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If the levy system fails, there isn't anywhere to pump the water, if the pumps still worked.

...if the pumps still worked.

If electricity is out for days or weeks, all that standing water and sewage...disease certain to follow.

Found this chart ,, anything that exceeds the CAT 5 category, >155mph, qualifies to get super stuffed in front of it..

Prayers for All in the path of this super hurricane

Thanks for the threads.

Also: Only two Cat 5 hurricanes had developed this late in the season prior to Mitch, which is likely the strongest ever this late. In record, only two Category 5 storms have hit the US Mainland. AccuWeather notes that Mitch is one of only 9 Atlantic Category 5's in the last 30 years. They also explain, with a QuickTime Movie, why Mitch is so strong. If anything on this page seems to be wrong or you have questions, contact me.

Mitch was the first Category Five storm in the Atlantic since 1989 (Hugo).

Thanks to Ed, who researched the following at Purdue: Of the 23 Atlantic category 5 huricanes, since the first recorded in 1928, 16 (13 since 1960) hit the U.S. mainland. Also, there have only been two category 5 huricanes that formed in the month of October, Mitch and Hattie (10/27-11/01/1961) which made land over the Yucatan.

Strong Hurricanes/Typhoons
Name	Basin	Year	Wind MPH	Pressure MB
Typhoon Tip*	Pacific	1979	190	870
Typhoon Zeb	Pacific	1998	???	<872^⁴
Typhoon Gay	Pacific	1992	185	872
Typhoon Keith	Pacific	1997	190	872
Typhoon Joan	Pacific	1997	???	872
Typhoon Ivan	Pacific	1997	???	872
Typhoon Yuri	Pacific	1991	175	885
Hurricane Gilbert	Atlantic	1988	185	888
Typhoon Nancy^³	Pacific	1961	213	888
Unnamed^¹	Atlantic	1935	160	892^²
Hurricane Allen	Atlantic	1980	190	899
Hurricane Linda	Pacific	1997	185	900
Hurricane Camille	Atlantic	1969	190	905
Hurricane Mitch	Atlantic	1998	180	906

*-It is generally held that Typhoon Tip was the Strongest Hurricane on Earth
1 - The "Labor Day" Storm of 1935 is held as the Strongest Hurricane to Landfall in US but there is little reliable information on it. It almost certainly was somewhat stronger while over open water but records do not exist. Wind readings from that time are also questionable.
2 - The "Labor Day" pressure reading is from landfall. This is the lowest pressure ever recorded on the Mainland US
3 - Due to modern day (1992) research, the wind reading for Typhoon Nancy is generally no longer accepted (see FAQ)
4 - Infomation Sketchy - This is rumored to have gone above 8.0 on the Dvorak scale which would be <872mb

Thanks to the Central Atlantic Storm Investigators for help as always, esp.

When the power went out a few months ago in NO after tropical storm Cindy, the city did not have enough generators to pump the water out and some people were compalining about flooding. That was a TS.