Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Louisiana prepared to evacuate parts of its southern coast as officials accelerated emergency plans for Gustav, the strongest storm forecast to hit the region since the deadly hurricanes Katrina and Rita three years ago.

Southern Louisiana parishes, including St. Charles west of New Orleans, said they plan to order mandatory evacuations tomorrow. Buses are assembled to help residents leave the state, and roads may be made one-way to ease traffic, Governor Bobby Jindal said. Amtrak said it will make equipment in the city available to assist in evacuations.

``We have to take these storms seriously,'' Jindal told reporters in Baton Rouge yesterday. ``We as Louisianans have to be better prepared.''

Medical evacuations have begun in Texas and Louisiana, Federal Emergency Management Administration Deputy Administrator Harvey Johnson said on a conference call. About 30,000 New Orleans residents will need help leaving, Mayor Ray Nagin's office said today.

President George W. Bush declared an emergency in Louisiana today and ordered federal aid, the White House said. The state, and its neighbors Texas and Mississippi, have also issued emergency orders, as has New Orleans. The region's preparedness is about 72 hours ahead of where it was before Katrina.

`See the Difference'

Officials want to avoid a repeat of 2005, when they and then FEMA head Michael Brown faced criticism for their slow response to Katrina. The storm went on to become the most destructive in U.S. history, killing 1,800 people, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans and forcing 250,000 residents to flee.

``I hope that those of you who were around during Katrina see the difference in what's happening,'' David Paulison, the director of FEMA, said at a news conference yesterday. ``Things that happened in Katrina after the storm made landfall are happening before.''

Gustav, which may pass over the Cayman Islands today, was a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of about 75 miles (121 kilometers) per hour as of 3:15 p.m. Miami time, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on its Web site. It's projected to hit Louisiana's southern coast, west of New Orleans, Sept. 2.

The city, with a population of about 300,000, has started transporting prisoners from its jails. Local courts and the U.S. Postal Service shut at noon, the Times-Picayune said on its Web site, as did Tulane University.

Medical Center Evacuation

Tulane Medical Center is in the process of evacuating most of its patients, Chief Executive Officer Robert Lynch said by telephone. About 175 patients and their family will remain.

``Everyone in this town is nervous,'' Lynch said. ``But we are much better prepared to deal with a hurricane than we were before Katrina.''

Lynch said the hospital rebuilt its generators after they were knocked out by Katrina and should be able to function for a week or more on its own. It will house about 325 doctors, nurses and staff to cover all shifts during the storm, he said.

In the city's French Quarter, Hove, a perfume shop that's been there since 1931, closed its shutters and took in its sign, said Debra Jones, who creates scents.

``We still have some foot traffic,'' she said. ``But I think by Sunday people will get into the worry stage.''

St. Charles Parish said on its Web site that evacuation for those needing assistance would begin today, with mandatory evacuation planned for noon tomorrow. St. Bernard Parish also said on its Web site that it anticipated calling a mandatory evacuation tomorrow.

Texas Takes 10,000

Texas has agreed to take 10,000 people, with other offers coming from New Mexico, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas, FEMA officials said on the conference call today.

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour urged Katrina victims still living in trailers to evacuate this weekend, the Associated Press reported. More than 5,000 temporary homes still exist along the state's 70-mile coast, the AP said.

FEMA said two days ago it had moved emergency supplies including drinking water, food, generators, cots and blankets into position for distribution.

Gustav will be the first test for federal officials of new procedures since Hurricane Katrina, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in Washington yesterday before flying to Louisiana.

In Baton Rouge, Chertoff said he'll be checking repairs done by the Army Corps of Engineers on New Orleans's levees, which were breached by Katrina's tidal surge. The Corps' efforts to strengthen the barriers aren't expected to be complete until 2011.

`Gaps' in System

``There are gaps in the system,'' Bill Irwin, the Corps' liaison to FEMA, told reporters on a conference call yesterday. ``But the system is stronger and better than ever.''

Areas that flooded during Katrina, such as the Lower Ninth Ward, still aren't fully protected, he said.

In Buras, Louisiana, where Katrina first struck the mainland, Kelly Marinovich said it took two years after the storm to repair the Black Velvet Oyster Bar, which she owns with her husband, Byron.

``We celebrated our one-year anniversary of being reopened after Katrina on Aug. 3,'' she said. ``We'll probably have to evacuate this weekend. It's the choice we make for wanting to live on the coast.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Jerry Hart in Miami at jhart@bloomberg.net; Brian K. Sullivan in New Orleans at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 29, 2008 16:46 EDT