Hurricane Ike to possibly slam Tex

[chimpy2121]

A guy I work with was supposed to go to NO this weekend - his family still lives there (outskirts). He decided to not go, I think it was a good move.

 

My mom works in New Orleans every other week. The company flies her in on Mondays and out on Friday. She left yesterday and said the place was absolutely crazy.

 

[LosMediasBlancas]

My mom works in New Orleans every other week. The company flies her in on Mondays and out on Friday. She left yesterday and said the place was absolutely crazy.

 

...as in?

[Rex Kickass]

I'm starting to read stories about people who want to leave, and aren't being able to for fear of losing their job, or not being able to afford the trip out. (It's not about the gas, but about the fact that there isn't a lot of money being thrown at the average New Orleans employee to be able to get a hotel room for a week or so.

 

The City of New Orleans is offering no shelters for obvious reasons. Are shelters being set up elsewhere?

[Steff]

No it wasn't. The winds in NOLA never reached anything beyond a weak category 2. The Eye hit in Alabama as a Category 3, but New Orleans only got a glancing blow. It was also helped by the fact that an eyewall regeneration event started just as the storm was hitting shore, which weakened the storm a bit. The New Orleans levee system never faced the category 3 storm strength that it was supposed to survive.

 

 

According to the NWS, yes, it was. Katrina made 3 separate landfalls. The first 2 were within 70 miles of NO (Buras-Triumph and Breton Sound) with cat 3 winds of 125 mph. The final landfall was near the Louisiana/Mississippi border with 120 mph sustained winds, still at Category 3 intensity, which had just weakened as you said, but from a cat 4 to a cat 3 with the winds sustaining over 120 miles wide from the actual center of the storm. The eye of the storm never touched Alabama, did you mean Mississippi? Not that the wind mattered in the case of NO being flooded, but "weak" cat 2 winds weren't what tore apart and ripped holes in the Superdome roof.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina

 

I found a channel on Direct TV this morning devoted to Gustav and it looks worse than Kat did at this stage and it's not even over the warmest water yet.

[Rex Kickass]

The good news, if there is any about this, is that the storm seems to be looking to make landfall west of New Orleans, near Morgan City which would spare New Orleans the storm surge that is one of the biggest threats to the Levees.

[chimpy2121]

...as in?

 

As in everyone trying to evacuate.

 

[Flash Tizzle]

I'm starting to read stories about people who want to leave, and aren't being able to for fear of losing their job, or not being able to afford the trip out. (It's not about the gas, but about the fact that there isn't a lot of money being thrown at the average New Orleans employee to be able to get a hotel room for a week or so.

I suppose it all depends on your job. If you're working for the New Orleans Police/Fire Department you probably don't have a choice. Get your family out, then. I'm sure there are other jobs, such as those working for power companies, who'll need to remain.

 

Otherwise, start walking. Oh, and I know I know; I can't possibly know what it's like to be some of these people. Well, what I do know is if I had a potential Category 4 Hurricane crossing my cities path -- three years after one devastated it -- I'd find a way of leaving. Either stay and take your chances or get your asses out and worry about expenses later. People have credit cards. Even if you're poor, you still have feet.

 

The City of New Orleans is offering no shelters for obvious reasons. Are shelters being set up elsewhere?

I read through several sites that buses were available to transport people out. I have to assume they'll lead somewhere, and not merely drive around aimlessly until the storm ends.

[kapkomet]

There's like 50,000 people supposed to come to Dallas/Fort Worth - just like last time, we get 25% of the population coming here.

 

[CubKilla]

Take refuge Chocolate City!!!!!

[Rex Hudler]

I'm starting to read stories about people who want to leave, and aren't being able to for fear of losing their job, or not being able to afford the trip out. (It's not about the gas, but about the fact that there isn't a lot of money being thrown at the average New Orleans employee to be able to get a hotel room for a week or so.

 

The City of New Orleans is offering no shelters for obvious reasons. Are shelters being set up elsewhere?

 

Birmingham has shelters set up at the BJCC Convention Center, Boutwell Auditorium, UAB Arena and a few local JC facilities. The city imposed a 9:00 curfew on all evacuees and all shelters were closed at 9:00 with lights out shortly after. The Red Cross is manning these shelters. Such shelters are setup all over the Southeast, I believe. Birmingham is about 5 hours NE of New Orleans.

