Hurricane Katrina

dduardo

Hey guys, I survived the storm.

This is the first time i've experienced a direct hit from a hurricane. I'm glad it was just a Category 1 storm. Right now I've got a gasoline generator powering my computer. There are some areas that are flooded in knee deep water. In my area particularly there are a lot of down trees and power lines. A giant tree is laying on top of my roof and the fence on the west side of the house collapsed. Also, most traffic signals are not working and there is a shortage of gasoline.

The power company says they will try to get 90% of people's power back by friday, but I don't think they'll make that deadline. Alot of transformers blew up during the storm. You could tell whenever a transformer blew because the night sky lit up in a blue-ish green color.

Anyway, I have to go clean up some more. I'll try to poke my head in whenever I get a chance.

mattmns

Good to hear that you are ok, stay safe.

hypatia

Storms, the one reason I won't live in Fla. Glad to hear your ok and have a generator! Hope the big tree didn't do any damage to your home. I've seen news clips of the flooding, one showed a kitten swimming for its life{yes it was rescued}.

Monique

whoa, that must have been scary, glad to hear you are ok!

Moonbear

Glad to hear you're okay dduardo! Okay, so if you're not on for a bit, we'll understand...if you have to go at least a week on generator power with low gasoline supplies, don't waste the electric on us.

honestrosewater

Yeah, stay safe! Most fatalities occur after the storm, you know. Hope you manage to keep electricity. That was the worst part of any storm that I've been through - no power for a week is torture, especially during the summer in FL.

dduardo

Today I worked with my neighbors to cut down all the down trees with chainsaws. The electricity is slowing coming up around town and the internet is more stable. More gasoline stations are opening up as the electricity is being restored. Hopefully things will be back to normal by the end of the week.

If anyone is living in Louisiana you should look into evacuating. Katrina is currently a Category 3, but could easily go up to Category 4 or 5. I would definitely not want to be around there when the storm strikes after seeing what happened here.

honestrosewater

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.

Mk

Some interesting tropical cyclone information.

The most intense storm on record was Typhoon Tip in the northwestern Pacific Ocean in 1979, which had a minimum pressure of 870 mb and maximum sustained windspeeds of 190 mph (305 km/h). