NWS Southern Region Emergency Response Meteorologists Walt Zaleski (seated) and Corey Pieper brief President Bush on Hurricane Gustav (Photo: Courtesy of Col. Jack Jackson, Civil Air Patrol)
(Sept. 1, 2008) - NOAA National Weather Service Southern Region Emergency Response Meteorologists Walt Zaleski and Corey Pieper briefed President Bush on the status of Hurricane Gustav.
Zaleski and Pieper were on assignment with the Texas Department of Emergency Management�s Emergency Operation Center in Austin, when the President arrived. President Bush had originally been scheduled to appear at the Republican National convention in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, but opted instead to visit with emergency responders and evacuees in Texas.
Following the briefing, an Associated Press report quotes the President as saying, "The message to the people of the Gulf Coast is this storm is dangerous. There is a real possibility of flooding, storm surge and high winds. Do not put yourselves in harm's way, or make rescue workers take unnecessary risks."
By Monday afternoon, Hurricane Gustav had been downgraded to a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. Moving northwest at 16 mph, the storm's center was expected to be over southern and western Louisiana by evening and into eastern Texas by Tuesday.
Gustav is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of six to 12 inches, with isolated amounts up to 20 inches, over portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas -- through Thursday.