Hurricane Katrina

Originally posted by Mizar
2X4s

I live right next to a Drainage pump. My entire nebighorhood is one of the best drained in the Greater Neworleans area.

I know I really should leave. Everyone I know has or is. My house is almost srounded by riverbirches that are big and bushy and act as wind/ debris barriers. My only worry is that a house is being constructed across the street and uh... its got liek wood and stuff in the front yard....

Mizar, sorry to be so blunt, but I hope you have come to your senses and left!

There is no such thing as good drainage in a storm of this potential. The trees you refer to as a wind barrier will be a joke for winds like this. It doesn't matter what you have done to batten down the hatches if everything for miles around you is not clamped down. As for your home, unless there is concrete block under those bricks, you may have sucured it, but it's not worth being there to find out. It's not worth taking the chance of it being in the wrong place, and you just can't assure yourself of safety. It's hit or miss.

There was a story last year in Florida about a woman who stayed behind in her trailer park. They knocked on the door the next day and she opened it to find every other trailor was just gone without a trace, even though hers was untouched. Do you feel that lucky? Even so, the roof is always a weak point.

I will say you have done an excellent job boarding the windows. They appear to be recessed into the frame which is definately preferable to nailing boards over it. I would really like to discuss what fastener system you have used and how successful it was when this is over. But the point is, you have done everything you can and should do except one thing. It is not worth taking a chance on staying behind.

I hope you have missed this post and are on your way to safety! Good luck.

It is official:

www.weather.com...

Here's how Fox News puts it.

KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 5 WITH 160 MPH WINDS; HURRICANE ON TRACK TO DEVASTATE NEW ORLEANS IN EARLY MORNING LANDFALL MONDAY

On track to "Devastate New Orleans". That's pretty blunt!

My god, I have been out of it for the weekend .. most of it anyway.. what a storm.

Could it still turn and miss southern LA?

With much of that populated area below sea level.. OMG, this could be really .. REALLY bad.

Weather.com

The following image updates automatically.

[edit on 28-8-2005 by UM_Gazz]

Are folks able to call down to NO with cell phones? I just noticed this storm on the news and I think I should call a friend of mine and see how's he's doing.

Anyone surfing this site from New Orleans right now should be banned and be committed to a mental hospital.

Seriously though if you are on here and you are in New Orleans... get off the computer and get the heck out of dodge. You don't ride out a system like this. Shelters are not safe. What you are looking to do is ride out an F3 tornado.

In the past few hours (maybe 6 hours since the hunters were last in) the pressure in this storm has dropped 27mb which is just incredible. 908. 26.80" Hurricane Gilbert was only 20mb lower. Question will be whether Katrina is on an out of control strengthening run like Gilber was on before he hit Cozumel, MX as the worst hurricane ever in the hemisphere. With water temperatures getting warmer could this storm match Gilbert in the record books. If this storm is out of control could this be the first system in history to hit 200? From the perspective of someone that loves severe weather and has followed this for 20 years it would be great to see. But from a humanitarian perspective this is horrible.

Given that we all have ATS friends in New Orleans lets hope this storm hits a wall and quits intensifying and maybe it can suck in a little dry air before land fall.

oh my god It's a CATEGORY 5!!!!! Mizar and any other ATS members in the path of this monster.....leave NOW!!!!!!!

Inland residents also beware, be prepared for power outages and flooding, stock up now and be ready for the worse. The effects of a CAT 5 will be felt well inland from the coast.

Wow! Haven't stayed as up to date since it's missing us, but MAN! Cat 5, below sea-level strike zone, this is a recipe for disaster... I've ridden out some cat 3's (by the time they were over us) plenty of times, but this is seriously nasty. If you haven't gotten out of dodge yet, do so....and I mean money being no object if you're anywhere in the projected strike zone of this thing.....

NHC...

AT 7 AM CDT...1200Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE KATRINA WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 25.7 NORTH... LONGITUDE 87.7 WEST OR ABOUT 250 MILES
SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

KATRINA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 12 MPH...AND A
GRADUAL TURN TOWARD THE NORTHWEST AND NORTH-NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED
OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 160 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS.
KATRINA IS A POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE ON
THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN STRENGTH ARE LIKELY
DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 85 MILES FROM THE
CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP
TO 185 MILES.

