New Orleans, August 30, 1:30 PM CDT:  JustCircuit's Shane Rogers, Joey Benitez and Victor Mauro bring you live coverage of Southern Decadence events from downtown New Orleans.  Once again this year, weather is the focus.  Hurricane Gustav has its eye on Southern Decadence and is one visitor no one is taking lightly.  All across South Louisiana, preparations are in full swing for the start of widespread mandatory evacuations beginning Saturday afternoon.  New Orleans, with memories of Katrina still fresh in residents' minds, is expected to take a major hit with the storm, currently classified as a Category 4 hurricane, with storm surges up to seven feet and wicked tornadoes within the next few days.  On Saturday morning, some guests of New Orleans hotels were informed that they were required to check out of their hotel rooms within hours, regardless of their reservations. By Saturday night, many major freeways and bridges will be converted to one-way exits from the city, with no chance for those latecomers to Decandence to enter the city.

New Orleans' premier dance club is OZ Nightclub, owned by Circuit promoter Johnny Chisholm.  "We're open and we're expecting a huge night tonight with DJ Eddie Baez" Chisholm told JustCircuit Saturday morning.  "We are making contingency plans behind the scenes to insure the safety of both our customers and employees, and will certainly close our doors responsibly in order to allow them a safe exit from the city when that time arrives."  Other events during Southern Decadence for Sunday and Monday will almost certainly be cancelled as the storm approaches. Telephones at the Bourbon Pub were already "temporarily out of service" when calls were placed to obtain their schedule for the weekend.

As highways out of the city clog with evacuees, many on Bourbon Street are getting that last bit of fun under their belts before the lights come on and the order is given to leave.  Vacations may have been shortened, but the mood of the crowd at OZ is happy and positve as is usually the case at the club which once housed one of New Orleans' most famous Mexican restaurants.

Stay tuned to JustCircuit, the world's leader in party news and information, as we keep you informed all weekend long.