Hurricane Katrina

[rover]

I hope I am right in saying as terrible as this storm is, that evacuations, the warnings, the sheer infrastructure we have here in the US, that today and in all preparation for this storm means that lives have already been saved. We suffer terrible losses in our country at times like this, but they are mostly losses of property and things measured in financial terms. Loss cannot be prevented, lets hope we can for the most part dictate that the cost will not be measured in lives.

 

[bmattock]

I agree. I also have to say that building codes, as onerous as they can be at times, also save lives. At least in modern structures. In any case, things are looking pretty grim for New Orleans. God protect them.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[back alley]

listening to cnn, it sems kind of unreal, the devastation that might occur.
more like a trailer for a movie than a newscast.

joe

 

[rover]

I tend to stay away from the news networks and will be glued to the Weather Channel tonight.

 

[FrankS]

Bill M. when had you planned on visiting New Orleans?

God help all those folks left behind for whatever reason, by choice or not.

 

[Byuphoto]

Our hotels, churches and schools are full here in NE La. I went through Camille which was the worst to ever hit the gulf coast. The winds here were 75 MPH 6 hours north of NO. If it doesn't turn we are in for it again. Many of the NO homeless are held up in the Superdome and it is only designed to withstand a catergory 3

 

[bmattock]

Bill M. when had you planned on visiting New Orleans?

God help all those folks left behind for whatever reason, by choice or not.

We have reservations at a hotel in the French Quarter the second week in October. I haven't spoken to our friends, who were going with us and who had made 'nonrefundable' reservations via hotels.com, so I don't know what will happen.

But my concern is for the people of New Orleans - money is unimportant compared to that.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[smiling gecko]

Born in Galveston and raised mainly in Houston our family went through a few hurricanes - my mother had us board up + batten down in Galveston through Hurricane Carla (which she later regretted) - we were alright, but it was a terrifying experience. My hopes and prayers go out to the people of the New Orleans area.

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

This storm is so large it is difficult to imagine let alone portray. This could be a real monster, in ways that are mind boggling.

I don't pray a lot. When I do it's for a best possible outcome of truly bad situations. This looks like one of those times.

For those of you who haven't seen this thing yet here is an image from NOAA

http://www.osei.noaa.gov/OSEIiod.html

 

[derevaun]

I'm often amazed at how casual my family in Louisiana take the hurricanes. My grandmother in Houma is staying put. Her house is 6 feet above sea level--alpine by Terrebonne Parish standards. A family friend is sitting out the storm on an oil rig in the gulf south of Morgan City. Apparently the helicopter couldn't land on the rig and had to go back empty. My mom, who's safe in the northern part of the state, pretty much summed up the attitude by talking about Camille without any speculation about what could happen tomorrow.

For my part, I've lost whatever ability or defect that is, and I'm very worried about the worst case scenario in New Orleans and the lower river region--that place is full of chemical storage and processing facilities, any number of which might turn much the delta area into a toxic wasteland.

 

[zuikologist]

Good wishes and prayers to all in the area. We have had our own kind of problems in London recently, but this will be devastating for New Orleans.

 

[Heath]

Being a volunteer with the NSW State Emergency Services, I know how bad storms can be, but this one takes the cake. It is F@#$ING HUGE!!!!

My thoughts are with all those who are experiencing this natural disaster.

Nature is both a beauty and a beast at the same time.

Heath

 

[bruenhilde]

At the end of his film Havana, R. Redford standing at the Florida coast said, "This is a hurricane country!"
Probably he didn't have in his mind such a big natural disasters, as are happening in Florida this year..., he probably even didn't talk about weather phenomena at all ...

It seems curios (strange) to me, after reading last number of NatGeo about Florida's hurricanes, that the primary building material for the houses is still primarily wood, despite all havoc that hurricanes made around there in last years. What is the reason for that ? Tradition ? Maybe the price difference between wood and bricks ? I guess, New Orleans wouldn't be the same city without its wooden buildings and houses... 🙁 But one million of its citizens have to evacuate to save their bare lifes ... 🙁

I hope everything turns out better than predicted for that beautiful carnival and jazz city of New Orleans and especially for its inhabitants.

