Tracking Gustav on the web

A number of sites are tracking the storm's progress

As Hurricane Gustav approaches New Orleans, the internet is providing detailed information, personal accounts and lively discussions about all aspects of the storm. Here are a few of them:

The first port-of-call for official details of the hurricane's progress can be found at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Their National Hurricane Center website has maps plotting the predicted route of the storm, as well as a array of technical data.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Louisiana's emergency pages also have useful resources, advice and links.

Communities have set up their own sites to give information

Replete with maps and accessible information are the news sites MSNBC and NOLA, as well as the weather site Accuweather.

Amid concern that the oil industry could be badly affected, the Wall Street Journal has a map tracking the hurricane, marked with the major energy facilities along its route.

Communities have launched their own sites and blogs such as Hurricane Gustav Resources to give information about road and school closures, evacuation shelters "and more".

Personal accounts of the storm can be found on local pages like New Orleans metablogs and Vasavana, where citizens are relaying their experiences of packing up and heading away from the path of the storm.

A central resource for information and local emergency detailsGustavWiki has been set up with lists of shelters, people offering their help and other links. Facebook has a number of groups for people to keep in touch and Twitter has plenty of people commenting on the storm.

Lively discussions can be found on weather sites such as Jeff Masters' blog and Ejang, which is tracking the storm using Googlemaps.

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