[Eagles Talon IV]

I agree but the closer this thing gets to shore the more it will weaken. Once it leaves the water the thing will fall apart almost immediately as it's fuel source, the heat from the Gulf, is taken away.

[steve86]

Winds will weaken but, of course, the flooding starts about then (or sooner where the surge precedes it).

[laz]

Once it leaves the water the thing will fall apart almost immediately as it's fuel source, the heat from the Gulf, is taken away.

Uh, does a car going a hundred and thirty miles an hour suddenly stop if it runs out of gas? No Cat 3 storm falls apart immediately upon landfall. Heck, Katrina came ashore in Florida as a Cat 1, and she tracked all across Miami-Dade County from northeast to southwest without losing one single mph.