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Topic: Hurricane Katrina

Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-28-2005 02:27 PM

Just a quick note to wish those in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi good luck for the coming hours, and especially those in New Orleans. The BBC radio news report at lunchtime speculated that the potential damage 'might stretch as far east as the Alabama port city of Mobile', so good luck to William; and (obviously) I hope it doesn't.

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Steve Scott
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1300
From: Minneapolis, MN
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 08-28-2005 02:34 PM

From seemingly official NOAA site http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/iwszone?Sites=:laz062

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED

HURRICANE KATRINA
A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED
STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT
LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL
FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY
DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL.
PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD
FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE
BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME
WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A
FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH
AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY
VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE
ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE
WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN
AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING
INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY
THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW
CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE
KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR
HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE
CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.

ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE
OUTSIDE!

[Eek!]

Conditions seem a bit unfavorable... I hope things don't get as biblically awful as this warning suggests.

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Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 08-28-2005 02:44 PM

last report has the winds in the wall of the eye exceeding 150kt's and the eyes central pressure has dropped to 906mb's The news stated that would make the storm the strongest in recorded history.

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Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-28-2005 03:01 PM

The worst part is that New Orleans is going to take a bath in this storm... LITERALLY! Most of the city is below sea level, behind levees. To top it all off, the hurricane is predicted to hit at high tide! Once the storm surge breaches the levees, New Orleans will flood!

My wife told me the storm was going to hit New Orleans this morning. My response was, "Oh Shit!" There's nothing that can be done but cross your fingers and pray for the best.

The city has been under evacuation since Friday. I hope that anybody reading this board who is in New Orleans will be able to "Get outta' Dodge!" If not, I understand that the designated "Safe Haven" for the area is the Super Dome. Just get your ass to the Dome and take cover.

We're all with you! Just hang in there!

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Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 08-28-2005 03:47 PM

there is a mandatory evacuation in process now for new orleans. central eye preasure is now down to 902mb's.

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Allison Parsons
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 630
From: East Peoria, IL
Registered: Oct 2004

posted 08-28-2005 04:26 PM

As someone who's yearly vacation spot was knocked down from Hurrican Ivan, I wish the best of luck to anyone in then New Orleans area!!

So, I don't know the history of New Orleans, but will someone tell my why did someone think it would be a good idea to build a city BELOW sea level....right next to the ocean!? It still boggles my mind.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-28-2005 07:00 PM

Katrina and the waves are about to hit, but it sure ain't "walking on the sunshine."

The news coverage has been concentrated on New Orleans. But there are many smaller town and villages well to the south and southeast of the Big Easy. New Orleans faces a terrible situation. But anyone foolish enough to try to ride out this storm in towns like Grand Isle and Venice may face certain death. Many of those bayou towns are built on marsh land right on the coast or just a few miles inland. They have no shelter at all against the possible category 5 winds and storm surges as high as 30 feet.

When my father was stationed in New Orleans we often took fishing trips down to Grand Isle. I have some fond memories of that place and am pretty concerned it may get totally destroyed.

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 08-28-2005 07:41 PM

There's also the oil angle, lifted from MarketWatch

quote:
Katrina was bearing down on a region that produces about a quarter of U.S. domestic-oil production.

Royal Dutch Shell and other energy producers have already shut production facilities that produce close to half a million barrels of oil per day. Energy companies were evacuating oil rigs and platforms in the Gulf as well as onshore production facilities.

About one-sixth of the U.S. oil supply comes through facilities at Port Fourchon, La., near New Orleans, and any damage could send prices of oil and natural gas to record levels.

"Our priority right now is the safety of our employees and in securing our facilities," Shell spokeswoman Darci Sinclair said. Shell employs 4,000 workers in Louisiana, she added.

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Wolff King Morrow
Master Film Handler

Posts: 490
From: Denton, TX, USA
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 08-28-2005 08:04 PM

I saw the mention about the oil shutdowns on the news. Get ready for even higher gas prices after the storm runs through...

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-28-2005 09:09 PM

Yeah, I just topped off the tank in my pickup truck this evening.

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Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-29-2005 12:46 AM

The way I understand it, a whole bunch of levees were built around New Orleans about 100 years ago. They worked to keep out the flood water. The problem is they worked TOO well!

