as 15-20 inches possible. if you're told to evacuate, please co. there are only hours left to prepare. >> diaz: all right, jeff berardelli, thank you. time is not on the side of the people of new orleans who are scrambling to get ready. cbs' omar villafranca is there. omar. >> reporter: adriana, the before is urging people to leave if they can, but if they're going to stay, if they're going to hunker down, he wants them in place by midnight tonight. and people seem to be listening. they're getting ready for the storm and the aftermath. on the streets of new orleans, the sound before the fury, business owners boarding up their windows, the plywood mark would the names of the hurricanes they've survived. bumper-to-bumper traffic clogged the roads and highways out of new orleans as people try to move out of the dangerous and powerful storm's path. mayor latoya cantrell warned today the time to leave is now.