 

[ducttape]

My Daughter, 85 mph winds atop Mt Washington

There are some pictures of adults, essentially doing the same thing, here:

85 MPH winds on Mt Washington

If itlooks like Hannah is holding on, it's because she IS holding on. She weighs less than 50 lbs and I was sure she'd be in Maine of she let go.

Godspeed N.O.

 

[gc1]

Here's a link to Yahoo news which refreshes each time there's new news from the area. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050829...3E_tatH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg- Fortunately, it's gone down to Cat 3 a few minutes ago.

There's also a blog from CNN's Miles O'Brien who is blogging on Hurricane Katrina from Louisiana. http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/28/hurricane.blog/index.html Here's a weblog from NOLA.com http://www.nola.com/weblogs/nola/

 

[kiev4a]

The thing that is absurd to me is the TV reporters who insist on standing outside with 100 mph winds and sheets of rain blasting them -- sort of "look at me! Look at me!." We could appreciate the storm just as much if they were talking from inside with a camera showing what's going on outside.

Years ago I was in a storm on the Pacific Coast with 120 mph winds and I'll guarantee you, the only place you want to be is inside so a piece of a metal sign or shed doesn't cut you in half.

When those storms hit the northwest it's a "big wind" that hardly gets noticed in the national media. When they hit the east coast that's all we see and hear on the news.

I have great sympathy for the folks inland who don't normally anticipate getting the full brunt of these storms but as a taxpayer I get a little tired of the people who build high end homes on the beach in hurricane country then expect the government to help them rebuild when the semi-annual storm comes in a blows everything away.

 

[captainslack]

The thing that is absurd to me is the TV reporters who insist on standing outside with 100 mph winds and sheets of rain blasting them -- sort of "look at me! Look at me!." We could appreciate the storm just as much if they were talking from inside with a camera showing what's going on outside.

Two years ago, we had a Hurricane brush the NC coast (can't remember which one, sorry) and one of the local TV stations sent it's tiniest female reporters to the worst parts of the storm. I swear, none of these ladies weighed more than 110lbs. All of them, however, insisted on doing updates while standing outside in gale force winds. One of them even had to have a guy holding her down during the broadcast!

 

[RML]

When those storms hit the northwest it's a "big wind" that hardly gets noticed in the national media. When they hit the east coast that's all we see and hear on the news.

I have great sympathy for the folks inland who don't normally anticipate getting the full brunt of these storms but as a taxpayer I get a little tired of the people who build high end homes on the beach in hurricane country then expect the government to help them rebuild when the semi-annual storm comes in a blows everything away.

Here we have/had the same nonsense: people building 500.000+ euro luxury homes in the floodplanes of the great rivers here. Odd thing is, these rivers flood every year. Even odder, the floodplanes get flooded! And the weirdest thing is that the houses get flooded too! And when it happens, all of us have to pay for the national fund from which the damages are being paid because no insurance company will pay up. Flood risk isn't usually covered.

 

[ScottS]

The only hurricane I experienced directly was Alicia in Houstin in 1983 -- 130 MPH winds, but we were 30 miles inland at 30ft above sea level. We waited out the storm in the house, watching the news until the power went out, then listened to the radio. We were pretty lucky, though -- no water in the house, and none of the windows broke -- just a few trees down. Much worse for my parents was Allison (just a tropical storm, so it was rains, not winds then). Same house, but 20+ inches of rain, then the storm went inland, then came back out, dumping another 20+inches a few days later. What didn't get soaked in the house in the first round was piled up on boxes and in containers, and the second flood knocked most of the piles over.

I think the strongest winds I actually dealt with outside were 70+ MPH winds in Anchorage a few years back. At 5 degrees farenheight, it must have been a wind chill of 50 or 60 below zero. (the day before it had been 40 degrees F and calm). At this point, most of the serious winter gear was already well-packed in the suitcases (we were en route to the airport). Needless to say the airport closed for the duration.

Scott

 

[24x30]

My Daughter, 85 mph winds atop Mt Washington

Huh, I remember those one pretty windy up there. I liked those little trains up there. We sank the average age in the car by at least 30 years 🙂.

Last week at the 'jungfraujoch' were also fine 🙂 -4 degree Celcius and snowstorm ... nice August 🙂. I forgot rain at the base station and a lot of water at the roads. An the best were those guys doing a race (half marathon) from base staion (796m/26112ft.) to the top of the Schildhorn (2971m/9748ft.) during this weather 🙂.

/rudi