"Coastal Storm Surge Flooding of 15 to 20 Feet above normal tide levels...locally as high as 25 feet along with large and dangerous battering waves...can be expected near and to the East of where the center makes landfall."
I recently heard the storm surge is now predicted as 35 feet high. Camille only had a 20 ft storm surge and hit an area of low population, 50 miles from N.O.--you know the high death toll afterwards. The tornado count alone was over 200.
I can't believe anyone is still walking the streets there, but web cams show it all.
They should use city and schoolbuses to bus people OUT of town,and reserve one lane of traffic for vehicles with more than 10 people in them. Saying there is no motel as an excuse not to evacuate is assinine--sleep in your car and live! Saying the disabled have no way out is pure negligence of the city/state/fed govt--their first job is to protect the lives of its citizens. Stick em on a bus and GO.
FEMA just said their model of a direct hit by a category 4 or 5 storm on NO showed 40 to 50 thousand casualities.
I pray for all in the pathway of this monster storm.
I don't know where they got the $100B figure from (it's not in the article), but I wouldn't rule out that figure if New Orleans gets completely flooded. Perhaps this figure also assumes that not only does the water flow over the levies, but it destroys them in the process putting New Orleans permanently under water.
People should understand that a city receiving a direct hit by a CAT 4 or CAT 5 hurricane is like getting hit with a nuclear bomb.