Hurricane Katrina, Live Thread, Part V

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

[NautiNurse]

Extremely dangerous Hurricane Katrina is bearing down on the North Central Gulf of Mexico. Mandatory evacuation of New Orleans is finally underway. Louisiana officials are warning of complete failure to levy systems, and pleading with people to leave low lying areas. For those who choose to stay, they are recommending picks and axes for breaking through to access their roofs during flooding.

Due to the size and intensity of this storm, all interests in the North Gulf of Mexico should be rushing hurricane preparations to completion.

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 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:
copy/paste into player:

http://www.wjbo.com - BR radio station. Callers calling in and describing traffic etc.
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

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

[American Quilter]

The highways are all one way out of town since 4PM yesterday.

I'm glad to know that. I've never been in a hurricane, and can't even imagine how bad this one's going to be. Prayers for all of the people who won't be able to get out of its way, including any Freepers in that area. Do we have a list of who they are?

[don-o]

NOT A FAKE>

I stand corrected. I looked there but did not scroll deep enough. I would thing such a thing needs a special page.

Lord help us. Are we desparate enough to get that huricane moving preacher busy?

(I did promise no wisecracks, but I could not help myself)

[bobdsmith]

I have asked that it goes West

[El Gran Salseron]

Jackson Barracks? If this is a Betsy repeat or worse then you are gonna get flooded. I'm praying for you.

[Atlas Sneezed]

And since a lot of the dead are buried above ground, there will be a good number of coffins/corpses washing up in odd places.

---

The problem will not be long-dead remains, it will be freshly dead and decomposing bodies.

[beyond the sea]

Right..........oops!

[Howlin]

Agreed.

Bastardi saying on Fox "this is going to be like Camille, only wider."

[simon says what]

That NWS all-caps alert may be a fake. Not found by Google search or on NWS website. Any who can verify, please do. Please do not repost without verification.

It is real.

[tomkat]

DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED

Read that, then offer your apologies here, publicly.

'Buhbye' works both ways, don-o.

[gg188]

...An email to Fox from someone who said that during Betsy and Camille, people who lived in S.E. Louisiana who didn't evacuate sought high ground from the water. So did the snakes. And many people died from snake bites!

[shield]

Benjamin Franklin noted this back in the 18th century. He devised a parlor trick where he dipped his cane (that contained an amount of oil in it) into turbulent water and calmed it.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Oil on troubled waters may stop hurricanes
22:00 25 July 2005
NewScientist.com news service
Zeeya Merali

Sailors who traditionally dumped barrels of oil into the sea to calm stormy waters may have been on to something, a new study suggests. The old practice reduces wind speeds in tropical hurricanes by damping ocean spray, according to a new mathematical “sandwich model”.

As hurricane winds kick up ocean waves, large water droplets become suspended in the air. This cloud of spray can be treated mathematically as a third fluid sandwiched between the air and sea. “Our calculations show that drops in the spray decrease turbulence and reduce friction, allowing for far greater wind speeds – sometimes eight times as much,” explains researcher Alexandre Chorin at the University of California at Berkeley, US.

He believes the findings shed light on an age-old sea ritual. “Ancient mariners poured oil on troubled waters – hence the expression – but it was never very clear what this accomplished,” says Chorin. Since oil inhibits the formation of drops, Chorin thinks the strategy would have increased the drag in the air and successfully decreased the intensity of the squalls.

Preventing hurricanes

The researchers suggest that, during a tropical storm, aeroplanes could deliver harmless surfactants to the ocean surface – reducing surface tension in water and stopping droplets from forming – perhaps preventing a hurricane developing.

But some climate physicists remain unconvinced. “I am very doubtful about this approach,” says Julian Hunt at University College London, UK. He has studied turbulence both theoretically and in the laboratory and thinks that the high wind speeds are caused by an entirely different mechanism.

In a paper submitted this month to the Journal of Fluid Dynamics, Hunt suggests that variations in the turbulence between different regions of the hurricane cause sharp jumps in wind speed.

Chorin stresses that his team has not carried out experimental tests on the application of this work with tropical storms, but feels that it could be explored in the future.

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0505209102)

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7726&feedId=online-news_rss091

[saquin]

That NWS all-caps alert may be a fake. Not found by Google search or on NWS website.

It's not fake. Alerts that were posted just recently may not necessarily turn up in a Google search. NWS are usually in all-caps.

It's on the NWS warnings site.

[Torie]

Well they can punch some holes into the levees down after the storm passes. That will allow some islands to form in the bowl, if any of the bowl is above sea level. That might help to pick up anybody who remains alive.

[NautiNurse]

Yikes--my tired eyes can't read the ALL CAPS. Wonderground has local hurricane statements in regular font...I'll post the next one due out in an hour.

[Tarpon]

If you look at a historical map, you will find hurricanes frequent the whole eastern seaboard, and all of the Gulf of Mexico -- that is going to be a lot of un-insurable property. I doubt your assessment -- that would leave a huge segment of the US population without insurance, IMHO, not gonna happen.

[timpad]

NO ONE SHOULD ASSUME THEY WILL BE SAFE IN THE SUPERDOME WITH 175MPH SUSTAINED WINDS AND GUSTS TO 225MPH!

It is very likely that whatever study was done to "rate" the Superdome at 200 KPH wind speeds was done in a wind tunnel. It is unlikely that such a study accounted for the battering the outside of the structure will sustain from flying debris.

If there are people inside that structure and the pounding causes the roof or sides to fail...

[oceanview]

lets hope FEMA has some huge "portable" pumps.

[dawn53]

Thanks

[KC_for_Freedom]

This is my thought to. The allowed bus drivers to evacuate? They should have had them drive their families and others out with the busses. There should be a stream of busses picking people up at the dome and running with them. Better to be leaving than stuck. Did they plan for enough fuel to get people out? I am guessing they will run out before the evacuation is done.