Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part VII

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

[NautiNurse]

Extremely dangerous Hurricane Katrina is bearing down on the North Central Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans metro area. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin conceded that as many as 100,000 inner-city residents didn't have the means to leave and an untold number of tourists were stranded by the closing of the airport. At this hour, people are still filing into the Superdome after security screening for weapons and contraband. National Guard have brought in 360,000 MRE (meals ready to eat) to feed the estimated 30,000 storm refugees in the Superdome.

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 Katrina Live Thread, Part VI
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part V
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

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:

Fully-linked version of the live feeds (just in case a few people don't want to first open up WMP to cut-and-paste) -

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 WDSU-TV/DT New Orleans via WESH-TV/DT Orlando - http://mfile.akamai.com/12912/live/reflector:38843.asx

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

[U S Army EOD]

Whoaaaaaa!

[gpapa]

Wishful thinking.
Goto Louisiana/Mississippi Coastal Region Recent Marine Data
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/Maps/WestGulf_inset.shtml
Click on buoys TAML1, ILDL1 & BURL1, coastal area getting hammered.
At 42040 last report with 38 ft waves
At 42007 19 fts waves
All stations report pressure falling rapidly

[jbstrick]

I'm not necessarrily defending the mayor. My point is this (and it always has been). If you are going to gripe about something, offer a feasable alternative.

And you, of all people should know I am not a democrat. =)

[Flux Capacitor]

----Be sure to come back and defend him tomorrow if there are many deaths.----

We're talking about blaming one man for the effect of an incredibly huge act of God upon a city whose fate was sealed when it was built up into a massive population center sitting atop a geographical powder keg, some 300 years ago. All New Orleans has ever been able to do was pray that something like this didn't come along.

Ray Nagin doesn't deserve blame for something on this scale. No one person does, unless you want to go back to the Sieur de Bienville.

-Dan

[Chena]

A retired meteorologist sent an e-mail to Fox News this morning and he was warning about the poisonous snakes. He said that the flooding and winds wouldn't be what would necessarily cause the most casualties, it was the snakes. He said that the snakes will be everywhere as they try to escape the flood of salt water. Did I hear correctly?

[hoosiermama]

Miracles....what we need now are lots of mircles.....

[Howlin]

Oh, I had one while ago telling me that Bush should "leave his vacation at the ranch" and go back to D.C. because it looked bad.

You know the type: "I'm a lifelong Republican but..."

[JennysCool]

The main thing I looked forward to when growing up was not having to answer to a parent ever again.

You must be a conservative. :-)

[Miss Marple]

Well, I am pretty sure that boats left the Port of New Orleans for safer areas north. I imagine some people could have been put aboard those.

The most practical was the suggestion of bus lanes with busses picking people up at designated points. Trains could also have been used.

But we didn't see any of this, did we? Nope. The plan for the poor was NO PLAN.

[onyx]

It's the biggest and best facility they have, but I have not heard anyone promise it's safe. They just "don't know."

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks Jeff. You too...

[JeffAtlanta]

Factor in the people without mode or means of escape.

How would an evacuation order have affected these people? It's not like the city has the means to bus the people out of town.

[pax_et_bonum]

These people who are stuck on the freeways are there because they didn't evacuate THEMSELVES earlier. Maybe the mayor is an incompetent jerk but the people of NO knew the storm was coming and they knew the city is below sea level and didn't leave until the last minute. This happens with every storm evacuation. If you wait till the last minute to leave expect trouble and delays.

Exactly why the authorities should have suggested evacuation earlier.

[garandgal]

Indications are that the cancer has likely returned.

Prayers that the "indications" are wrong! Thinking of you....

[nopardons]

Bumping you up to the top of my prayer list.

[PhiKapMom]

I don't even know who Morial is -- I live in NORMAN, OK. I do know moron statements when I see them and this Mayor last night took the cake when he said he couldn't order an evacuation.

You guys defending this Mayor amaze me -- he had NO plan and without being forced by the President's announcement not sure he would ordered evacuation. I have heard him several times during the day and think less of him everytime. Too much of this is not going to hit New Orleans by this Mayor to suit me.

[Chena]

I listened to the news reports all day and am fairly certain that I heard them say that President Bush actually pleaded with them, or forcefully encouraged them (my words, not theirs) to order an evacuation. Did anyone else hear this?

[Crazieman]

Oil Tops $70 As Katrina Nears Louisiana

[Diddle E. Squat]

Well, the initial 'voice of Satan' lousy audio on his speech today was horrid, but that wasn't the President's fault, other than perhaps for failing to fire the increasingly inept WH PR staff.

[Tarheel]

On a related note, I'm looking forward to reading of the donations being made by other countries.

We will probably all see pigs fly before we see $$ from other than the Brits, Aussies, Kiwis and Canadians. Remember after 9-11 the Saudi prince who wanted to give NYC 1 mil (it may have been more) but proceeded to lecture the US first--Rudy G. told him to st*** it.