http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refesh/graphic ... shtml?3day


this is scary stuff. all NOLA RMers, get the hell out of there if it's still heading in tomorrow.

living in wilmington nc and now charleston sc, it seems that every fucking year i survive through another hurricane. i hope everyone gets a break from this shit this year!

This thing is pissed

Path - Speed
http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USNati ... e&pid=none


New Orleans Loop
http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USLoca ... e&pid=none


IR Loop
http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USNati ... e&pid=none


Visible Loop
http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USNati ... e&pid=none

Yeah this thing is pretty big. It's going to be a disaster for New Orleans, and Louisiana in general. This story notes that there are 100,000 people without transportation to leave the city.

Louisianans Told: Head for Higher Ground

By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer
Sat Aug 27, 6:59 PM ET

Coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations Saturday as they rushed to get out of the way of Hurricane Katrina, a vicious storm that is threatening to gain even more strength and make a direct hit on the New Orleans area.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a test. This is the real deal," New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin said at a news conference. "Board up your homes, make sure you have enough medicine, make sure the car has enough gas. Do all things you normally do for a hurricane but treat this one differently because it is pointed towards New Orleans."

Katrina was a Category 3 storm with 115 mph sustained wind Saturday, but the National Hurricane Center said it was likely to gain force over the Gulf of Mexico, where the surface water temperature was as high as 90 degrees — high-octane fuel for hurricanes. It could become a Category 4 monster with wind of at least 131 mph before reaching land early Monday.

The storm formed in the Bahamas and ripped across South Florida on Thursday, causing seven deaths, before moving into the Gulf of Mexico.

A hurricane watch extended from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, and large-scale evacuations were under way Saturday along the coast.

"At this juncture, all we can do is pray it doesn't come this way and tear us up," said Jeannette Ruboyianes, owner of the Day Dream Inn at Grand Isle, Louisiana's only inhabited barrier island.

Katrina could be especially devastating if it strikes New Orleans because the city sits below sea level and is dependent on levees and pumps to keep the water out. A direct hit could wind up submerging the city in several feet of water.

Making matters worse, at least 100,000 people in the city lack the transportation to get out of town. Nagin said the Superdome might be used as a shelter of last resort for people who have no cars, with city bus pick-up points around New Orleans.

"I know they're saying `Get out of town,' but I don't have any way to get out," said Hattie Johns, 74. "If you don't have no money, you can't go."

Owners of gas stations in and around New Orleans were forced to direct traffic as lines to the pumps stretched down surrounding streets. Gas stations were running low on gas by midafternoon Saturday

"I was in line at the bank for an hour and have been waiting for gas for 30 minutes," said John Sullivan. "If it's anything like they say its going to be, we don't want to be anywhere close to the city."

Louisiana and Mississippi made all lanes northbound on interstate highways. Mississippi declared a state of emergency and Alabama offered assistance to its neighbors. Some motels as far inland as Jackson, Miss., 150 miles north of New Orleans, were already booked up.

By 5 p.m. EDT Saturday, the eye of the hurricane was about 380 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and about 240 miles west of Key West, Fla. It was moving west at nearly 7 mph, the hurricane center said.

"We know that we're going to take the brunt of it," Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said. "It does not bode well for southeastern Louisiana."

Some tourists heeded the warnings and moved up their departures, and lines of tourists waited for cabs on New Orleans' famed Bourbon Street.

"The problem is getting a taxi to the airport. There aren't any," said Brian Katz, a salesman from New York.

Others tried leaving but couldn't get a flight.

"We tried to move it up, but they told us they were all booked up," said Terry Evans of Cleveland, whose flight was supposed to leave Monday morning. "We may end up sleeping at the airport."

New Orleans' worst hurricane disaster happened 40 years ago, when Hurricane Betsy blasted the Gulf Coast. Flood waters approached 20 feet in some areas, fishing villages were flattened, and the storm surge left almost half of New Orleans under water and 60,000 residents homeless. Seventy-four people died in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.

Katrina was a Category 1 storm with 80 mph wind when it hit South Florida on Thursday, and rainfall was estimated at up to 20 inches. Risk modeling companies have said early estimates of insured damage range from $600 million to $2 billion.

South Florida utility crews were still working Saturday to restore power to 733,000 customers, down from more than 1 million. Residents waited in lines that stretched for miles to reach state-operated centers distributing free water and ice for those without electricity.

Florida has been hit by six hurricanes since last August.

Katrina is the 11th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. That's seven more than typically have formed by now in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane center said. The season ends Nov. 30.

___

If my memory serves me correctly, New Orleans has faced a very similar threat the past couple years. Ivan last year, and I believe Lili the year before that. Both were at least Cat 4's, and perhaps cat 5's as they approached the Gulf coast. And both jogged away from New Orleans, and peetered out significantly before the oh so destructive eye wall came ashore. Maybe New Orleans will luck out again, or maybe they will get a hard dose of reality in to why you DON'T BUILD METROPOLITAN AREAS BELOW SEA LEVEL!

