Anyone staying?

Our local news here in Houston just showed people leaving New Orleans in droves...the highways were bumper-to-bumper.

HH

Only the frogs and fools.  A city that has sunk below sea level?  Thankfully the pumps have their own, independent power BUT I doubt they can keep up with a 6" per hour rainfall.  It is gonna get deep.

hopefully it'll miss like the one last year did

My sister & her family just took her son to enroll in his freshman year at Tulane. They no sooner got there than they were told they had to leave.

I do know many folks in FL who have hurricane parties & ride them out. If you have maybe a generator, a block house, some elevation & lots of ice & beer, it may not be too bad?

How do the pumps work? I assume all the sewers drain into a big collection area and the pumps pump it back out to sea?

I live on the outskirts of Lafayette about 2 hours west of New Orleans and I-10 coming from New Orleans and Baton Rouge is already almost bumper to bumper with traffic. Glad people are paying attention this time. Last year everyone waited till the last moment and it became a real cluster.
To answer your question about New Orleans...basically it is a big bowl below sea level. It has some special pumps that date back to the beginning of last century that run on 50 cycles. So they also have their own generators to run those pumps. Basically New Orleans can handle about 2-3 inches of rain per hour. More than that and the flooding starts.

WX4NHC is forecasting the possibility of a 12 to 15 foot storm surge for N.O. That would put the city 20 to 25 foot underwater. Thems what ain't in a fourth floor or higher building gonna die....lessens they can tred water with 120 MPH sustained winds happening.

I'm relieved to see the numbers of folks doing the dee dee mou outta N.O. They shall live....the dumbasses.....well......screw em if they're that freakin' stupid.

EFS

2-3 inches of rain an hour?
That doesnt seem like a whole hell of a lot. You would think a city like N.O. would have maybe done a bit of upgrading over the years.

I wonder how many people have no way of getting out other than on foot and are just sticking around instead.

Thar she blows.

Quoted: I'm not a meteorologist, nor am I currently staying at a Holiday Inn Express.  But I'm missing something here.  Here's the latest radar out of the Gulf.  Things don't currently look too bad (to me). junior.apk.net/~scotts/noradar.gif

try this one

I'll be in New Orleans next week. Good luck guys.

Quoted: I'm not a meteorologist, nor am I currently staying at a Holiday Inn Express.  But I'm missing something here.  Here's the latest radar out of the Gulf.  Things don't currently look too bad (to me). junior.apk.net/~scotts/noradar.gif

Oh yeah?

How about this?

Hmmm.  Maybe Intellicast's radar is busted.

Looks like this will be disaster #1601.

If you're in the soon to be affected areas you might want to read up on this. It might save you a few bucks during the recovery.

www.fema.gov/rrr/inassist.shtm

So does this mean the US can go to the UN for rebuilding money afterwards like the cesspool countries do?    

Quoted: So does this mean the US can go to the UN for rebuilding money afterwards like the cesspool countries do?

I think some of the bottled water that is distributed was bottled in Canada. Oh, and the boxes the MREs come in are probably made in Mexico. I think that is the closest we will get to foreign aid. Unless you consider the Honda generators people use.

tatement by the Press Secretary

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.

Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-4600.

# # #

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html

Quoted: How do the pumps work? I assume all the sewers drain into a big collection area and the pumps pump it back out to sea?

A great deal of the pumps are the ones that were designed and bought from the Dutch
well over 100 years ago.

My sister in law and brother in law are leaving in the morning, headed for Tuscaloosa.  My mother has a house on the only inhabited barrier in Louisiana and it looks like there will be a direct hit. That island will cease to exist if a cat 4 or cat 5 hurricane hits it. Good thing she is near Lafayette right now!

Quoted: Quoted: How do the pumps work? I assume all the sewers drain into a big collection area and the pumps pump it back out to sea? A great deal of the pumps are the ones that were designed and bought from the Dutch well over 100 years ago.

