Hurricane Katrina

[imdrunk]

I posted previously on other topics, but I wanted to create this topic in the Random section to keep people updated on the storm and my evacuation.

 

Currently the storm is a Category 5 (the highest designation) with 160mph winds (gusts to 196). It is currently slated to hit dead on New Orleans which has the potential to flood the city with 18+ feet for weeks. Thankfully I live in Houma, LA which is about 30-50 miles west of the track. Any small movement in the storm, though, will change it track and we'll be screwed.

 

I posted this info elsewhere, but if you are interested:

For you weather buffs, the place I work at has weather stations located on the coastal areas of Louisiana. Check it -

 

*go to www.lumcon.edu

*In quick links drop box, select weather

*select any of the weather stations you see on the map and click it

*the interesting things to look for are increases in wind speed, changes in wind direction, and an increase in water height

*Also, on the station map page, under the map there is a link to two web cams. The picture of the camps is pointed toward the east. The picture of the estuary is pointed west.

 

Keep in mind that these stations will more than likely be destroyed at some point and will be rendered useless.

 

------------------------

 

I'm evacuating to DeRitter, LA (west Louisiana) and will be safely out of the way. Unfortunately I'll be in back to back traffic for hours.

 

I'm bringing a laptop, so if the hotel has broadband, I'll be posting perodic updates.

 

Peace out.

[crispy]

STAY SAFE!!!!

 

:shock:

[Erik Johnson]

Thes storms are very scary. I'm sorry you got to endure this one. Its going to be nasty. Good luck!

[PhishyBrewer]

I don't even live there, and I'm freaked out about it. :shock:

 

Stay safe dude!

[SharkTums]

Yeah New Orleans looks pretty much screwed right about now. It's sad, but they'll rebuild and get over it like they've had to do countless times before.

 

This is what happens when you build a major city below sea level!!!!

 

Be safe all you cajuns!

 

(and someone go protect the two credits I still need at SFNO!)

[Erik Johnson]

Soon those two credits will be considered a hybrid water/coaster ride. Will they still be considered a true credit? Poor New Orleans.

[Chrissie]

Stay Safe ImDrunk!!

 

Im so worried coz my cousin is in Miami right now and her plans are to go to New Orleans! I hope shes rescheduled her plans!

[Wes]

^ Uh, considering there's orders to evacuate the entire city, I somehow doubt she's going to follow through on those plans.

[QuakerOaties]

18+ feet of water in New Orleans?? NICE!!!

 

Mark "My ex goes to school there, hahaha" Luskus

[Homer]

Coming 2006 to SFNO, Hurricane Harbor! With six innovative water coasters!

 

Seriously, New Orleans in general is f***ed. Thank you lord for not hitting Florida with this powerful storm (well, in Category 5 form).

 

Stay safe New Orleans!

[Hattuchili]

I have seen a few pictures on the news, today. It looks really bad. The only thing I can say, Stay Safe!

 

--Sören

[Chrissie]

^ Uh, considering there's orders to evacuate the entire city, I somehow doubt she's going to follow through on those plans.

 

But she has no where else 2 go! Lol! Im sure she'll be ok, Shes a smart gurl

[Gregory DG]

This is amazing. I thought Ivan was a tough storm. This one is supposed to be the 3rd most powerful ever to hit the U.S.! (I wonder what the other ones were called?)

 

Anyway, good luck to the residents of N.O. We'll be prayin' for you.

[SharkTums]

Estimates have been made of tens of thousands of deaths from flooding that could overrun the levees and turn New Orleans into a 30-foot-deep toxic lake filled with chemicals and petroleum from refineries, and waste from ruined septic systems.

 

Ewwww....

 

This could be scary!

[TheGreatOne]

This is unbelieveable. I actually took up meteorology as a major at Ohio State and intensely studied Hurricanes.

 

This was released by the NWS in New Orleans. This sounds like something you'd hear from a street bum who always announces the apocolypse is coming. This is just...wow.

 

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!

 

I was eight years old when Andrew struck, and I still remember news broadcasts vividly. Something tells me this will be along the same lines.

 

I also don't want to brag, but three days ago, I predicted this scenario on my Livejournal as Katrina maintained a W-SW direction across South Florida: "New Orleans should really be glued to their TV sets. While no major source thinks Katrina will head that far west, it could shoot right up into New Orleans without too much trouble. New Orleans is 5 feet BELOW sea level, and the levies around the city meant to prevent water coming in...could actually end up holding it in New Orleans causing massive loss. There are a lot of intriguing scenarios with Katrina, so this should be fun to follow." On the other hand, I thought it would be lucky to reach Category 4 as it struck New Orleans. Certainly no one expected it to be this big.

