Katrina
NOAA National Hurricane Center
UPDATE:
Katrina made landfall around 6:00 AM CDT this morning, slightly east of New Orleans. The storm slightly degraded overnight to a category 4 storm, with 145 MPH winds. The east side of the storm, which contains the heaviest winds, will be devastating to the Gulfport/Biloxi, Mississippi area. As you may recall, Biloxi was ravaged 35 years ago by hurricane Camille.
The Big Easy won't get off easy, though, as torrential rain, high winds, and the still-looming possibility of a storm surge of up to 20 feet will pound the city for the next 24 hours. Reports indicating massive wind damage are already coming in, and officials are worried about the Super Dome, which is serving as a storm shelter for thousands who could not evacuate the area. According to eyewitnesses, the roof of the Super Dome is beginning to peel away due to high winds. There are also reports of at least two levee breaches.
Good Katrina blog roundups, as always, from Michelle Malkin.
Michelle has been linking a lot to Brendan Loy - give his blog a visit, too.
UPDATE 2:
We can be very thankful that the brunt of the storm missed New Orleans. They have major flooding and wind damage, but nothing like what was predicted. The Gulfport/Biloxi, Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama areas were also hit hard. As of yet, no one knows just how badly Louisiana's petroleum refining and transportation infrastructure has been damaged by the storm, though the President said that if enough damage to Louisiana's offshore oil production had been sustained, he would consider releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Here's a good AP slideshow of images from New Orleans, today (requires Flash player)
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This is going to be a bad one.
Experts have wondered for decades about the devastation that would befall New Orleans (which is below sea level and has no natural drainage) if it was struck directly by a Category Five monster hurricane. The prognosis? The entire city destroyed, thousands, perhaps tens of thousands drowned, and possibly a year before enough water was drained to make the city habitable again.
We may get the opportunity to find out, tomorrow, just how accurate their predictions are.
Hurricane Katrina is currently a Category Five hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 160 MPH. She will make landfall Monday morning, probably just slightly to the east of New Orleans.
PLEASE KEEP THE INHABITANTS OF NEW ORLEANS AND THE SURROUNDING COASTAL AREAS OF LOUISIANA AND MISSISSIPPI IN YOUR PRAYERS.
Paul at WizBang Blog, who is from New Orleans, is blogging about this and has a number of good posts, including the expected disaster, and the plight of the thousands who have taken shelter in the New Orleans Super Dome.
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What follows is an actual warning issued by NOAA today. It is so strongly worded that it sounds like a hoax, and it was reported on Drudge, so there was an immediate interest in its authenticity.
Urgent Weather Message from NWS New Orleans
WWUS74 KLIX 281550NPWLIXURGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005
DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED
HURRICANE KATRINAA MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED
STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969. MOST OF
THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. ATLEAST ONE
HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL
GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR
DESTROYED.THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON
FUNCTIONAL.PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL
WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED.
CONCRETE
BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME
WALL AND ROOF FAILURE. HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL
SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS
WILL BLOW OUT. AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE
HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT
UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL
CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...
AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.
POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN
AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING
INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL
BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...
BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEWCROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED
TO THE WINDS WILL BEKILLED.AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED
WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR
ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS. ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE OUTSIDE!
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