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

[Altamira]

And what about oysters at Acme Oyster Bar, Po' Boy sandwiches at Johnny's, shrimp at Ugelisch's, and a nice Pimm's Cup at Napoleon House?

The smell of old wood at M.S.Rau and the sound of the cathedral clock in Jackson Square.

I feel like crying. The memories, the memories...

[Txsleuth]

I am sitting here just about in tears...and then the report about the lone trumpet player got me....

BTW, re: Fox, I hope they don't put that ditz Dari Alexander on to handle this today...sigh

My gosh, I am shaking for these people...I don't know what to do, except keep praying, HARD!

[jeffers]

"Does anyone have any info on how far out from the eye does each segment of wind extend and in which
quandrants? "

http://www.boatus.com/hurricanes/hurricane_field.asp

[mhking]

what time is this thing supposed to hit

2-5A CT tomorrow.

[beyond the sea]

She's a super storm now and still feeding, with the warmest waters yet to come, plus absolutely NO wind sheer.

Unreal.

[oceanview]

yes, that is true. but if it hits NO head on with in the eastern eyewall pushing a dome of water from the sea, it will flood anyway, and the wind damage will be on top of that.

I'll take the western part of the storm and the flooding from the lake over that.

[AntiGuv]

Speaking of floods, it is worth noting that people in the Ohio Valley and Appalachia should be keeping a sharp eye out on where Katrina is gonna go, because it definitely has the potential to cause some massive flooding. Camille killed about as many people in Appalachia as it did on the Gulf Coast. Of course, that's leaving New Orleans out of it. If the worse case scenarios play out there, nothing will rival that (except a 9.0 earthquake in Cali).

[Dog Gone]

Are you talking about how long it took for the Mayor to issue the evacuation order for New Orleans?

Yes, but that's only a part of it. They should have been talking about the possibility of issuing it late last week. It's not like this storm sneaked up on anyone.

I was arguing on Wednesday that the NHC had the track too far east going up the west coast of Florida. And when Katrina went southwest across the tip of Florida it was OBVIOUS that it was going to have a far more western landfall.

I'm not even beginning to suggest that they should have known last Wednesday that the city was in peril, but by Friday it was clear that there was only a chance that it would not be in peril.

And here it is, Sunday afternoon. The devastation will be underway within 12 hours.

Now they raise the alarm.

[SE Mom]

Whew..that takes my breath away.

[Fudd Fan]

"Please no Christy Lane...please no."
"LOL That struck my funny bone."

"One day at a time..."

[mware]

Please no Christy Lane...please no.

Actually, One day At A Time, Sweet Jesus."

isn't such a bad idea right now.

[Howlin]

Katrina's millibars just went down another 4 points.

And over the coolest part of the GOM.

*Shudder*

[hole_n_one]

[max_rpf]

Thanks -- I did a quick search through this tread and did not find it (hence the request) -- there are just so many threads... Amazing how fast things can change.

[filbert]

WDSU-TV reporter says it takes about a hour to get across the Causeway--traffic moving along at 5-10 mph. "It's been flowing fairly smoothly." He says 4-4.5 hour drive to get to Jackson, MS (usually about a 2-hour drive). Contraflow is "working well."

[Txsleuth]

I have been trying to remind myself that these "disasters" are always much less than Fox portrays them...as comfort.

[independentmind]

Do you have any idea of how much money FEMA/Homeland Security has funneled to local and state governments around the country since 911 specifically for the purpose of emergency preparedness? It is inconceivable to me that more planning wasn't done in New Orleans. Someone made the decision that the underclass was expendable.

[Tarpon]

There is too much focus on New Orleans. All of these places may cease to exist.

I beg to differ, Biloxi where we were took a direct hit from Camille and other than the catrostropic damage to some buildings, the majority of it survived. Same with Gulfport which was closer to the eye.

The focus is on NO simply because this storm may breach the Lake Pontchartrain levy, that's a huge risk to people drowning because there is no way out. Think downtown tsunami and you get the picture.

[Altamira]

And what about oysters at Acme Oyster Bar, Po' Boy sandwiches at Johnny's, shrimp at Ugelisch's, and a nice Pimm's Cup at Napoleon House?

The smell of old wood at M.S.Rau and the sound of the cathedral clock in Jackson Square. Riding the St.Charles streetcar back from the Camilia Grill, and watching the cut glass windows of the Garden District mansions sparkle in the streetlights. The way the moist, hot air hugged your body in July...Making grocerties at the A & P in the French Quarter.

I feel like crying. The memories, the memories...

[mvpel]

A "bar" is a metric-system measurement of pressure. Think "bar"-ometer. It's 100,000 Newtons per square meter.

A pressure of 1,000 millibars (mb) is the normal sea-level pressure. A pressure of 902 mb means that the pressure is extremely low, around 10% below what it normally is, equivalent to an altitude of about 3,000 to 3,500 feet above sea level in normal weather.

See http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wbarocx.htm for details.