 

Certainly I will be keeping that area in my mind, this is going to be bad. No wind sheer and warm water is such a dangerous combination. This storm will strengthen until it hits land. I'm due for a $200 bonus from my job, but I'm going to be donating it if this storm is half as destructive as they say it is. Heck, I donated my allowance to the victims of Andrew when I was eight.

 

Hopefully we can all find it in our hearts to do our part to help after this is over.[/url]

[Erik Johnson]

This storm will be as bad if not worse than Andrew. This storm will also probably be equal to the COMBINATION of all four Hurricanes that hit us in Florida last year. Please any TPR members in New Orleans, get out now. It quite amazing how fast this storm intensified. It was just a category one storm only two days ago...and it did not become a Hurricane until it started to hit Southern Florida.

[BarryH]

Katrina is not a storm you want to ride out. It's better to get out of town or if you can't, head to the nearest shelter.

 

Katrina spared Ft. Myers as it passed further south than anticipated. It gave us some wind and rain.

[TheGreatOne]

Please any TPR members in New Orleans, get out now.

 

It's too late for that now. Traffic is at an absolute standstill from New Orleans to Alabama on all major highways. The outer bands have begun landfall to the East where people are trying to drive and hurricane force winds extend 80 miles from the eye...so the hurricane force winds experienced in Florida Thursday will be felt 6-8 hours before the worst of it arrives.

 

The barometric pressure is so low (not to mention the incredibly DEEP depth of warm water...much deeper than when Andrew stuck) that there will probably not be any major decreases between now and tomorrow. It did decrease from 175 to 165 in terms of SUSTAINED winds, but I honestly think there could be gusts recorded close to 200 as the east part of the eye wall hits the coast. As one forecaster said, at this intensity, the 10 mph decrease is like getting hit by an 18-wheeler compared to a train. Either way, it's not going to be pretty.

[SharkTums]

No Big Shock there...I'm surprised they don't say anything else though.

[TheGreatOne]

Wave heights topping at 24.9 feet already being recorded at a buoy 40 miles east of New Orleans. All buoys further south have not responded in the past hour. This buoy will probably stop responding shortly, but click the link to see the latest while it lasts.

 

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=42040

 

Graph showing a dramatic increase in height over the past 12 hours:

 

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/show_plot.php?station=42040&meas=wvht&uom=E

 

Graph of sustained dominant 20+ foot waves:

 

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/show_plot.php?station=42040&meas=dmpd&uom=E

[Token Yankee Guy]

This Hurricane looks nasty. I hope our members in the path of the hurricane are out of harms way.

 

As for SFNO...well, I hope someone will take some pictures of the flood damage if the park does get hit.

[imdrunk]

I made it to the De Ridder, LA (our evacuation location). When we first got on the highway, it took us over 2 hours to go what usually takes 30 minutes. It took us almost 8 hours to get here (it should have taken 4).

 

We'll be camped out here in west central LA. The place we came from is Houma, about 60miles southwest of New Orleans. We are slated to stay here for two nights and return Tuesday.

 

Some of my family decided to stay. I think they are crazy, but some people won't listen. If there was ever a storm to leave for, this would be the one.

 

I'm really hungry now, so I'll be going to find some grub. I'll fill everyone in later on the latest. Of course, where we are, we can only catch the CNNs, Fox News, the Weather Channels, so you can find out exactly what we know by tuning in to those channels.

 

Dean

 

BTW - I'm supposed to get married this coming Saturday. Power outages threaten that unfortunately. WE'RE STILL GETTING MARRIED, DAMNIT!! The NO airport that everyone will be flying into will more than likely be under many feet of water. We'll have to see.

[CoasterCrazy]

I hope everyone makes it through the Hurricane safely!

 

I also hope the six credits that I need at SFNO are still there after the storm!

[imdrunk]

The last update shows the storm moving NNW at 10 with winds steady at 160mph. Unfortunately the storm is just hours away from land (the eye at least) and many many people are still waiting to get inside the Superdome. These tend to be the less fortunate among us who couldn't afford to leave the city.

 

I don't know what the status of SFNO will be but I'll be sure to see if I can find pictures online of what will happen. SFNO is on the east side of New Orleans and I live west of the city. Needless to say, I physically won't be able to get to that side of New Orleans for a long time.

 

Well, since we couldn't find any liquor (or even cheap beer in this damned place), we are resorting to many hours of Mario Party.

 

I'll update later.

 

Dean

[BelizeIt]

New Orleans is a Great City!

 

I had the chance to visit New Orleans several years ago. The city has some incredible architecture, which was designed (In many cases) hundreds of years ago.

 

I hope that the damage is not catastrophic, because the loss would be beyond measure.

 

If you have ever visited Bourbon Street or the French Quarter, you know that it's a place you always want to visit again. (Music/Food/Drinking/Goodtimes with friends)

 

New Orleans has managed to dodge the hurricane bullet for decades, I hope that they weather this storm, and rebuild themselves back to the irreplaceable destination that they have always been.