I hope nobody from here lives in New Orleans

[VertigoGal]

wow, this looks really serious.

I hope everyone's alright and that the doomsday scenario doesn't play out.

 

[Kariann]

Looking at the projected path and what I've heard we could get torrential rains/flooding in the Ohio Valley later in the week.

 

[jay canseco]

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 BEKILLED.

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!

 

[tiny dancer]

Looking at the projected path and what I've heard we could get torrential rains/flooding in the Ohio Valley later in the week.

Same here where I live.

 

[Kariann]

I'm not liking the use of the word catastrophic.

 

[U2dork]

Just saw the satellite image.

Does anybody know the last Cat. 5 hurricane that hit the US off the top of their heads?

 

[ramblin rose]

I can't even imagine what a category 5 hurricane is like.

I was in South Dade County during hurricane Andrew and that is 7 hours of my life that I never want to relive.

Andrew was only a category 4.

 

[U2dork]

Actually, the NOAA says Hurricane Andrew was the last Cat. 5 hurricane to hit the US. They measured peak winds of 164mph. This storm has winds near 175 mph.

Edit: Holy cow, the wind gusts are up at 215 mph!

 

[ramblin rose]

Well, I feel very sorry for the people who live where it hits. They're in for hell on earth.

 

[Chizip]

wow, scary stuff

http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf?/washingaway/thebigone_1.html

"A catastrophic hurricane represents 10 or 15 atomic bombs in terms of the energy it releases," said Joseph Suhayda, a Louisiana State University engineer who is studying ways to limit hurricane damage in the New Orleans area. "Think about it. New York lost two big buildings. Multiply that by 10 or 20 or 30 in the area impacted and the people lost, and we know what could happen."

Hundreds of thousands would be left homeless, and it would take months to dry out the area and begin to make it livable. But there wouldn't be much for residents to come home to. The local economy would be in ruins.

 

[melon]

This looks like it could be the "Galveston" of our time, which, coincidentally, happened 100 years ago this year. After the hurricane of 1905 (they didn't name storms back then), Galveston, Texas never recovered and Houston overtook the city in terms of prominence and economic growth.

I hope the worst case scenario doesn't happen, but, increasingly, it looks like it very well could happen. And a lot of this could have been prevented. The natural protective marshes and whatnot in Southern Louisiana have been destroyed to nearly nothing since they started dredging canals in the 1930s. Louisiana even wanted $14 billion or so to restore a lot of these wetlands in recent years, but the money never came. After all, tax cuts for the wealthy were more important.

Melon

 

[melon]

Andrew was only a category 4.

No. It was a Category 5: one of three to ever hit landfall in the U.S.

Melon

 

[ramblin rose]

No. It was a Category 5: one of three to ever hit landfall in the U.S.

Melon

Well, it was awful. The townhouse I was in was the only thing left standing when we went outside in the morning. Spent the whole night in the laundry room with no electricity. My dog was very old at the time and died 2 days later.

My cousin who lived in a condo a few blocks from me spent the night in an interior closet and when they opened the door they had no walls left.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

 

[melon]

They had the mayor of New Orleans on MSNBC and he said that tourists who can't get out are "evacuating vertically" - going to the top floors of high rise hotels. He said he thinks they should be okay there , but all the hotels are full right now.

Actually, high rises are not all that safe either. The wind speeds at higher elevations are known to increase 50 mph or more. So a 175 mph hurricane would be 225 mph in a high rise and the windows, most certainly, would be blown out completely.

Melon

 

[ILuvLarryMullen]

wow, this is so horrible, I don't even want to think about what I'm going to see on the news in the next few days .

My uncle lives in New Orleans, but left to Texas. He works on the offshore oil rigs, so I guess he'll be out of work for a while.

 

[VertigoGal]

Is anyone concerned about the safety of all the people in the Superdome or going to high rises like melon said? Big buildings aren't invincible, especially with winds well over 200 mph.

 

[Zoomerang96]

exactly. forget about the physical damage to everything, but when the storm is finally finished, what will be left to come back to?

there will be no economy. :S

 

[Liesje]

i believe it was last year that a hurricane was supposed to hit new orleans? anyway, my point is that at the time of the hurricane, a ton of people i knew were in new orleans for a convention. i remember them saying if it did hit the city, then the city would be underwater because of how strong the hurricane was. i just hope history repeats and the hurricane veers off-course enough for it not to hit the city. i don't wish hurricanes on any city though.

It will suck large object either way. Last time, Ivan came onshore at Gulf Shores, Alabama, which is like my second home. They're still nowhere near recovering from Ivan, and it looks like even if this one hits land farther west (New Orleans), they're still under hurricane warnings and will suffer another onslaught of damage. If history DOES repeat itself and the storm comes in east of New Orleans, then Gulf Shores is certainly done for once again.

 

[U2dork]

Yes, of course there is a concern. The best thing is for everyone to get out of there, but there will be people left who can't leave for whatever reasons. They need to take shelter somewhere. I'm hoping that the larger buildings are built with enough strength to hold up better than the small townhouses/whatever like Rosa spoke of earlier.

Also, I don't think there are very many high rise buildings in New Orleans like there are in NY, Atlanta or any other big city, are there? Last I remember (10+ years ago) there were only a few 20+ story buildings.

 

[ILuvLarryMullen]

exactly. forget about the physical damage to everything, but when the storm is finally finished, what will be left to come back to?

there will be no economy. :S

especially when it is so dependent on tourism.

 

[Lila64]

 

[ILuvLarryMullen]

Yes, of course there is a concern. The best thing is for everyone to get out of there, but there will be people left who can't leave for whatever reasons. They need to take shelter somewhere. I'm hoping that the larger buildings are built with enough strength to hold up better than the small townhouses/whatever like Rosa spoke of earlier.

Also, I don't think there are very many high rise buildings in New Orleans like there are in NY, Atlanta or any other big city, are there? Last I remember (10+ years ago) there were only a few 20+ story buildings.

I think you're right. I think the hotels that people are staying in are not tall enough to be considered high rises, but high enough to keep above flood waters.

 

[VertigoGal]

Maybe he's a pessimist, but my dad thinks New Orleans will simply be gone after this, if it is actually a direct hit. And that the gov't will conveniently have "forgotten" about homeless people in the city. Oops. Anyway this has a potential to influence a lot of things, from gas prices to insurance.

 

[anitram]

Is anyone concerned about the safety of all the people in the Superdome or going to high rises like melon said? Big buildings aren't invincible, especially with winds well over 200 mph.

Well I'd think the Superdome people are actually in the underground portion of the stadium as the field is likely to flood.

 

[shy]

I'm sorry guys, your are in my prayers

 

[ramblin rose]

Well I'd think the Superdome people are actually in the underground portion of the stadium as the field is likely to flood.

I wonder if that would be safe? I remember 3 people drowned in underground parking lots when Iris hit while I was living in Houston.

 

[VertigoGal]

would they have people go up in the higher seats, do you think?

 

[Chizip]

would they have people go up in the higher seats, do you think?

Yeah, they said no on will be allowed on the field because it will likely be flooded, so people will be up in the higher seats.

 

[Pearl]

Gosh, they're saying the French Quarter could be gone once this is over.
And there are hundreds are people who can't leave, and some who won't leave.
This is getting really sad. I hope the hurricane lessens once it reaches shore.