Calling Boxermania and Any Other Coon-Asses!

[darthrider]

Al -
Are you getting out or riding it out?
That's why I now live high & dry in North Texas instead of the Gulf Coast...2 storm induced in '79.
Hope it goes well where you are, be careful.
We'll be thinking about you buddy...


YAHOO Weather:

Katrina Packing Wind of Nearly 175 Mph By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer
5 minutes ago


NEW ORLEANS - Mayor Ray Nagin ordered an immediate evacuation Sunday for all of New Orleans, a city sitting below sea level with 485,000 inhabitants, as Hurricane Katrina bore down with wind revved up to nearly 175 mph and a threat of a massive storm surge.

Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort including the Superdome arena.

"This is a once in a lifetime event," the mayor said. "The city of New Orleans has never seen a hurricane of this magnitude hit it directly."

The mayor called the order unprecedented, but said Katrina's storm surge would likely top the levees that protect the city from the surrounding water of Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi River and marshes. The bowl-shaped city must pump water out even during normal times, and the hurricane threatened pump power.

"We are facing a storm that most of us have long feared," Nagin said.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Interstate 10, which was converted Saturday so that all lanes headed one-way out of town, was totally gridlocked.

At 11 a.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center said Katrina's maximum sustained wind speed had stepped up to nearly 175 mph, with higher gusts. The hurricane's eye was about 225 miles south-southeast of the mouth of Mississippi River.

The storm was moving toward the west-northwest at nearly 12 mph and was expected to turn toward the north-northwest, the hurricane center said.

The mayor said people who opted to go to the Superdome should come with enough food and supplies to last three to five days. He police and firefighters would fan out throughout the city telling residents to get out. He also said police would have the authority to commander any vehicle or building that could be used for evacuation or shelter.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the north-central Gulf Coast from Morgan City, La., to the Alabama-Florida line, meaning hurricane conditions were expected within 24 hours, the hurricane center said. Tropical storm warnings extended east to Indian Pass, Fla., and west to Cameron, La.

Katrina had been blamed for nine deaths in South Florida.

The storm had the potential for storm surge flooding of up to 25 feet, topped with even higher waves, as much as 15 inches of rain, and tornadoes, the National Hurricane Center said.

Only three Category 5 hurricanes — the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale — have hit the United States since record-keeping began. The last was 1992's Hurricane Andrew, which leveled parts of South Florida, killed 43 people and caused $31 billion in damage. The other two were the 1935 Labor Day hurricane that hit the Florida Keys and killed 600 people and Hurricane Camille, which devastated the Mississippi coast in 1969, killing 256.

The hurricane's landfall could still come in Mississippi and affect Alabama and Florida, but it looked likely to come ashore Monday morning on the southeastern Louisiana coast, said Ed Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. That put New Orleans squarely in the crosshairs.

"If it came ashore with the intensity it has now and went to the New Orleans area, it would be the strongest we've had in recorded history there," Rappaport said in a telephone interview Sunday morning. "We're hoping of course there'll be a slight tapering off at least of the winds, but we can't plan on that. So whichever area gets hit, this is going to be a once in a lifetime event for them."

He said loss of life was "what inevitably occurs" with a storm this strong.

"We're in for some trouble here no matter what," he said

[BobFV1]

Yes, you guys be careful and get your coon-*sses out of Dixie!

[Deans BMW]

Dittos, that is why Mz Pam and I live on top of a mountain.

[bakernks]

I'd be *getting the heck* * out of there.*
My parts see the tornados every year, and miracles do happen. Last week an F-2 was boring down dead-on Great Bend and lifted up and over the city and set back down after.. just a bunch of roof damage I think is what they had. I was missed by the Andover Tornado of '91 by a mile and a half, it killed 17. It was an F-5. a half mile wide and up to 300 mph. Capable of ripping asphalt streets up and taking the concrete curbing with it. A hurricane this powerful is really bad. I saw a wave height graph online a few minutes ago, and it's packing waves in the storm surge of 40 feet. That's a 4 story building, maybe more. Of water, 8 lbs to the gallon. It's an incredible force. God be with them all..