Let's hope it doesn't rupture the oil lines and cause a civilization ending spike in gas prices.

http://www.theskyiscrape.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17718

Ivan was aimed at southern alabama and mississippi... with an outside chance of hitting New Orleans... This one is aimed directly at the city, and may even come up the lake--- meaning it would hit land for the main storn... while the eye sits over water, which of course means it wont weaken as quickly. So its a totally different animal than Ivan or any others. This has the potential to be like Betsy ( i think) which led to some people being without power for nearly a month.

and i dont think the people born and rasied there picked where the city would be.

Holy Fuck, look at the eye on this thing today, up to 160 mph winds gusting to 195 mph

http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USNati ... e&pid=none




http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,167243,00.html
NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Katrina (search) strengthened to a dangerous Category 5 on Sunday with 160 mph sustained wind as residents of south Louisiana jammed freeways in a rush to get out of the way of the powerful storm.

Monster Category 5 hurricane with 160 mph winds could submerge city under 20 feet of water, cause $100 billion in damage; massive evacuations under way

We are now at 175 mph sustained winds.

Yeah, man... I saw it on TV today, and all these cars on a jammed street... this is insane... I hope it's going to turn out as okay as possible... I mean, in the end, houses and stuff is just things, but I really hope everyone's gonna be okay... good luck to everyone who's affected.

I was kind of hoping to see New Orleans before God cleaned it off the face of the Earth.

Good luck, anyone that's there.

and 215 mph gusts

http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USNati ... e&pid=none

This really doesn't look too good. It shows how little man is compared to the force of nature. When it comes to something as big as this, even with all the technology we have, all you can do is make a run for it, because there's nothing you can do.

Parts of Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland are flooded, a terrible drought in Niger and now this. Something' s seriously wrong with the weather today. Nature strikes back with a vengeance.

Is anybody else actually kind of excited about this? The idea of thousands of people who have no control over anything regarding the power of nature is a real turn on for me.

People waiting to get into the Superdome:





People getting the hell outta dodge:

Does anyone else think that the Superdome would be the last place you would want to go if the entire city floods? Are there even windows in the Superdome? If it floods, seems like you would be trapped. It coul be like the Poseidon adventure with 30'000 people. I would be looting a bicycle right about now and heading north. I understand that for one reason or another many of these people cant leave, but the surivival instinct of the rest really sucks.

i was watching tv last night. they said that structure is built to withstand 200 mph winds and is 18 feet above ground at its lowest point. if i remember correctly.

would i be on the stadium floor pretending to be Joe Horn practicing my fly patterns? no. id be up in the bleeds, if i had to be there at all.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132423,00.html

Hurricane Would Ravage Big Easy
Saturday, August 27, 2005


NEW ORLEANS — The worst-case scenario for New Orleans (search) — a direct strike by a full-strength hurricane — could submerge much of this historic city treetop-deep in a stew of sewage, industrial chemicals and fire ants, and the inundation could last for weeks, experts say.

If the storm were strong enough, it could drive water over the tops of the levees that protect the city from the Mississippi River and vast Lake Pontchartrain (search). And with the city sitting in a saucer-shaped depression that dips as much as 9 feet below sea level, there would be nowhere for all that water to drain.

Even in the best of times, New Orleans depends on a network of canals and huge pumps to keep water from accumulating inside the basin.

LSU's hurricane experts have spent years developing computer models and taking surveys to predict what might happen.

Computer models show a hurricane with a wind speed of around 120 mph or more — hitting just west of New Orleans so its counterclockwise rotation could hurl the strongest surf and wind directly into the city — would push a storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Pontchartrain (search) over the city's levees.

New Orleans would be under about 20 feet of water, higher than the roofs of many of the city's homes.

Severe flooding in area bayous also forces out wildlife, including poisonous snakes and stinging fire ants, which sometimes gather in floating balls carried by the current.

Much of the city would be under water for weeks. And even after the river and Lake Pontchartrain receded, the levees could trap water above sea level, meaning the Army Corps of Engineers would have to cut the levees to let the water out.

Experts say that if the eye were to come ashore east of the city, New Orleans would be on the low side of the storm surge and would not likely have catastrophic flooding.

The worst storm in recent decades to hit New Orleans was Hurricane Betsy in 1965, which submerged parts of the city in water 7-feet deep and was blamed for 74 deaths in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. That storm was a Category 3.

Even if New Orleans escapes this time, it will remain vulnerable until the federal and state governments act to restore the coastal wetlands that should act as a buffer against storms coming in from the Gulf.

Louisiana has lost about a half million acres of coast to erosion since 1930 because the Mississippi River is so corralled by levees that it can dump sediment only at its mouth, and that allows waves from the Gulf to chop away at the rest of the coastline.

Well that doesn't sound so bad then. I was there just two weeks ago, and I don't recall any tall building close enough to fall on the superdome. They are saying that it may actually bring buildings down so that would be bad. Hope it is all just media hype.

a lot of the buildings in the french quarter are old. it would be a disaster. if i had to be there, id be in the dome though. did you see the storm walls while you were there. i wonder when they plan to close those.