Hurricane Katrina is moving swiftly through the Gulf of Mexico and heading toward New Orleans.

As of press time, the hurricane was 170 miles south/southeast of New Orleans.

According to cnn.com, the hurricane is projected to hit the city early this morning.

President Bush has urged residents to move to safer ground and much of the city is being evacuated.

Grant Casterline, a junior political science major, lived in Louisiana for five years, about 15 miles outside of New Orleans. Casterline no longer has family members in the area, but many of his close friends still live there. He received a phone call Sunday from a friend being evacuated from the area.

“She’s really freaked out,” he said. “Eighty-five percent of her stuff is still in her apartment and it’s probably going to be destroyed.”

Casterline’s friend also said traffic was so heavy that she was not very far from New Orleans.

“She’s actually stuck only 25 miles north of New Orleans, the traffic is so bad,” Casterline said.

Casterline’s friend lives near other friends he has kept in contact with. Most are still stuck in the city as well, he said.

Glen Krupica, associate athletics director for external affairs, is familiar with the area, although he has no family residing there. Krupica lived in Shreveport, La., in the northwest corner of the state, for 13 years.

“Evacuations have happened two or three times a year and, from what I understand, because New Orleans is so low and below sea level, if there ever was a direct hit it would be devastating,” he said.

As many as 100,000 inner-city residents did not have a way to leave and many tourists were stranded by the closing of the airport. The city also arranged for buses to take people to 10 last-resort shelters, including the Superdome, according to The Associated Press.

A mandatory evacuation was set for New Orleans Sunday, as winds were expected to reach sustained winds of 175 miles per hour, according to CNN.com. The city sits below sea level and is inhabited by about 485,000 people.

For updates on the storm throughout the day, visit www.northernstar.info.