Ivan! Jeanne! & Karl & Dennis The Menace & Katrina

The pressure has now dropped to 902 mb, with 165 mph sustained winds.

I don't have the right words to express the concern and sadness I feel.

It must seem like another world right now for them.

My thoughts have been with them all day. I keep hoping that the storm will not be as bad as predicted.

Yeah, I can't begin to imagine. I love New Orleans. I hope it is spared, but regardless of where Katrina makes landfall the devastation of a large surrounding area will be horrific.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone in the northern Gulf coast. Let's just hope the loss of life will be minimal.

Are people still on the highways?

" ... We're in for some trouble here no matter what." is at best a best-case hope. Katrina might confound the experts and veer to the West over the next few hours, thus sparing New Orleans the worst of the storm surge, but you still have a slow-moving, rain-laden, incredibly violent storm about the size of Ohio bearing down on a heavily-populated, low-lying coastal area, bringing a 3-storey tide surge, day-long torrential downpours accompanied by many straight hours of sustained 100MPH+ winds interspersed with gusts over 200MPH, along with swarms of tornados. It ain't gonna be pretty.

This promises be the largest natural disaster to strike The US in history. Inevitably, energy prices will spike, there also may be significant, long-lasting degradation of US petroleum production, refinining, and distribution capabillities, the deathtoll may be all but unimagineable, much historic architecture will be obliterated, tens, if not hundreds, of thousands will be homeless (many for a very long while), and the area's physical civil infrastructure will be disrupted for months.

Apart from the devastation to be visited on the immediate landfall area, the storm track will carry rain, high winds, lightning, and tornados well up the Tenessee and Ohio vallies, areas already saturated by this spring and summer's unusually heavy rains. Flooding may be expected over thousands of square miles, with dams and levees in half a dozen states imperilled for days to come. The recovery and reconstruction efforts will drive the prices of building supplies and services upward nationwide.

And of course, there will be those who prey on the devastated survivors.

Of one thing we may be certain; Katrina will be Headline News long after most of wish we'd never heard of her.

The largest natural disaster to strike the US in history???


Really?

Man! Just to think of the competition one has for such a title... Monsterous.

I echo the question above. Are the roads clear yet?

just saw on CNN that about 100,000 people who have no transportation to get out of n.o. are trying to find emergency shelter in the metrodome - just imagine 100,000 people in one confined space; i hope that's not inviting trouble. hbg

There is still considerable, slow-moving traffic clogging the exit routes. However, Department of Transportation and/or Highway Patrol/State Police websites for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama report all major coastal roads are closed to further traffic, travel warnings and rerstrictions have been posted and are being enforced, on-ramps have been closed in many locations. The anticipated landfall area in Louisiana has been under strict curfew since 6:00 PM local time. FEMA and National Guard units, as well as the Red Cross and other non-governmental aid organizations, are standing ready to move into the affected area, mounting the largest domestic civilian relief operation the US has ever seen as soon as conditions permit, which is anticipated to be sometime tomorrow evening. This one ain't no joke.

i understand the n.o. emergency manager stated that because of the huge wave expected (up to 25 feet ?) , it may be difficult to move out emergency units quickly. he seemed to think it might take up to 72 hours before emergency units could actually move out and be employed. not good. hbg

It is likely some areas will not receive any aid for several days. We're gonna hear about tragedies and heartbreak aplenty.

god works in mysterious way, so I hear, the current situation re New Orleans is probably gods way of saying , nekkid boobs is naughty and I'll get y'all for it.

A sidebar; I've just come across an email which alerts members of utility service (telephone, electric, water, sewer, and pipeline) emergency response volunteer teams nationally to make ready for deployment to the storm area. Among other concerns, the email states it is anticipated the electric and telephone grids in the affected area essentially will be wiped out, and that widespread, total failure of water and sewer systems is all but inevitable; primary recovery may take weeks, full restoration could take months. I sure hope that's overly pessimistic.

the maximum seating capacity for a football game at the Louisiana Superdome is 72,000.
plus there's room on the field for maybe another 20,000?
plus there's offices, locker rooms, etc.
i imagine they could fit 100,000 people in there comfortably... i hope.

I found this report on the risk, compiled well before this particular storm developed. Let's hope it isn't very accurate. :sad: Click Here

I haven't read it yet but yikes.

I wouldn't want to be going to that stadium... er, I don't like crowds all that much in the first place. Ach, anything I say sounds stupid in the light of the situation.

Very scary info They knew it was coming, it was just a matter time.

Hamburger - I was just talking about the size of this thing with youngest cub. I mentioned people going to the Superdome. First thing he said was that many people in one place could be disastrous.

Boy, and the Weather Channel was talking about the 8000 lost in Galveston.