[darthrider]

You're right Steve.
It's hard to really appreciate the power of moving flood waters until you have experienced it. Happened to my family twice in 1979 in mainland Galveston County, Texas. 25 inches of rain in 24 hours, on top of three straight weeks of rain.
We had to evacuate both times, my wife, son (7) and I almost didn't make it the second time. Three days in a Red Cross evacuee center with only helicopter access.
I had a job 250 miles away - uphill! - 6 months later!

[CycleRob]

It's now 12:59 am here and that's all that's on FoxNews all nite. What's really amazing is the stupidity of those in harm's way that are going to "ride it out". I just figured out the relative power of a 175MPH wind. Because windpower varies as the cube of the wind velocity, 175MPH is TWICE the power of a 139MPH wind. Woooden structures will be almost totally destroyed and be transformed into high velocity projectiles that will be fatal. All windows will be blown out. I have heard a 105MPH winds from the safety of my basement and that sounded like a train was roaring by just outside the house.

What kills most hurricane victims is the storm surge. That's the ocean level raising up to 30 feet over normal by the low barometer and wind driven water movement. That also causes extensive structure damage and people either drown or are crushed by the floating debris.

I'm not worried about my BeaksterBash ex roomie BoxerMania - - - he's more than smart enough to make the right decisions. It's everybody else that worries me. There's gonna be a lot of dead people tomorrow.

[Acacia]

My fears too, Cyclerob!

As a former international sailboat racer, most land-lubbers underestimate both wind strenth and that of water. In fact, understimate is not even close -but beyond their imagination.

I got caught in a 56 knot blow on a 23 ft sailboat - and had to sail through it - nothing like these folks will experience - but hell nevertheless.

[geechie]

I was born in and continue to live in a hurricane-prone area. I have great empathy for those who live in other such areas. When this storm has passed, power crews and safety personnel from here and from other areas that know first-hand what a hurricane can do, will be among the first on the scene to render aid and comfort. You can't imagine how grateful we were after Hugo, to see power crews from Alabama and Florida here in Charleston working to restore our normal way of life.

With regard to "riding it out". There are a number of reasons why people choose to do so. Some know that the first fury of the storm winds are somewhat spent immediately after landfall. The unobstructed fetch is worst on the beaches and barrier islands.

They may know that as long as the eye passes to the east of their position the effects of storm surge will be much less than if it were to pass to their west. Admittidly, that's a crapshoot that can have disasterous consequences.

Most who would choose to ride out a storm, and I have to include myself in this category, would do so based on knowledge of the the factors I've mentioned, their previous experience with storms and the aftermath of storms, and the desire to protect their property. (I live on a "sea island" about 6 or 8 miles from open water.) Once you leave your property, there is a good chance that you will not be allowed to return for some days afterward. Chances are that you will have lost shingles from your roof. We had three days of hard rain after Hugo. Because I was there, I was able to effect temporary patches to the roof and avoid much further damage. The same was the case in 1959 when my family chose to ride out Gracie on Folly Beach, one of Charleston's barrier islands. My Mother made that call (Dad had died that Spring and I was only 11.) and got lucky. Today I wouldn't be so bold as to stay on a barrier island.

Some people are just too poor and ignorant to know better. Or, they may have no place to go. Many shelters, for instance, won't let you bring your pets. These are the people I feel for the most. I'll never call them stupid. Those who choose to stay in harm's way out of some sense of bravado, on the other hand...

The Weather Channel and others of that ilk, are guilty of fear mongering to some extent. Many people will flee needlessly from inland areas that have little or nothing to fear from wind of flooding. This creates unneccesary panic and traffic like you wouldn't believe. Motels and shelters will be filled up within a radius of 200 miles or more. Making it that much more difficult for those who really need a place of refuge to find one.

Hurricane season sucks!

My thoughts and sympathies are with all of you who have to deal with Katrina. Hang in there.

George