew, the most dangerous hurricane to hit the United States since
Camille killed 256 people in Louisiana and Mississippi in 1969, killed
16 people in Florida and the Bahamas Sunday and Monday, leaving a path
of destruction before turning toward the Gulf states.
	At 12:30 a.m. CDT Tuesday, the center of the hurricane was near
latitude 29.2 degrees north and longitude 91.3 west, or about 90 miles
southwest of New Orleans and 85 miles southeast of Lafayette.
	The hurricane's forward speed had dropped to about 11 mph, with
highest sustained winds tapering off slightly, from 140 mph to 125 mph --
downgrading Andrew from a Catagory 4 storm to a Catagory 3.
	Forecasters expected further weakening throughout the night as Andrew
reached landfall. However, the National Hurricane Center also called for
storm surges of 10 to 15 feet in some areas, and up to 10 inches of
rain.
	Andrew spawned at least one tornado in the area of Reserve and La
Place, La., where a twister touched down at at least six known spots,
wrecking some homes and injuring at least 20 people, some seriously.
	``We've got one whole block of homes completely totalled -- I mean
flattened,'' State Police Sgt. Ed Holzendorf said from La Place.
	State police and national guard continued searching wrecked homes for
more injured. 
	Throughout the coastal area, some 43,000 customers had already lost
power by late Tuesday night.
	Bob Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Center at Coral
Gables, Fla., told reporters at 11:30 p.m. CDT that Andrew's eye ``is
skirting right along the coast'' near Morgan City, La., but might not
make landfall until 4:30 a.m. or 5:30 a.m. CDT.
	Most of Morgan City's 15,000 residents evacuated the city early
Tuesday after Mayor Cedrick LaFleur gave the order.
	``We're expecting the worst and hoping for the best,'' LaFleur said.
	Gov. Edwin Edwards predicted ``some very serious consequences'' for
Morgan City if Andrew's most intense wind and rain hit the community,
because Morgan City sits in a low area surrounded by marshes and sugar
cane fields.
	In the Gulf itself, Grand Isle, a small community on a barrier island
south of New Orleans, was reported under 2 feet of water early
Wednesday, but many of the homes and other buildings there are built on
stilts.
	An estimated 1.8 million people were ordered or urged to evacuate
Louisiana's 11 coastal coastal parishes (counties), and thousands more
were evacuated in Texas from Sabine Pass, Port Neches, Port Arthur and
along Bolivar Peninsula.
	New Orleans Mayor Sidney Barthelemy said Tuesday the latest forecasts
appeared to indicate his city might be spared the brunt of Andrew's
fury, but cautioned residents the track could still change at the last
minute.
	``From all indications, it seems the storm is heading west,'' he
said. ``It seems we will be spared from getting a direct hit.''
	New Orleans, which sits below sea level with a population of more
than 600,000, is considered very vulnerable to a direct hit from a
hurricane, and an elborate protection system has been built to protect
it.
	Tuesday night, Gov. Edwards asked for a presidential disaster
declaration, and announced a disaster-assistance office would open
Wednesday in Alexandria, La. Edwards also activated 1,700 members of the
Louisiana National Guard to help evacuation efforts and prevent looting.
	Earlier Tuesday, residents who did not evacuate staged massive runs
on bottled water, canned goods and batteries at local stores.
	In boarded-up Cocodrie, La., a fishing village, Hubert Dupre and his
family loaded up their possessions earlier Tuesday to drive inland.
	``I'm not expecting anything when I come back,'' Dupre said.
	One of the first sagas of survival came Tuesday, when a Coast Guard
helicopter rescued four people and two dogs from a disabled 65-foot
fishing vessel in the Gulf, 50 miles south of Houma, La. They were
reported in good condition.
	The Coast Guard said it closed a 250-mile stretch of the Mississippi
River between Southwest Pass and Baton Rouge to ship traffic at 10 a.m.
Tuesday.
	The American Red Cross was rushing disaster relief personnel and
truckloads of supplies to a staging area in Jackson, Miss. The agency
opened 38 shelters in Louisiana, eight in Texas and two in Mississippi.
Xref: sparky biz.clarinet.sample:2216 clari.news.weather:70 clari.news.issues:29 clari.news.gov.agency:9