Hurricane Katrina, Live Thread, Part V

NHC - NOAA ^ | 28 August 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Extremely dangerous Hurricane Katrina is bearing down on the North Central Gulf of Mexico. Mandatory evacuation of New Orleans is finally underway. Louisiana officials are warning of complete failure to levy systems, and pleading with people to leave low lying areas. For those who choose to stay, they are recommending picks and axes for breaking through to access their roofs during flooding.

Due to the size and intensity of this storm, all interests in the North Gulf of Mexico should be rushing hurricane preparations to completion.

The following links are self-updating:

Public Advisory Currently published every 3 hours 5A, 8A, 11A, 2P, etc. ET
NHC Discussion Published every six hours 6A, 11A, 6P, 11P
Three Day Forecast Track
Five Day Forecast Track
Navy Storm Track
Katrina Track Forecast Archive Nice loop of each NHC forecast track for both three and five day
Forecast Models
Alternate Hurricane Models via Skeetobite
Bouy Data Louisiana/Mississippi
Buoy Data Florida

Images:

New Orleans/Baton Rouge Experimental Radar Subject to delays and outages - and well worth the wait

Mobile Long Range Radar Loop

New Orleans/Baton Rouge Radar

Ft. Polk, LA Long Range Radar Loop

Northwest Florida Long Range Radar

Storm Floater IR Loop
Storm Floater Still & Loop Options
Color Enhanced IR Loop

Other Resources:

Hurricane Wind Risk Very informative tables showing inland wind potential by hurricane strength and forward motion
Central Florida Hurricane Center
New Orleans Web Cams Loads of web cam sites here. The sites have been very slow due to high traffic
New Orleans Music Online Couldn't resist--love that jazz
Golden Triangle Weather Page Nice Beaumont weather site with lots of tracks and graphics
Hurricane City
Crown Weather Tropical Website Offers a variety of storm info, with some nice track graphics

Live streaming:
copy/paste into player:

http://www.wjbo.com - BR radio station. Callers calling in and describing traffic etc.
WWL-TV/DT New Orleans (WMP) - mms://beloint.wm.llnwd.net/beloint_wwltv
WVTM-TV/DT Birmingham (WMP) - mms://a1256.l1289835255.c12898.g.lm.akamaistream.net/D/1256/12898/v0001/reflector:35255
WDSU-TV/DT New Orleans (WMP) - http://mfile.akamai.com/12912/live/reflector:38202.asx
Hurricane City (Real Player) - http://hurricanecity.com/live.ram
ABCNews Now (Real Player) - http://reallive.stream.aol.com/ramgen/redundant/abc/now_hi.rm
WKRG-TV/DT Mobile (WMP) - mms://wmbcast.mgeneral.speedera.net/wmbcast.mgeneral/wmbcast_mgeneral_aug262005_1435_95518

Hurricane Katrina, Live Thread, Part IV
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part III
Katrina Live Thread, Part II
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm 12

Category	Wind Speed	Barometric Pressure	Storm Surge	Damage Potential
Tropical Depression	< 39 mph < 34 kts			Minimal
Tropical Storm	39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts			Minimal
Hurricane 1 (Weak)	74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts	28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more	4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m	Minimal damage to vegetation
Hurricane 2 (Moderate)	96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts	28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb	6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m	Moderate damage to houses
Hurricane 3 (Strong)	111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts	27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb	9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m	Extensive damage to small buildings
Hurricane 4 (Very strong)	131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts	27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb	13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m	Extreme structural damage
Hurricane 5 (Devastating)	Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts	Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb	Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m	Catastrophic building failures possible

[mware]

oh jim, they are not going to get them all in.

[LadyBuzz]

I'm afraid that they are walking into a death trap - it scares me

[nina0113]

those kids outside th Superdome tear at your heart.

They sure do. The city should be evacuating those kids on city buses. Write their information on their bodies with a Sharpie and GET THEM OUT. I keep remembering the American evacuation of Saigon, with the parents begging the Americans to take their children...

