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

[bonfire]

One would think that a mayor of NO would have given a situation such as this a bit of thought even BEFORE he became mayor.

sheesh.

[DoughtyOne]

Yep. You know, something's wrong when one storm can disrupt the nations supply of gasoline to this extent. If oil rigs and refineries are damaged to the point that they might be, we could be in a serious world of hurt when it comes to gasoline, and other oil derivitives.

[Howlin]

This is a LOCAL problem for the most part; the governor and the mayor are going to have to take the blame for the shoddy "plan" which evidently involved prayer and no order to evacuate until it was too late.

[PhiKapMom]

I don't care who he backed -- his decisions in this disaster about to happen were flawed. Would have no confidence in him whatsoever if he were my Mayor.

[Miss Marple]

I heard that President Bush strongly suggested it. I also heard the head of the hurricane center personally called the mayor. There was something to that effect, because the story put out by the mayor's office originally wa that he couldn't order a mandatory evacuation because of some legal reason.

[Howlin]

Precisely.

[DoughtyOne]

LOL, I hadn't heard him today.

[RobbyS]

He's a lot closer to NO right now than he would be if he were in DC. As an aside, I wish they would let him STAY in Crawford for a longer time. Ft. Hood is right there to provide him all the support he needs, except for state dinners.

[John Jamieson]

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, touched a high of 70.80 usd and was trading at 69.78 dollars at 10.00 am (0200 GMT), up 3.65 usd from its close of 66.13 in the US on Friday.

[newzjunkey]

Reports of price gouging for fuel, hotels and other things! Civil and criminal prosecutions *will* occur. Reported in mid-parts of L.A. through to Lafayette.

Allegations include stations taking only cash for fuel and no credit cards.

Reporting forms available via: L.A. Att General website

[JennysCool]

From the "Weather Corner" in the Mercury News

Q. During our recent spectacular lightning show I noticed that sometimes there was a greenish tint to the lightning. Can you explain this? Lucy Baldwin - Palo Alto

A. Clouds often take on a greenish hue before severe storms, but this is most often associated with hail. Hail is usually part of a thunderstorm. These tall, dense cumulonimbus clouds often block most of the sunlight, so the greenish tint may be a reflection of Earth's green foliage. However, the cause of the green tint has not been proven conclusively.

[kenth]

The problem with the mayor and governor's inaction was that it prevented the evacuation of those without the ability to evacuate. There are people without money, without vehicles to travel. Instead of being able to get those people out on some form of public transportation, the failure to act has put them in a last ditch effort to stay alive by riding out the storm in the Superdome.

When the mayor and governor have to be told by the President that they need to evacuate their cities, something is seriously rotten in that state's chain of command. Crucial hours were lost because that mayor was consulting with lawyers over the legalities of trying to save lives. I think there's plenty of blame to lay at their feet.

[blondee123]

Well, I sure hope Pres. Bush releases some of the oil reserve we have, NOW! It's time to do it, Americans cannot pay more for gas than it is right now. This increase could go on thru the winter, if reserves are not released!

[Chena]

I'd be surprised.... but if you're praying for New Orleans, as most good Freepers have been, you're praying for a whoooooooole lot of Democrats. Louisiana is still a blue state.

I would be seriously disappointed in anyone who would turn a natural disaster for ALL Americans into a political issue. When push comes to shove, in any tragedy, or looming disaster, it matters not whether you are a Republican, Democrat or some other political persuasion. We, as fellow Americans, have a duty to pray for each other in times of need and do our best to lend a helping hand. :)

[Howlin]

you talk real big but until you are put in his shoes and overseeing and are SUCCESSFUL trying to handle a city with a million people in it then you can start bashing him.

If I ran and got myself elected to the mayor's office in New Orleans, the first damn thing I would have done is ASK FOR THE EVACUATION PLANS.

The President of the United States of America had to call that man and tell him to ORDER AN EVACUATION.

[adam_az]

MSNBC just interviewed Sheriff Harry Lee, the infamous Nutria hunter!!!

http://www.google.com/search?hs=uuG&hl=en&lr=&client=firefox&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=sheriff+harry+lee+nutria&btnG=Search

[exhaustedmomma]

It's not like the city has the means to bus the people out of town.

NO has: Public transit vehicles, public school busses, Amtrak, Greyhound, boats, to name a few. They did arrange for pick up points in neighborhoods (like schools) to take them to the Dome... that was assuming they could get to the pick up points.

[onyx]

I fully understand some folks had no means of transportation out of NO, and that the dome is their only shelter, but the others who have elected to stay put,... well, I hope no rescuer/safety officer loses his or her life trying to save the foolish folks.

[PhiKapMom]

I have a feasible alternative -- start the evacuation of New Orleans before this morning. Also make sure every main street was going one way -- OUT of the city. Make sure that people in nursing homes/hospitals were not abandoned. My list would go on and on but it would be a plan in case of a catastrophic hurricane and it would be put into action several days before not less than 24 hours before the hurricane hit.