further, I feel badly for those who spent the time they could have used to get out boarding up stuff... if they didn't get out.
(shut up now, osso)
One more thing and I'll be quiet. I hope the levees hold, if holding is the best thing for what happens with the water.
Katerina, at Category 5, is among the absolute very most powerful of hurricanes, one of only 3 to impact the US since records have been kept. The occurrence of widespread catastrophic damage, barring unexpected and highly improbable change of course and conditions, is inevitable.
Apart from the damage to New Orlean itself, more ominous are the implications of concomitant damge to The Port of Southern Louisiana, largest in the US, and behinf only Singapore, Rotterdam, Shanghai and Hong Kong on ther p;anet. Critical both to The US Economy and The Global Economy, The Port of Southern Louisiana is a 50-some mile stretch of coastal and riverine facillities acounting for the bulk of US Agricultural Exports throughout the world, totalling by dollar-value somewhere in the vicinity of 20% of all US exports. Roughly half the port's shipments go to Europe. Also endangered is The Port of Mobile, itself a significant contributor to both the US and Global economise
US farmers and world markets depend on the port's shipment of grain, processed foodstuffs, and animal feed - with the US annual harvest just weeks from its peak, this comes at a most inopportune time. The domestic and global politico-economic ramifications are quite disturbing. While the loss of life will be nowhere near the scale brought about by last December's tsunami, the global economic impact could be enormous.
Oh, and re the levees - a concern being voiced is that they may in fact contribute to the damage, by inhibiting drainage of flood waters, essentially turning the New Orleans basin into a cesspit of debris, petrochemicals, and sewage - with the occaisional coffin floating about in the muck; many of New Orleans' dead are buried in above-ground crypts.
About the best that can be hoped is that in this instance as in so many others the worst case doesn't happen. There is some encouragement to be found in the latest NOAA report; though she's still a Cat 5, Katrina's winds have weakened slightly over the past 4 hours. Still, is one better off if hit by a 100 car train than if hit by a 110 car train?
All of you folks down there, please take care of yourselves. This is the biggest and baddest one anyone of us will probably ever live to see and I'm very worried.
Prayng for everyone in New Orleans and along the gulf coast tonight, especially our friends in Algiers, (the West Bank), in Metairie, on the North Shore (in Mandeville and Slidell) and everyone at Acadian Village, in Gulfport. I hope you're all well out of danger tonight ... and have something to come back to in a few days.
I wish damages to be minimal ..
noaa XML
There has been a slight jog to the east. Good news, relatively, for NO, bad news for Biloxi and the rest of Mississippi.
All we can do now is watch and wait and pray. I'm doing all three.
I was so worried to read this morning about the utter destruction of New Orleans, was very happy to see that it had been reduced to Category 4 and that the worst of it might spare New Orleans.
Don't wish the mayhem on anyone else, either, but if other places are better able to cope...
Holes in the Superdome...
Quote:By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago
NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Katrina ripped away part of the roof on the Louisiana Superdome as thousands of storm refugees huddled inside Monday.
Strips of metal were peeled away, creating two holes that were visible from the floor of the huge arena. Water dripped in and people were moved away from about five sections of seats directly below.
Others watched as sheets of metal flapped visibly and noisily. From the floor, more than 19 stories below the dome, the openings appeared to be 6 feet long.
"The superdome is not in any dangerous situation," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said.
Was just coming to link to a similar report
HERE
Quote:There were early reports of buildings collapsing along the coast, roofs blowing apart and windows flying out in office buildings. New Orleans' Superdome, serving as a shelter for about 10,000 people, lost power and was leaking from the roof, parts of which flew off.
"The roof is deteriorating," said Sen. Mary Landrieu (D- La.) speaking on CNN from a storm command center. But she said officials were confident it would hold.
While the National Weather Service said New Orleans might not be as hard hit as originally feared, it also warned of a grave threat to life and property in coastal regions of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, including New Orleans and Biloxi, Miss.
I read on the Times-Picayune website (
www.nola.com ) that there are 30,000 people at the Superdome. The electricity went out about 5 am. There's a back-up generator, but it won't operate the air-conditioning. It sounds like a really bad situation there.
Waiting, hoping....
In the meantime, I have no tv, having stopped my cable access prior to my projected move - I'm giving this tv away and it lolls about now on my front porch. I've even packed my clock radio (hmm, which box...)
So, it's google and this thread for me.
Not much very recent info on google when I first looked about a half hour ago.
The first thing I did read there mentioned the city as filled with termite ridden wood structures, just as that Harper's article laid out. Even if the city is spared the most extreme winds, repercussions of this fragility will go on for years, and the problem with the levee will have to be faced.
According to AP a levee has breached, I think on the south side of the city.
Well, I'm sure glad it diminished in intensity...
It would seem New Orleans dodged the bullet - at least so far. Over the next 24-48 hours there will be plenty of Aftermath News, and the impact of the storm as she moves inland and Northeastward is going to be significant. Its far from over, though perhaps the worst is past, and the worst that could have happened didn't come to pass.
