God Spare New Orleans
 

902 mb. 175mph sustained winds with higher gusts. I cannot even fathom what is going to happen if Katrina holds. The city of New Orleans will not exist as any of us know it now come Tuesday morning.

<a href="http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/iwszone?Sites=:laz062">Holy shit</a>.

We're about to witness one of the worst natural disasters to befall the United States.

I'm feelin' ya. I know it. I am pretty upset because NO is the coolest place on the planet and has the nicest damn people. I. Am. Bummin'.

Plus, all those barely-at-rest 'Nawlins ghosts are going to be re-animated.
Whole thing is a spooky bummer.

I love New Orleans. I've only been there once, but the historic parts of the town were amazing. I'm so depressed that we're going to lose so much.

My friends that live out there got out this morning. They had enough time to pack up most of the important stuff and left town. I was really saddened to hear that they recently moved to a first story apartment in the historic district, but at this point I don't think any structure is going to do so well.

I think it is time for a drink.

From the National Weather Service Bulletin:

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.

Flying household appliances? Incredible human suffering? My God, I really hope this forecast is wrong! If there is anybody who lives in that area and doesn't have friends or family in a safe zone, you're welcome to head up north to Colorado. I've got a spare bedroom. Seriously. PM me. If you have nowhere to go that's safe. :mg:

Fathom is an awfully appropriate term. 20' to 30' storm surge, and New Orleans is 30' below sea level on a dry day. This surge looks like it's heading straight for the sea mouth to Lake Ponchatrain.

I heard but cannot find the descriptions* of the damage of a storm of this magnitude. I remember phrases like 50% of all wooden structures will be destroyed. All windows will be broken out. Flying debris including household appliances and light vehicles. Tall buildings will sway dangersously.

This is going to make the loss of life and property of the events of September 11, 2001 seem like a fart in church. 4.5 million people live in New Orleans. The diameter of the hurricane force winds is over 200 miles. A swath of destruction hundreds of miles wide.

Goodbye, New Orleans.



edit: * this is the description that terrified me. thanks for finding it Mari. I don't remember seeing your adjancent post when I made my remarks. I wasn't really at my best though.

Google 'Hurricane Camille' and you can see some awesome pics of what that one did. Unreal.

I fear we are about to witness the most devastating destructive event in the modern history of the USA.

Get out your checkbooks, folks. There is going to be a need for a lot of charity. Furthermore, I believe this event will certainly push the price of gasoline above $3.00 per gallon, and maybe above $5.00.

I don't think we can even imagine how bad this is going to be if it bullseyes Ponchartrain. Absolute worst case scenario.

Well my ass ain't on the line like the folks in SO. La. I lived So. of NO before Betsy and lost all but my car. Anyway I live a little S.E. of the MS on this map, so I guess my new roof will get a test. Took a ride to store while ago, no "D" batteries in town and by tomorrow will be no gas.

National Geographics did an article on New Orleans water/hurricane problem a while ago. I made a mental note that we should get down there before the inevitable... This is going to be awful. Our prayers are with you folks, please don't stay.

Seems like she took a more easterly approach than they were expecting -- this seems like good news. NO will get the west side of the storm, with less severe winds. The pic is from the APotD.

I have a friend in the Florida Panhandle. She has a lot of friends in New Orleans, who had already gotten out before the mandatory evacuation was announced. She has had to ride out several of the storms that hit the panhandle because she's a cop and has to go into work rather than flee.

Times like this I really like Pennsylvania.

That is good news. Unfortunately, that means there'll be southerly winds blowing across Lake Ponchatrain, north of and towards New Orleans. 100+ mph winds. A lot of lake is going to wind up in the French Quarter...

And it looks like a Cat3 instead of a Cat5, also good.

What were they thinking putting folks in the Superdome?

Except that it won't be able to do 100 megabit ethernet, only 10.