Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said he expects "contraflow" traffic to begin Sunday morning to speed evacuations of people from South Louisiana ahead of approaching Hurricane Gustav.

Contraflow, where all lanes of major highways will be northbound, could start as early as Saturday evening, Jindal said at a 5 p.m. news briefing. That will send thousands of evacuees into North Louisiana and East Texas, where shelters are in place and hotels are booked.

Outbound traffic in New Orleans was already bumper-to-bumper this afternoon.

For the first time, the state will have "dual contraflow," activating plans for southwest and southeast Louisiana at the same time.

Gustav is expected to hit the Gulf coast of Louisiana early Tuesday.

Nineteen coastal parishes have declared states of emergency, Jindal said. Some of those parishes have mandatory evacuations already in place while others are encouraging residents to leave.

Storm-force winds are expected along the Louisiana coast beginning Monday morning, Jindal said.

The National Guard sent 1,500 troops into New Orleans today. They will guard against looting if that city is evacuated.

Jindal encouraged people in vulnerable areas to begin evacuating before contraflow is activate.

"It is time for people to be worried about their personal safety," Jindal said.