U.S. Gulf Coast braces for fast-approaching Hurricane Nate

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY, MELINDA DESLATTE and JEFF AMY
NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Nate raced swiftly over the central Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, gaining added strength as forecasters said it would smash into the U.S. Gulf Coast in coming nighttime hours.
Louisiana’s governor urged his state’s residents to take Nate seriously even before New Orleans and much of his state’s fragile coast was placed under a hurricane warning, saying the storm “has the potential to do a lot