 

On the debate of the strength of Katrina, it was definitely a CAT 3 storm and as was pointed out, the eye passed over MS, not NO. The destruction from the hurricane itself was predominantly in Mississippi. Wind damage in New Orleans was minimal in comparison. Flood damage from rising waters and surges on Lake Ponchatrain (sp?) is what hurt New Orleans. It was not a direct hit, so the exact strength of the winds was not the major factor.

[Rex Hudler]

Looking back at Katrina a bit. Below is an email sent out by a LSU scientist that basically called exactly what could/would/did happen to New Orleans in a situation like Katrina. He was basically scoffed at by government agencies and not taken seriously. He sent this email out to friends, family and co-workers shortly after the effects of Katrina were known.

 

 

 

9.19.2005 "Dear Friends and Family"

Ivor Van Heerden

 

Dr. Ivor Van Heerden is a hurricane expert at Louisiana State University who has long predicted the disaster caused by Katrina. He appeared in the January 2005 NOVA scienceNOW segment on hurricanes. In a 2002 article in which he is quoted, he sounds eerily as if he is speaking after Katrina rather than three years before. Dr. Van Heerden wrote this moving e-mail message to loved ones and friends in the early hours of September 7, 2005.

 

 

 

Dear friends and family,

 

It is midnight, and I have just finished my umpteenth TV interview, this one with CNN at home. I am tired, angry, disgusted, very sad, and at times unbelieving of what I have witnessed. I am also thankful for the great team of hurricane researchers I am honored to call my friends. All have risen to the occasion and are still making huge sacrifices in effort and time away from their families. Also, my family have been so supportive, especially my wife. She and my youngest helped out at an Adventist Disaster support program this past weekend. My daughter met 6 kids who had lost their parents. She gave a bracelet to a small baby girl. Yes, this catastrophe has touched us all.

 

So much has happened in just a few days. Saturday a week ago we called for Katrina to flood New Orleans. I remember telling my friend and coworker Marc, "I am afraid this is the big one." It is with no honor or pride that I acknowledge that we called it right. The catastrophe has played out right as we expected. What was not expected was the lack of response from the Federal government—the leaving of these people for days with no help. Some of the cell calls I got will haunt me for the rest of my life. A policeman friend tells harrowing tales—he was in the front lines.

 

Monday, the storm evening, everyone at the State emergency operations center (EOC) was congratulating each other that we had once again "dodged the bullet." But we had not. I will never forget the chill when someone came to me at the EOC and asked if we knew why a nursing home was seeing the water rise half a foot per hour. Initially we felt it must be because the home was in a lower part of New Orleans and, the pumps being out, that the water was just rain runoff. But an hour later the significance hit me—the levees must be failing. That was while driving home dead tired after no sleep for 36 hours. I assumed the Corps of Engineers, who basically own the levees, would be warning everyone. But the call never went out, so thousands of people went to bed in the dark, in a dry home, and in the middle of the night would have suddenly found the water in their homes. So many of these retreated into their attics. I can understand why. It was dark, there was no power, no phone, no TV, no radio, no mass communication whatsoever. Many were old and that was their only line of escape—into the attic. Except if you don't have an axe, if you are not strong, how do you escape? I am sure hundreds died in their attics. Should I have turned around and gone back to the EOC? Maybe, but I thought "the Corps must be monitoring the levees, surely they would sound the alarm." But no one did, so I believe more than 1,000 died while I slept, and nobody sounded the alarm. By the morning it was too late.

 

I have also soul-searched if I could have done more to warn people of what would happen. Those Federal officials that scoffed at me and others in our Public Health Center when we told our story, maybe I should have called them out and beat their brains out. Lots of maybes, and still I ask myself "could I have done more?" My heart is so, so heavy. I cannot look at the TV, and luckily our cable is still out so I don't see any. I haven't even tried to see myself on the telly. There is no joy or pride in being in the news all the time, no pride or joy in the hundreds of interviews I have done over the phone and on TV, some even while trying to cut up a tree that was blocking our driveway. Nothing but a deep sadness, for it is those with the least support resources who suffer the most. So what drives me now? Well, those who have suffered and those still suffering need a voice, and most importantly for me, the truth must be out. This past Sunday I flew the whole disaster zone, the destruction immense but nothing more sad than the hundreds of homes with water up to the eaves of the roofs, some totally submerged, chemical slicks everywhere, fires. The destruction and knowledge that below me were many who, if not dead already, would soon die, trapped, deserted. I cried like I have not cried in a long time. Flying with me was a professional photographer friend. I could see the pain in his eyes as well.

