 On September 4 , the U.S. Weather Bureau advised residents that the storm was expected to strike land between Morgan City and Grand Isle around midnight , as its forward motion had increased to 15 mph ( 24 km / h ) . The weather service also noted that abnormally high tides were expected from the Mississippi River to Pensacola , as the center was predicted to pass east of New Orleans and move to the west of Biloxi shortly before dawn . About 1 @,@ 000 people left their homes in Terrebonne Parish and took shelter in a courthouse and school buildings in Houma . As winds increased , city officials in New Orleans ordered 2 @,@ 000 people to evacuate from a wartime housing project into an auditorium for shelter . Offshore , oil drilling platforms and equipment were destroyed by high seas near Grand Isle . The island itself was cutoff from the mainland after 5 ft ( 1 @.@ 5 m ) inundated roadways . 
