[Robert A Cook PE]

Wellllllllllll, technically speakin' there will ALWAYS be a maximum sustained winds from a hurricane - as long as there are any winds at all, some of the gusts will be above average, some will be below average, and some will be at the local maximum.

8<)

But, realistically speakin' - cause ah know you're worried (and rightfully so!) figure that the guesses are just about right.

As soon as the eye passes over the coastline, the winds will begin diminishing: Figure that they'll drop continuously as long as the storm stays over land: even crossing Florida in only 8-12 hours caused hurricanes to lose 20% or more force.

So if winds are 120 continuous at the coast for 3 hours, inland 50 miles later they'll may gust to 100 mph for only a 1-2 hours when the eye goes by; if they are 100 away from the eye for four hours: then that same area may get only 75-80 mph for two hours 50 miles inland.

Tree damage very common at sustained gusts over 80 and long power outages can be expected as lines are torn down by falling trees and falling poles. Flooding (in the Sugarland area - where my sister and SIL live) is likely ONLY if those lakes and flood plains overflow/break the dikes into the old rice fields north of I-10. Otherwise, flooding is not going to be too bad for too long.

At 60-80 mph many fewer trees are knocked over, but tornado damage in local areas is more obvious. "Most" (not all) modern houses can take 75 mph for a while with moderate damage. Poorly built/cheaply built modern houses start getting killed (losing whole roofs and walls!) at 75 mph, with complete damage at anything much over 100: That's what got Homestead in FL: poorly applied local building codes didn't require girder truss clamps and beam fasteners to the roof, so builders didn't add them to cheap houses, so roofs were completely blown away. THAT, in turn, meant the entire interior was destroyed by water and wind damage. Otehrwise, if the roof and walls had stayed, the inside could have been liveable after the storm went by.

[sheikdetailfeather]

Anderson Cooper on CNN was just talking to Mayor Nagin about the call from Amtrak to use Amtrak to get the people out of NO before. Nagin said he does not know anything about it. Anderson Cooper said he knows who Amtrak talked to and can give him a name. Nagin said "Ok. Now I know who to talk to about that."

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Thanks Robert - I don't think we are in any danger of flooding - a smallish lake in the center of our development and a creek behind - neither of which had any problem handling a really freak down pour on Mother's Day -

All new homes here - hopefully well built - I am going to work tonight making sure anything that could possibly fly in my yard is put into the garage - still haven't decided if I will just pack up and leave - it is a hard decision to make

[hobson]

My house was built in 1942 so I may be hosed.