You would think somewhere along the course of 100 years someone would have given a bit more though to the "what if" scenario of living below sea level....right by the sea.....

Quoted: 2-3 inches of rain an hour? That doesnt seem like a whole hell of a lot. You would think a city like N.O. would have maybe done a bit of upgrading over the years.

2-3" an hour rain is bad.  I can't imagine 5-6" an hour.

I've experienced 3" an hour two times.  It wasn't fun.

I feel for the municipal workers of New Orleans.

Two things, the pumps in the city are inadequate, the New Orleans city manager just announced it on their local t.v. staion. 2, this is a big storm, a killer storm, it's circulation extends all the way up to 200mb! Wide storm and the eye is now closed which will allow even more intesnification before landfall. No wind shear, no dry air, it will go unmolested all the way to it's landfall.

Prayers sent to all those in the path...I will be 172 nautical miles from the eye and I got worries too.

Quoted: Quoted: How do the pumps work? I assume all the sewers drain into a big collection area and the pumps pump it back out to sea? A great deal of the pumps are the ones that were designed and bought from the Dutch well over 100 years ago.

It's all  DKProfs (? exact) fault!!!

Quoted: Two things, the pumps in the city are inadequate, the New Orleans city manager just announced it on their local t.v. staion. 2, this is a big storm, a killer storm, it's circulation extends all the way up to 200mb! Wide storm and the eye is now closed which will allow even more intesnification before landfall. No wind shear, no dry air, it will go unmolested all the way to it's landfall. Prayers sent to all those in the path...I will be 172 nautical miles from the eye and I got worries too.

I'm boarding up in Pensacola when I get released tomorrow.

Here's what to expect Saffir/Simpson Scale... remember the numbers are Above Sea Level (ASL), New Orleans is below sea level. Pensacola is still a mess after Ivan. My guess is there won't be a Mardi Gras next year.

I'm in Destin..I feel ya.

Our beaches are about to get smoked again.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: How do the pumps work? I assume all the sewers drain into a big collection area and the pumps pump it back out to sea? A great deal of the pumps are the ones that were designed and bought from the Dutch well over 100 years ago. You would think somewhere along the course of 100 years someone would have given a bit more though to the "what if" scenario of living below sea level....right by the sea.....

Well, when N.O. was first established, it was a mere fraction of a foot above sea level.  Over the years, it has settled from the weight, vibration and drainage humans imposed on the fragile sediments.  The natural levees were slowly raised as subsidence caused the city to sink.

So it is natural the pumps would be a patchwork of stopgap engineering.  

The real flooding problem is from Lake Ponchatrain.  If the hurricane hits east of the city, the 100+ MPH winds wil whip the shallow lake water into massive waces, easily breaking over the lake levees and flooding the city.  Rain is bad enough but storm surge is going to be a MAJOR problem.

Quoted: I'll be in New Orleans next week. Good luck guys.

Perhaps, as long as the city does better than Atlantis.

So they should party on the top floor is what you guys are saying???

Tag to watch updates.  You guys stay safe!

Quoted: So they should party on the top floor is what you guys are saying???

Tip top floor.

Also at 10 PM CDT...0300z...a Tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane
Watch have been issued from the Alabama/Florida border eastward to
Destin Florida...and from west of Morgan City to Intracoastal City
Louisiana.  A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm
conditions are expected within the warning area within the next 24
hours.  A Hurricane Watch means that hurricane conditions are
possible within the watch area...generally within 36 hours.

For storm information specific to your area...including possible
inland watches and warnings...please monitor products issued
by your local weather office.

At 10 PM CDT...0300z...the center of Hurricane Katrina was located
by an Air Force reconnaissance plane near latitude 25.0
north...longitude 86.2 west or about 335 miles south-southeast of
the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Katrina is moving toward the west-northwest near 7 mph. A gradual
turn to the northwest should begin on Sunday.

