- #36
Moonbear
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
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Yes, I think a lot of people will be greatly in need after this storm.Loren Booda said:Prepare to be generous in the wake of the storm.
Yes, I think a lot of people will be greatly in need after this storm.Loren Booda said:Prepare to be generous in the wake of the storm.
It's so nice to be appreciated.honestrosewater said:That reminds me... http://www.wunderground.com/ is the best weather site I've ever found for the US (just enter your zip code, and you're good to go). It's great to have access to during a storm.
honestrosewater said:It's so nice to be appreciated.
(You can zoom in on the images too - just make a box around an area and make sure 'zoom in' is selected.)
Ivan Seeking said:Here's a nice link. Go to the local RADAR and get nearly real-time animated images.
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=New+Orleans,+La
I've heard that. How is the convention center holding up? Do they have any people sheltering there? I was thinking that could be another area to shelter a lot of people if it's weathering the storm any better, but it might be on too low of ground. Sounds like the hotels are being ripped to shreds too, but I've been only getting sketchy news reports, so I'm not sure if that's New Orleans or Mobile, AL where that's happening (we have a local emergency taking precedence on the news right now with several parts of our city being evacuated due to a train car that's leaking styrene gas into the air...the stabilizer that's supposed to keep it from reacting and heating to explosive temperatures has expired or is not working for some reason and all they can do is have an unmanned fire hose constantly spraying water on it to try to keep it cool so it doesn't explode and evacuate all the homes around it).dduardo said:On a related note, I'm watching the news and they are saying the roof of the superdome is peeling off. They've cut off the power in the dome and it is now raining inside.
That seems an unfortunately realistic assessment of the situation.I personally doubt the flooding will stop until it reaches the level of Lake Pontchartrain.
BobG said:Turned out she'd waited too long - they weren't allowing people to evacuate towards New Orleans and weren't even advising evacuation up I-55 (it was already filled to the point that getting gas was beginning to become a problem).
She wound up having to evacuate Northeast with her kids and some sleeping bags. With so many people evacuating, there's not much chance she found a hotel last night. I haven't called this morning yet to see how things are going, instead waiting for one of my other sisters to put out E-mails with the local news (we have a big family mostly scattered around the country and they don't need all of us calling in constantly).
NEW ORLEANS, United States (AFP) - Helicopters plucked victims from roofs and rescuers dodged submerged live power lines and spewing gas pipes as still rising floodwaters turned New Orleans into a disaster zone.
Local television reported that as conditions worsened, martial law was imposed in two areas, Jefferson Parish and Plaquemines Parish, a day after murderous Hurricane Katrina slammed into the city.
Police were halting anyone trying to get into the city, WWL-TV said.
Authorities said New Orleans, with highways submerged, bridges washed out and even elevated expressways unsafe, was effectively cut off, and waters were devouring more and more real estate after a storm surge breached a levee.
WWL-TV reported, quoting unidentified local officials, that flood waters were still coursing into the city, and were beginning to threaten areas in the historic French Quarter and downtown which were on higher ground.
Another local station, WDSU, warned viewers that the Louisiana Superdome, which welcomed at least 10,000 evacuees on Monday, was now surrounded by three feet (one metre) of water.
Evacuees sat tight in the massive sports arena, which itself bore Katrina's scars after having much of its outer dome ripped off.
Communications with New Orleans were largely cut off and around 700,000 people were without power. Some victims had been stuck on the roofs of their homes for nearly 24 hours in a spiralling humanitarian crisis.
Water was unsafe to drink in many areas, if available at all, as the Red Cross swung a massive relief operation into action to aid a city metropolitan area population of 1.4 million.
"Our city is in a state of devastation," Mayor Ray Nagin told WWL-TV "we probably have 80 percent of our city under water."
"With some sections of our city, the water is as deep as 20 feet" (seven metres).
With live power lines, gas pipes and debris including submerged cars floating below the surface of foul waters, it was too dangerous for rescue workers to use boats in some areas, meaning helicopters were the only choice.
My parents live in Baton Rouge and escaped the worst of the storm. My sister and her family live in Gulf Port, but can stay with my parents for a while (they still live in the same house as when they had seven kids, so there's a few empty bedrooms), but who knows what's left of her stuff when she finally goes back home.Math Is Hard said:Hope your family is OK. I was furious to hear about the price gouging by the hotels. That's just evil! They are going to get in big trouble when this is all over.
I hope all the PF'rs and their animals that were in the path are safe and dry. I'm just like you, Hypatia. My heart breaks when I think about the animals. I could never leave mine behind.
BobG said:Having the levee break after it seemed the worst was over has to be frustrating (actually, it would have been worse to have it break during the middle of the hurricane). The main concern was water coming over the top of the levee. It looked like New Orleans had barely escaped a nightmare until the levee gave way.
I don't know that I'd go that far quite yet. The information we have is thin enough that I don't think we have a good handle on the extent of the problem.Greg Bernhardt said:So Engineers, what do we do? It seems to me that NO is basicly lost.
It seems a rough choice of words, but there is some luck involved in the storm losing roughly 35% of its winds (wind energy is a square function of velocity) and making an unusually sharp right turn just before landfall. Had either of those things failed to happen in the 12 hours prior to landfall, it wouldn't have mattered if the levees had held: the hurricane itself would have flooded the entire city solid.TRCSF said:The widespread media reports of New Orleans "dodging a bullet" seem to have been premature and overly optimistic.
Greg Bernhardt said:So Engineers, what do we do? It seems to me that NO is basicly lost. Would it be a bad idea to rebuild NO further up north intead of rebuilding in an already bad area for a city?
Russ said:One thing that may seem a little bizarre, but no matter how much damage is inside a building, as long as it has 4 walls and a roof, it is cheaper to renovate it than to rip it down and build a new one.
russ_watters said:It seems a rough choice of words, but there is some luck involved in the storm losing roughly 35% of its winds (wind energy is a square function of velocity) and making an unusually sharp right turn just before landfall. Had either of those things failed to happen in the 12 hours prior to landfall, it wouldn't have mattered if the levees had held: the hurricane itself would have flooded the entire city solid.
Ivan Seeking said:One positive note, apparently the historic French Quarter is not under water.
Greg Bernhardt said:Last update I heard they were up to 9 inches and counting. Is there a new development?