LaxTV Forums | A Forum About The MCLA

This is a link to really cool satellite images of Hurricane Katrina. I wanted to make sure all the Water Cooler folks could check it out before I decided to evacuate.....thats right fellas.....life on the line for you guys

http://www.esl.lsu.edu/quicklinks/hurri ... 5/KATRINA/

I was gonna try to leave town, but all I would end up doing is sitting in gridlock on the interstate. Its a possibility at this point that some of these people may be stuck on the roads when this thing hits.

This really could be the "swan song" for New Orleans. For those of yall who dont know, we are 6-10 feet BELOW sea level here, so if the levees break.....this whole place is going under. Most people right now are freaking out. I saw a family this morning at a grocery store right off the interstate that had abandoned their car and went looking for a shelter on foot because they hadnt moved in hours.

Its just a really surreal experience down here. Ya'll keep LSA Moderator Billy "Tarzan" Tauzin in your thoughts, as his house couldnt be in a worse area during this storm

Well, whatever you end up doing, God bless and good luck. The levees will break, at least the examples they've been showing on TV have looked pretty weak. They won't stop the 18-25 foot surge. I saw they're using the Superdome as a shelter (how many people can be kept in there?). That place will be miserable when the power goes out, all those people in one contained building. On a side note, I wonder if they have a football field down, it'd be fun just to kill time playing football in the Superdome. But nothing good can come of this, my prayers are with you and anyone in the way of this.

If Jerry Jones owned the Saints he would charge them admission for using the Superdome.

Pray that everyone will be okay in New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana as well as Mississippi and Alabama. Hopefully those people (those who do not have transportation and/or their homes are not easily defensible) who can not really get out of harm's way will be able to find shelter and protection in the wee hours tomorrow. Most importantly, pray that those will come home safely once Katrina moves further.

As for me, it will be interesting how much rain Virginia and West Virginia would get from Katrina. I can still remember seeing the raging Genessee River in Rochester, NY, the last time a major hurricane moved inland and wreaked havoc around the middle Eastern states (Va, W.Va, Pa, NY). I think that was 1969.

Brent Burns wrote:As for me, it will be interesting how much rain Virginia and West Virginia would get from Katrina. I can still remember seeing the raging Genessee River in Rochester, NY, the last time a major hurricane moved inland and wreaked havoc around the middle Eastern states (Va, W.Va, Pa, NY). I think that was 1969.

I believe that was Hurricane Camille, the last big hurricane to hit New Orleans. Camille was a category 4, Katrina is even bigger-category 5 (165-175 mph winds), with a 28-foot storm surge expected. This is the largest hurricane that the folks at NOAA have ever had to contend with--even bigger than Andrew.

My heart goes out to those in New Orleans.

This current hurricane, Katrina, reminds me of another major hurricane that everyone knows about- the hurricane that devastated Galveston in 1900. Of course, both are not similar though. Others call it "Isaac's Storm" after the meterologist, Isaac M. Cline. After the 1900 storm, he then moved on to New Orleans.

You can read about him at:

The 1900 Storm

bad news,
i just heard over the radio that the roof of the superdome is being torn up pretty good and the first of the levies has broken.

On NPR they were saying that it could take up to six months to clean the place up. They're even anticipating having to deal with stray wildlife--like alligators, snakes, fun stuff like that. I wonder how this will affect Mardi Gras?

Alligators and snakes would be an improvement over some of the personalities I've encountered on Bourbon St during Mardi Gras

Just read that Katrina has moved into Mississippi; one report says that the Mississippi coast is "h*** on earth." Another report says but does not elaborate that there is "total structural failure" in NO. In one part of NO, three pumps failed; there is a report that about 100 people are now on the roofs due to flooding. That is also in NO.

lil lady lax fan wrote:I believe that was Hurricane Camille, the last big hurricane to hit New Orleans. Camille was a category 4, Katrina is even bigger-category 5 (165-175 mph winds), with a 28-foot storm surge expected. This is the largest hurricane that the folks at NOAA have ever had to contend with--even bigger than Andrew.

Strongest, yeah, but biggest? Floyd was much bigger. Compare it to Katrina
Floyd:
http://www.floridadisaster.org/BRM/Disa ... _floyd.htm
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/FloydIntro/
Katrina:
http://www.weather.com/

Floyd was just massive. It was a Category 5 (sustained winds got up to 155mph) until just before landfall, where it dropped down to a 3. We're really lucky that it didn't stay that powerful, or there would have been real trouble.

Anyway, from growing up in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach NC (Cape Fear) which is a particularly strong hurricane magnet, I've seen a lot of damage. But that was in a place a few feet above water... I can only hope things aren't as bad as they predicted with N.O. being a few feet below. Gulfport and Biloxi have been hard hit to. The fire chief of Gulfport is quoted as saying "I'm going to go out on a limb here — 75 percent of the buildings in Gulfport have major roof damage if they have a roof left at all."

Floyd was definitely a doozy!! I believe the guy from the Hurricane center said there were only four hurricanes that were category five hurricanes. I'm not sure if that's when they made landfall or just reached that kind of windspeed. In any event not something I'd like to contend with!!

We never got the full impact when we were living in the DC area, but we sure got a drenching from the rains and some of the strong winds. Heard some horror stories from my friends about Hurricane Isabel when it ripped through Richmond. In fact I was calling to check on one of my friends when the storm took out their phone lines.

Hope they're able to get things up and running soon in the Big Easy. Sounds like they've got their work cut out for them.

OAKS wrote:Anyway, from growing up in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach NC (Cape Fear) which is a particularly strong hurricane magnet, I've seen a lot of damage.

That is where my in-laws live in Wilmington, but they now live in Winnabow next to Leland. Wilmington is definitely, like OAKS said, a strong hurricane magnet. I have been to that area every summer for 5 years, and I would be in awe how the hurricanes have devastated the Wilmington/Cape Fear area. You can see how resilient those folks are out there. There are a lot of museums that testify to those heroes who would go out on a limb to save lives in the tempest especially those who served in an organization that later became U.S. Coast Guard. OAKS, I am sure you are familiar with the Pea Island African-Americans who would go out in the raging storms to rescue folks from sinking ships. Jessexy, if you ever read this post, I strongly encourage you to go to Pea Island which is near Cape Hatteras and get the idea of how courageous and brave these men were. In my experience traveling most of the U.S., I still come away amazed at how North Carolina has weathered so many, many storms. BTW, Wilmington is quite a charming city.

Did further research and found two sites pertaining to the Pea Island Life Saving Station (NC):

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/11%20OCT%201896.html

http://www.coax.net/people/lwf/p_island.htm

We just got our power back on. Thank the lord! Louisiana in August without AC is miserable. I am however very lucky to even have a home today, as I am sure you have all seen on TV.

Today we took a float plane down to the mouth of the Mississippi to a town called Venice where we have (HAD) a floating fishing and hunting camp. We were shocked to find out that the care taker of the marina decided to stick it out with his 19 year old son. The camp where they were staying is now about a mile away and upside down. No sign of them. This seems to make it hit home a lot closer for me, but we have to understand that this is happening all over the state. We saw boats from the air picking up bodies. CNN reported 75 dead tonight. 3 sherriffs in Plaquimines parish (where our camp was) told us they picked up close to 80 themselves today.

The media is not being very fair with its coverage of this situation. There is just as much, and in some cases more sufferring occurring outside of New Orleans.

I dont know if ya'll saw the gentleman on TV this morning in Gulfport who was holding his wife until he couldnt anymore and she was torn away from him.....heartbreaking.....and there are people all over this state right now with similar stories.
Keep them in your thoughts