Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part VIII

NOAA - NHC ^ | 29 August 2005 | NOAA - NHC

[NautiNurse]

Category 4 Hurricane Katrina is approaching landfall in Eastern Louisiana. At 4:00AM EDT the storm's center was about 90 miles south of New Orleans.

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

Lake Ponchartrain Real Time Water Level

Wind Speed Data

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:

Cut and Paste:

http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=beloint_khou&props=livenoad

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

Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part VII
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

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

[Diddle E. Squat]

CNN: Biloxi: Reporter's hotel's roof is damaged, windows blown out, wind still fairly strong and whipping debris around, damage he can see is not as bad as he's seen in some storm.

[numberonepal]

did anyone catch what caused the weakening of the storm? cause if it was that island, we could learn from that for next time

It wasn't the island so much as the storm was about halfway through an ERC.

[Types_with_Fist]

I suppose you could call months of recovery, compared with years of recovery, "dodging the bullet."

Oh, for Heaven's sake. New Orleans has to do that after every April. The worst DID NOT happen and it had nothing to do with "man over nature" or any such nonsense.

[conservative in nyc]

From Biloxi's Newspaper, the Sun Herald:

CASINO
FLOODING REPORTED
Updated 1:05 p.m. CDT
# Dolphins safe in hotel pool
# Bay St. Louis takes storm's worst.
# Water reported up to 2nd floor of Beau Rivage
# Boats washed onto highway, into buildings.
# 20-foot storm surge in So. Miss.
# Gusts of 110 mph in Pascagoula
# Widespread power outages
# Hancock County expects worst damage

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/

[fatima]

The Toll,I will pray for her,fatima

[RobFromGa]

The problem is, while some had their prayers answered, others were still left to face the wrath of this monster.

Actually in this case the storm abated quite a bit before landfall, that was good for everyone. So anyone who prayed for New Orleans to be spared, or anything similar could have had their prayers answered and not hurt anyone else. This storm spared NOLA because it weakened, not because it veered.

[Ichneumon]

I think the balance of news/humor on this thread has been perfect. Some may think "Humor? How dare you speak of humor on a day like this..."

I've always been fond of this quote:

"Life does not cease to be funny when someone dies, any more than it ceases to be serious when someone laughs."
-- George Bernard Shaw

Some of us are capable of feeling more than one emotion at a time. Life itself is a mix of things, usually simultaneously, including the humorous among the tragic and vice versa. And often "comic relief" is a good release, and helps to cope with the tension.

[PigRigger]

Obviously "ground zero" for Katrina was the LA/MS border.....I fear many in this region may have lost their lives not heeding warnings to evacuate....I am hearing the Storm surge in this area may have been between 25 and 30'...if this is confirmed....I pray for the people who were in her path.....If this would have hit NOLA head on; NOLA, perhaps, may have been wiped off the map....

[Smogger]

News from South Mississippi:

Monday, August 29, 2005

Latest information

According to Staff Writer Geoff Pender, a number of businesses and homes have been damaged in the Hattiesburg area. The heavy winds are starting to hit there. U.S. 49 and Highway 11 are shut down.

Also, Memorial Hospital at Gulfport has been heavily damaged. There are reports that all the hospitals in the Coast counties are reporting major difficulties.

Gov. Haley Barbour and other officials have warned that looters will not be tolerated. "If you are in the business of theft, this might not be the time to play your trade," according to Harold Cross of the Mississippi National Guard. So far, there have been no confirmed reports of casualties.

More than 180,000 people in South Mississippi are without power.

posted at # 12:28 PM

Hancock EOC took on water

A report from the Hancock County Emergency Operaations Center says that they got a foot of water in the EOC. Before the storm, they said they were at 30 feet elevation. That's an indication of the storm surge.

posted at # 12:01 PM

Interstate 10 impassable

The Biloxi River is flowing over the bridge on Interstate 10, to what one observer guessed was perhaps 6 feet. There are also reports of containers from the Fayard moving company littering in the interstate just east of the I-10/U.S. 49 junction in Gulfport.

posted at # 11:58 AM

HC 9th Grade damage

Reports from Harrison Central 9th Grade School in North Gulfport are that three of four walls there have collapsed. Rescue efforts are in progress. There were about 100 people sheltered there.

posted at # 11:56 AM

Hancock County

This is not much, but the latest we've heard on Hancock: Major flooding all around St. Louis Bay.

Karina South Mississippi Blog

[Hoodlum91]

well, at least the dolphins are safe lol!

[maxter]

"did anyone catch what caused the weakening of the storm? cause if it was that island, we could learn from that for next time"

Prayer perhaps?

[GovernmentShrinker]

I'd be slow to label people "looters" if they're taking things from totally flooded buildings. Some may well just be trying to get immediate survival supplies, from empty flooded buildings where no one else urgently needs the items, which are likely to have floated away before the rightful owners return. This isn't the sort of situation where people would be looting computers and stereos from stores, since few of those items would still be in useable condition after being soaked. Flooded grocery stores certainly won't be selling any of the items that have been floating around, so if someone wants to grab some bottles of safe drinking water, jars of peanut butter, etc., they wouldn't be hurting anyone.

[Hatteras]

"The Superdome is still leaking, but it's manageable."

They set out a bunch of big pots to catch the leaks...

[BurbankKarl]

ABC2 showing pics inside the NO skyscrapers damaged

[Smogger]

Read the blog below paticularly the report from the Hancock Country EOC.

[shield]

Don't tell Laz.

That's for sure....LOL

[easonc52]

I'm just south of Jackson and it is getting really bad now. We are going across the street to a safter structure. I'm signing off now and will post a message when I return.

Ciao,

Flying E

Thank you for the info. Stay safe.

[jveritas]

He is our Lord that spared New Orleans and the Gulf cost from the horrible death and destruction and substantially weakened the hurricane before it made landfall. In a siutation like this when all the might and power of man cannot do anything, only our Lord can save us and He did save us.

Praise the Lord!

[Smogger]

Town-by-town roundup


Bay St. Louis: Major flooding all around.

Biloxi: The Biloxi River is flowing over the bridge on Interstate 10. . . Water on first two floors of Beau Rivage. . . Extensive flooding in East Biloxi. . .

Gulfport: 3 of 4 walls have collapsed at Harrison Central 9th Grade School in North Gulfport. . . At least three firehouses have taken significant damage . . .

Harrison County: Damage to virtually all shelters, including broken windows, leaky windows and no power, but no injuries. Lyman Elementary lost two buildings. People were moved to another building on campus safely. Woolmarket Elementary, lost its roof. West Wortham Elementary has signficant roof damage.

Poplarville: A tornado was spotted nearby at 10:20 a.m.

D'Iberville: 5.5 feet of water at Suburban Lodge on Automall Parkway.

Pascagoula: The Jackson County Emergency Management Agency had to relocate to the courthouse after the roof came off their building downtown. . . The roof also came off the gym at St. Martin High School. . . Reports of flooding in the Chipley area.

Porteaux Bay: four people were trapped on a roof, wearing lifejackets. They couldn't get through to 911, but got on WLOX, asking for help.

Wiggins: 100 mph wind gusts (11 a.m.)

[WestCoastGal]

"Damn, my son, who is home on leave from Iraq, just called and checked in early from leave and volunteered to go to NO for relief duty. The USMC Duty officer said that he had a LOOOOOONG roster of Marines gearing up to go and help. Where do we get young men like these????"

Thank God we have such brave & wonderful guys like this!!

Thank your son for all of us. :)

[kick the butts of those looters]