DATA FROM AN AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTER PLANE INDICATE THAT THE
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE HAS FALLEN TO NEAR 908 MB...26.81 INCHES.

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.

RAINFALL TOTALS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF
15 INCHES...ARE POSSIBLE ALONG THE PATH OF KATRINA ACROSS THE GULF
COAST AND THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.

ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE BEGINNING SUNDAY EVENING OVER
SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF LOUISIANA...MISSISSIPPI...AND ALABAMA...AND
OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE.


[edit on 28-8-2005 by Gazrok]

Winds are starting to pick up we are already seeing 30 mph gusts and a good 10- 15 mph sustained wind. The clouds are starting to roll in fast too. Its hould start raining around noon.

Mizar... I have to know... why on god's green earth are you staying? Has someone chained you to your chair? lol. How can you possibly be safe? You aren't really going to try and ride out the storm in the house you showed us a picture of? It was a nice house. It is NOT going to stand up to this storm if Katrina stays on its track. Please help us feel better about you staying.

Mizar, I hope you have safe room ready to ride out the worst. Is there no way for you to reconsider staying? btw I agree with Indy and I told you before, plywood is no match for a CATEGORY 5!!

Jim Cantore is leaving Biloxi in 2 hours, he says storm surge will be higher than the hotel they planned on staying in.

[edit on 8-28-2005 by worldwatcher]

Originally posted by worldwatcher
Jim Cantore is leaving Biloxi in 2 hours, he says storm surge will be higher than the hotel they planned on staying in.

I think it's a major sign if even the people from The Weather Channel are leaving because of this storm's intensity...FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GET OUT!!!!!!!

Is he gone??? It is like watching a scary movie with someone in the basement and we are hissing: 'get outttttttt of the house'.

The Mayor of New Orleans just announced a mandatory evacuation for everyone exept emergency staff.

To everyone there. Our hearts go out to you, and our best wishes are with you.

[edit on 28-8-2005 by makeitso]

This is just incredible. I'd like to thank the people at wunderground.com for providing some of the best data on the net. Here is their model summary showing the paths as forecasted by the top 4 models. They also include the SHIPS model wind forecast. It is forecasting maximum sustained winds of 174mph in 24 hours.

Mizar what parrish do you live in?

Mayor Nagin has ordered a mandatory evacuation for New Orleans. Buses will start pickup to transfer people to Superdome at 12 noon. At least go there if you feel you must stay close to your home.

My only way out now is by Helecopter or Plane. I know some peopel that left this morning and they are still in the city. My sister is trying to get up to Baton Rouge. MY Father and Grandfather are staying because they are HArd Arses. Thery are the two people in this world I care more about, well and my Katie... but she has left already. I am not leaving my father and elderly grand father here on their own. Between my Veitnam Vet Father and my years of surival experience I would not feel safer with anyone else...

Beleive me I do want to leave. THis is quite scary. By tommorw I may be in my attic with water in the bed room. IT WILL BE BAD. but I will stad for the people I love.

As Imperium Americana says....
"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it."

Thucydides (471-400 B.C.)

I'm in Jefferson. City of Harvey, The Harvey canal is about 1/2 mile east of my house. The drainage canal I showed you is linked tot he Harvey canal by that pumphouse. There are actually 2 pumphouses on that canal connected to the Harvey Canal

Mizar.. by this time tomorrow you may not have an attic. Seriously. Roof damage will be the first thing you experience. If the windows get blown in then the roof will most likely come off. Call 911. I bet they help all of you get out. Remember those images from Homestead? This storm is worse. If your parents are physically unable to leave then call 911. Someone will find a way to get you out of there.

Originally posted by Mizar
I'm in Jefferson. City of Harvey, The Harvey canal is about 1/2 mile east of my house. The drainage canal I showed you is linked tot he Harvey canal by that pumphouse. There are actually 2 pumphouses on that canal connected to the Harvey Canal

Mizar, no matter how, or what it takes, it is better to be safe than sorry.. even the storm chasers are getting away from this one!!

Get out and get away from there now.