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Facing the approaching tempest
(CNN) -- Rapidly gaining power, Hurricane Lili became a Category 4 hurricane Wednesday as coastal residents of Louisiana and Texas fled inland, some under orders to evacuate. A dangerous storm, Lili is expected to make landfall Thursday. CNN's Ed Lavandera spoke with Wolf Blitzer from Cameron, Louisiana. BLITZER: What's going on over there, Ed? LAVANDERA: Well, Wolf, last week when Tropical Storm Isidore hit Louisiana, this part of Louisiana felt that it had dodged a bullet as the storm pushed a little bit eastward. But here, on the southwestern edge of the Louisiana Gulf coastline, folks here are starting to prepare for the worst. We're in the town of Cameron, Louisiana, which is a predominant shrimping community here, and ... the area is usually bustling with shrimp boats heading out to the Gulf to make its runs, and a lot of freight liners will be seen also moving out to the Gulf as well. What we've seen is a lot of these boats heading north throughout the day and now it's pretty much quiet. In fact, the guys working the ferries here just tell me they have one more run -- one other person that's on the other side of this water that needs to be brought back here to land -- and they can start heading northward. That's the last person here. This town has really emptied out throughout most of the day. There are several parts of Louisiana that have been issued mandatory evacuations, so those folks have been heading farther northward seeking protection from this storm. But right now, Wolf ... cloudy skies here but not a lot of wind yet and still no sign that Hurricane Lili is out there. But obviously, from everything we've been talking about, every indication is that this storm is expected to pound this part of Louisiana severely over the course of the next 24 hours. BLITZER: So, Ed, of course, what about you and our other journalistic colleagues? What do you guys plan on doing? LAVANDERA: We're going to hunker down in Lake Charles, Louisiana. ... So, we're going to be heading up there as soon as we're done with these reports throughout the next couple of hours and ... and hopefully that will offer enough protection from this storm.
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