New Orleans was at sea level at one time or, at least, a lot closer. Over the years, the levees back-filled with silt and debris from the floods. Every year, they were repaired. They got built higher and higher. The city now sits in a bowl shaped depression outlined by 100 years of piled up silt and back fill from where people have built up the levees.

Now, if they had left well enough alone 100 years ago, the city would periodically flood BUT the silt from the receeding waters would have kept the land nearly level. Furthermore, Lake Poncetrain and the surrounding bayous would act as a damper against flooding. The excess water would have flooded the swamps where it would have done relatively little damage.

This time, instead of acting like a buffer, the lake will act like a breaking dam. The floods will overfill Lake Poncetrain and it will spill over into the city. Then, the levees will begin to erode and eventually fail. When that happens, it's bath time.

The ironic part (If this isn't ironic enough!) is that there are pumping stations all around the city to keep the water out. However they are all electric powered. When the hurricane hits, the electricity is sure to go out. No electricity means no pumps.

The storm is sure to rip down all the power lines in its path. City authorities have a gambit to play: Do they cut power before the storm or do they leave it up until the storm takes it down? Taking out the power before hand saves possible damage and lives when the high tension lines hit the ground. It also leaves people without power that COULD have saved their lives. It's a hard call... No matter what you do, you're going to lose some lives because of it.

Hurricane Katrina is the third or fourth largest storm on record since records have been kept. It is the WORST thing to hit the Eastern U.S. coast since Hurricane Camile in 1969. The second worst since then was Hurricane Andrew that hit just recently.

In terms of destruction, I'm expecting this one to be as bad as the tsunami in Indonesia. The difference being that WE had advance warning. 150-200 MPH winds and record storm surges ON TOP OF high tide will literally be like the proverbial "Finger of God"! This one isn't going to just flood New Orleans and surrounding areas. It's going to change the geography of the Gulf of Mexico!

This is the kind of storm that we'll never really be able to tell how bad it was. Winds of 150 MPH will destroy the instruments used to measure them. The only thing we'll really have to measure it is sattellites and Doppler radar. However, even with all that technology, the BEST way to tell what the weather is like is to stick your head out the window and look. The only problem is that if you do, you're likely to get your head ripped off!

I know I'm talking about a worst-case scenario but, seriously, I think this is goig to be pretty bad no matter HOW you slice it!

This is one time when I hope I'm wrong!

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Jeffry L. Johnson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 809
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 08-29-2005 08:11 AM

Weather.com Hurricane Central

quote:
The pressure dropped as low as 902 mb on Sunday afternoon but has since risen. The 902 mb pressure reading was the 4th lowest on record in the Atlantic Basin.

Hurricane Mitch Scroll down to Table 2.

Gilbert Sep 13, 1988 888 mb
Florida Keys Sep 3, 1935 892 mb
Allen Aug 7, 1980 899 mb
Mitch Oct 26, 1998 905 mb
Camille Aug 17, 1969 905 mb

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 08-29-2005 02:37 PM

CNN news report worth watching

Quicktime video

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-29-2005 03:06 PM

Meow! Snarl! Hiss! [evil]

If the latest BBC report is accurate, it looks like Katrina veered a little further north-east than first thought, and also lost some strength: with the result that the damage to New Orleans might not be as bad as the worst case scenario.

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Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!

Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 08-29-2005 04:00 PM

Gotta love small-market TV "talent". [evil]

Looks like Gulfport, MS may have taken a harder hit than New Orleans did.

I've been collecting the aviation weather reports and forecasts for the area since yesterday, for use in my upcoming weather class. The series of hourly reports for the New Orleans Lakefront Airport (KNEW) show how as the storm intensity increased, the automated measuring equipment started failing, leaving more and more gaps in the reporting with each passing hour, until the system or the power failed after the 1253Z observation.

The observations at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans Int'l Airport (KMSY) stopped much earlier at 0353Z, again probably due to power failure or perhaps the guys bailing out. There's been no terminal forecasts issued for the airport since 0600Z.

Keesler AFB (KBIX) stopped reporting after 1355Z and Gulfport-Biloxi Int'l Airport (KGPT) after 1025Z. They too missed their 1800Z terminal forecast.

Glad I wasn't there. Hope Bill Hooper and Jon Sharpe got out of there while the gettin' was good.

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