In Camille's Deadly 1969 Solo, A Grim Prologue To Katrina

Washington Post ^ | 8/29/05 | Ken Ringle

[saquin]

The problem with hurricane stories is that one uses up the adjectives on minor-league storms. Mail-order meteorologists and blow-dry weathermen have been inundating us for so long with evacuation hysteria for mere tropical disturbances -- complete with breathlessly narrated TV images of homeowners buying plywood and flashlight batteries -- that we think we've seen it all before.

We haven't. But we may well see it all before sundown. Because for years truly knowledgeable hurricane experts have been warning us that The Big One is what our coastal communities really need to worry about, and today The Big One is here. It may well be that New Orleans will dodge another meteorological bullet, as it has for more than 250 years, and once again escape the doomsday scenario that has long haunted the dreams of disaster officials and any Crescent City resident thoughtful enough to listen or read.

But it won't be because Hurricane Katrina is a patsy. Yesterday morning the National Hurricane Center cleared its throat and upgraded Katrina to a Category 5 hurricane -- the designation for storms capable of truly catastrophic damage and deadliness. That, however, wasn't the center's most significant statement. The real news was the center's chilling declaration that, at 902 millibars of internal barometric pressure -- the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico -- Katrina was "comparable in intensity to Hurricane Camille of 1969 . . . only larger."

[...]

Never mind the roof-ripping winds. Water fed New Orleans with commerce most of her life. If she dies today, it will be water -- born of Katrina's catastrophic power -- that's the death of her.

[apackof2]

Live Coverage of Katrina

[Spook86]

Thanks for the link, but to give you an idea of the storm's severity, WWL-TV is relocating to a studio at LSU in Baton Rouge, 100 miles upriver from N.O., and its primary rival, WDSU, is moving to its sister station, WAPT in Jackson, MS. I've been following the NO media market for many years, and I can't recall this ever happening in the past. In fact, another sister station of WDSU-TV (WESH in Orlando) was handling Chananel 6's hurricane coverage this evening, to allow WDSU staffers to evacuate to Jackson. Don't know what WVUE (Fox) and WGNO (ABC) have planned....

[apackof2]

I just keeps getting worst....I am afraid to get up tomorrow and log on.....the news could be terrible....prayers for the people of New Orleans

[RichardW]

This is a truly mind boggling article. I remember that hurricane and Cameron is just a one horse town (actually more like a half horse town.) It may very well be that this will the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. It is certainly shaping up to be that. Horrible.

[CommandoFrank]

I just keeps getting worst....

I just keeps gettin worst too...must be old age.

[Boiling point]

I have been wondering what will be the effect of underground fuel storage and chemical plants on a completely flooded New Orleans. I have heard that it could remain underwater for up to six months if the levies are damaged.

[OldFriend]

I was in New Orleans, a tourist, during Hurricane Camille.

While part of the airport as under water the following day, I was able to fly out.