I'm praying for a miracle. Since I'm an overdramatic Southerner, a big flashy one would be especially nice. Something involving the Cathedral, so everyone would know just Who had saved them.

[Cedar]

"Regardless of what you think of Shep, his reporting today has been pretty bad IMO - to say nothing about how stupid it is for him to drive down into this especially when there are Fox reports already there."

I think Shep is from Mississippi, and most Mississippians have close feelings for our Louisiana neighbors.

Maybe the bad news hits close to his heart, and he wanted to be there in person.

Of course, I'm just guessing here.

[hole_n_one]

FNC: Tempers are flaring outside the Superdome......

Chants of Let Us In!!!

[spectre]

Well..I heard it explained they were searching for cigarettes and booze.

They can keep the cigarettes, but are told not to smoke INSIDE the building (LOL), and NO BOOZE.

sw

[rwfromkansas]

This may hit by 2-3 a.m. EDT.

[Moose4]

Thank you. So by the current tracks, Plaquemines and Jefferson are truly ground zero and will get the first landfall, and Plaquemines will get the northeast quadrant. Wow. I'd *almost* rather be in New Orleans than to be on that finger of swampland and bayous with a Cat 5 hurricane bearing down on me.

}:-)4

[Dog]

Thank you.

Now lets get back to the topic of the thread.

Where's Geraldo..

[del4hope]

One would think that in this situation the Mass Transit buses could be used to transport these people to shelters west and north.

[LibSnubber]

"The bodies are safer all encased in concrete and above ground."

Lots of graves are totally encased in concrete crypts, but far from all. We've got two family burial plots in NO; ours and many others are more like concrete, hollow, open-topped boxes that are filled with earth. If it floods like they say, there will be some corpses floating around eventually.

[MamaB]

Yes, it was.

[AGreatPer]

Has anyone thought about this? Can the Dome construction handle these conditions (weather wise)? What about the construction of the roof during these low pressure extreme times?

[Diddle E. Squat]

For future reference, this repeated line by the mayor and governor that "We went to bed Friday night being told it was a Florida storm, and woke up Saturday to find us threatened" to excuse why they waited so long to start the evacuation plan is total bullshit. (excuse my French)

Friday 4pm NO time report from the NWS, warns of a significant shift west, Mississippi landfall (88.5 on the grid, NO is 90), and possible more movement expected (post #388):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1471043/posts?page=388#388


By at least Friday 6pm computer models were converging on LA (post #478):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1471043/posts?page=478#478


Turns out those computer models had been run at 2pm (post #526):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1471043/posts?page=526#526


In fact some computer models run at 7am NO time Friday had predicted a NO hit(post #224):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1471043/posts?page=224#224

So unless the gov and mayor went to bed Friday afternoon, they knew then that it likely was headed their way.


But wait, lookee here, Blanco declares a state of emergency about 8pm Friday night. Why do that if they were told it was going to be a Florida hurricane? (post #585)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1471043/posts?page=585#585

[kcvl]

They are expecting 20,000 to 30,000 people in the Super-dome. Fox News just said there was beginning to be a "little unrest" in line. Some are chanting "let us in, let us in".

[dfwgator]

That's what I was thinking, get the Air Force to bring in a fleet of C5-As and get people out of there.

[steveegg]

I hope they have a sturdy basement and aren't on low ground.

[Liberty Valance]

http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/nanci_griffith/wasnt_that_a_mighty_storm.html

~ Wasn't that a mighty storm ~

Written about the Galveston Hurricane of 1900.

[myprecious]

What is taking so long to get them all in?

Checking for weapons, drugs, booze. This IS New Orleans. It is gonna get ugly when the lights and A/C shut off and no one can even smoke. Good thing to check for weapons.

[daybreakcoming]

I wish I could say some words that would comfort you. Just brace yourself for the possibility and be grateful (as I am) that the rest of your family is safe. God bless.

My mother and sister live above New Orleans. They have gone to a relative's house in Baton Rouge. I-10 West was a parking lot or they would come to me here in Texas. If the power is going to be out for a while afterwards as expected, they will then try to come stay here.

Prayers for all.