 

So, I now end this note. Tomorrow is another day, lots of interviews lined up, and lots more to do in our support of the recovery efforts. A research program to adapt to the new circumstances. Building a library as it unfolds. And perhaps there is a sabbatical in this, perhaps a chance to capture all this in a book. As a scientist I called it right; as a human I feel its pain; but as a researcher—perhaps there is a lesson here for others.

 

Please pray for the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. All our lives have been changed forever.

 

Ivor

 

 

[LosMediasBlancas]

100,000 still have not evacuated. Have these people seen what Gustav just did to Cuba? wow.

[Texsox]

Now that I have a little bit of first hand knowledge, I understand people staying put. Yes, a hurricane is dangerous, but so too are the shelters, albeit a different kind of danger. The best analogy I can give is asking, when you have a tornado warning, do you head to your basement and stay there until the warning is over? I would not stay, especially in any structure below sea level, but I could see staying in a well built building 6-10' above sea level.

[Steff]

100,000 still have not evacuated. Have these people seen what Gustav just did to Cuba? wow.

 

 

According to DTV 361, which is the local NO channel, less than 5000 people stayed and those were mainly business owners who couldn't leave and the workers from the 2 hotels that remained opened. The rest there are media and g'ment officials, so I don't think that # is accurate.

 

 

Good news so far that the rain and wind hasn't been as strong as they thought it would be though they are far from out of the woods.

[Texsox]

I was thinking about the media people. ON one hand it is rediculous to put any lives at risk, but on the other, imagine not having news from the disaster scene.

[Rex Kickass]

According to DTV 361, which is the local NO channel, less than 5000 people stayed and those were mainly business owners who couldn't leave and the workers from the 2 hotels that remained opened. The rest there are media and g'ment officials, so I don't think that # is accurate.

 

 

Good news so far that the rain and wind hasn't been as strong as they thought it would be though they are far from out of the woods.

 

Reports I heard last night estimated about 10,000 people but that may have included emergency workers.

[Steff]

Reports I heard last night estimated about 10,000 people but that may have included emergency workers.

 

 

That 5000 # I got the impression was just civilians and hotel workers so I bet you're right that 10K would include everyone else.

[Flash Tizzle]

Geraldo is f***ing insane. I'm watching Fox News' coverage of the Hurricane, and he had a report from directly underneath one of the levees. There he is, while the water is crashing over. If it were to break, both him and his cameramen wouldn't have fared very well.

 

And really, for what? A closeup view of the levee? haha.

[shipps]

Geraldo is f***ing insane. I'm watching Fox News' coverage of the Hurricane, and he had a report from directly underneath one of the levees. There he is, while the water is crashing over. If it were to break, both him and his cameramen wouldn't have fared very well.

 

And really, for what? A closeup view of the levee? haha.

I kind of respect that actually.

 

Its when he thinks its a good idea to give enemy troops our battle tactics by drawing in the sand during the broadcast that makes me question him.

[Gregory Pratt]

A friend of mine is staying in New Orleans because he left after Katrina and doesn't want to "abandon the city" again this time. I admire it, but I'm worried about the guy.

[Texsox]

I kind of respect that actually.

 

Its when he thinks its a good idea to give enemy troops our battle tactics by drawing in the sand during the broadcast that makes me question him.

 

One of my early career aspirations was to become a journalist covering wars and other dangerous locations.

[LosMediasBlancas]

So they evacuated N.O. and no major damage or flooding ocurred. How difficult do you think it will be to get people to leave next time there is a Hurr threat in that area?

[Brian]

So they evacuated N.O. and no major damage or flooding ocurred. How difficult do you think it will be to get people to leave next time there is a Hurr threat in that area?

 

I'd hope that Katrina will remain in their minds as to what COULD happen. Even if it wasn't as bad as everyone though, the safest thing to do was evacuate.

 

But of course there will be the stubborn people.

[Texsox]

Especially if they come back to burglarized homes. We became pretty complacent here it had been 40 years since a really big one. But for the most part, people got out of high risk buildings and sought cover in better buildings, but not many left the area.

[LosMediasBlancas]

Funny, some of these reporters sound almost disappointed that the storm didn't wipe out N.O. again. Sorry Geraldo, guess you don't get to try to play the people's hero this time.