Maximum sustained winds remain near 115 mph with higher gusts.
Katrina is a category three hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours...and Katrina
could become a category four hurricane on Sunday.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to  45 miles from the
center...and tropical storm force winds extend outward up
to 160 miles.

Latest minimum central pressure reported by an Air Force plane was
939 mb...27.73 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. (7 people have already died from the effects of this storm!)

Heavy rains from Katrina should begin to affect the central Gulf Coast Sunday evening. Rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches...with
isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches...are possible along the path
of Katrina.  The hurricane is still expected to produce additional
rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches over extreme western Cuba...and 1
to 3 inches of rainfall is expected over the Yucatan Peninsula.  
Repeating the 10 PM CDT position...25.0 N... 86.2 W.  Movement
toward...west-northwest near  7 mph.  Maximum sustained winds...115
mph.  Minimum central pressure... 939 mb.

An intermediate advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane
Center at 1 am CDT followed by the next complete advisory at 4 am
CDT.

Run, Forrest, run!

yep, the thing that will probably get N.O. is the flooding, not necessarily the hurricain's wind. same setup like pensacola last year, the hurricain pushes a big surge of water out in front of the winds, and the surge is gonna go over any levee or dikes that  are in it's way.

IMHO i think that even with mandatory evacuations, they aren't going to get everybody out of the low areas because the infrastructore on the roads just isn't there, even with their attempts to reverse traffic flow on the roads. there just isn't enough capacity, and there probably isn't going to be enough gas.

in fact, the mayor wasn't even going to consider an evacuation until tomorrow, until  he was called sat evening by the govenor  link. anyway, if it hits N.O. , there's going to be a lot of damage and deaths.

The National Hurricane Center had declared that Katrina is now a Cat 4 storm:
www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/27/tropical.weather/index.html

If you're in the path of the storm, better double check your preparations.  Batten down the hatches folks, there is going to be some rough sailing.

tag

New orleans is fugged if it hits them directly.


They already have to pump water all the time to keep from being flooded.

Notice the drift about 30 miles east. Perhaps NOLA won't get the worst side of Katrina.

M4-AK

It's now a Category 5. Just announced. This is a bad one.

Me thinks this one is bad JU-JU!!

Holy crapola...  165mph wind and now a Cat5 storm !!!!

Quoted: Holy crapola...  165mph wind and now a Cat5 storm !!!!

GET OUT NOW!!


Bigfeet

Cat 5 is a mother!

I went through Ivan and most recently had Dennis pass directly over my homestead with the accompanying 130 MPH wind....but....160 MPH?....

I sure hope those folks have bugged out.  This one is going to be bad.

Did you see what Hurricane Andrew (a category 4 storm) did to Miami?

This one is worse, and New Orleans is below sea level.

GTFO NOW!

Oh hell, quit bein a bunch a damned pussies.
All they need is a canoe and some water wings and they'll be fine.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: How do the pumps work? I assume all the sewers drain into a big collection area and the pumps pump it back out to sea? A great deal of the pumps are the ones that were designed and bought from the Dutch well over 100 years ago. It's all  DKProfs (? exact) fault!!!

Not quite

I do know many folks in FL who have hurricane parties & ride them out. If you have maybe a generator, a block house, some elevation & lots of ice & beer, it may not be too bad?

I have a generator; I'm about one mile inland; I live in one of the highest parts in town.  I would ride out a five if I was alone.  No way I would keep my family here, though.  

I've survived at least 20 hurricanes (and typhoons) up and including Cat threes. I can't imagine being in the middle of a five.

Eddie (Praying for the Gulf Coast)

Ya'll need to be careful out there in the New Orleans area. This is gonna be a mother fucker. Best of Luck to ya - i'll keep you in mind.

spelling

2-3" an hour rain is bad. I can't imagine 5-6" an hour. I've experienced 3" an hour two times. It wasn't fun. I feel for the municipal workers of New Orleans.

Witnessed five inches in les than half an hour once (in the Pacafic).  I cannot fathom several hours of that.

Eddie

cat 5