Big Easy becomes Big Queasy
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 A direct hit by a hurricane would flood New Orleans.
 Beaches in Florida are threatened with damage and erosion.
 Ivan topples power lines and causes massive flooding in Cuba.
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| HURRICANE IVAN |  As of 8 p.m. Tuesday ET
Position of center: 325 miles south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River
Latitude: 24.7 north
Longitude: 87.0 west
Top sustained winds: Near 140 mph
Source: National Hurricane Center
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| CATEGORY 5 HURRICANES | U.S. landfalls:
- Unnamed storm, 1935, Florida
- Camille, 1969, Mississippi
- Andrew, 1992, Florida
Source: NOAA
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NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (Reuters) -- The Big Easy became The Big Queasy as the usually laid-back party town worried about deadly Hurricane Ivan rumbling north through the Gulf of Mexico toward the U.S. coast.
Shopkeepers and bar owners in New Orleans' famed French Quarter boarded up windows on Tuesday while residents loaded luggage into cars and left town along highways jammed with evacuees before Ivan, blamed for at least 68 deaths in the Caribbean, closed in.
In the Quarter's historic heart, Jackson Square, a handful of tarot card readers, palmists and artists were out, but the usual late summer swarm of tourists was limited to a few hardy souls.
On Tuesday afternoon, the center of the powerful storm with 140 mph (224 kph) winds was 450 miles (720 km) away in the Gulf of Mexico and forecast to land east of New Orleans late on Wednesday or early on Thursday.
But Ivan's expansive hurricane-force winds, extending out 100 miles (160 km) from its eye, meant the storm could strike hard without scoring a direct hit on the city, which has a metropolitan population of 1.5 million people.
"I'm concerned," said art dealer Betty Elliott as she and her husband nailed plywood sheets in front of their gallery windows.
"At the very best, we're going to get some tropical storm force winds, so that's enough to make us want to prepare," she said. "Better safe than sorry."
Adding to worries was the fact that most of New Orleans is several feet below sea level, protected from the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain only by levees, canals and a system of pumps that drain off flood waters.
The last time it took a direct hurricane hit was 1965, when Betsy struck with 125 mph (200 kph) winds and swamped the city. The storm was blamed for at least 75 deaths.
"The city basically sits like a bowl," Mayor Ray Nagin told CNN.
"If we get a storm like Ivan to hit us directly or come really close to us we could have a situation where we have 12 to 18 feet (3.6 to 5.5 meters) of water throughout the city."
At a press conference, Nagin sternly warned city residents to get out, or at least get up to higher elevations.
"I'm once again urging the citizens of New Orleans that can leave to please do so," he said.
"The (forecast map's) cone of certainty now totally covers the New Orleans metropolitan area."
The city's international airport was due to close on Tuesday night. To help the evacuation, Louisiana state police opened east-bound lanes of Interstate Highway 10 to west-bound traffic, but the road was still jammed with thousands of slow-moving cars.
Across the city, gas stations ran out of gasoline and stores ran out of batteries, water and food as residents stocked up on hurricane supplies.
Amidst the flurry of hurried departures, long-time French Quarter resident Betty DeCell vowed to stay, armed with the only provisions she would need.
"I have lots of water," she said, "And some gin."
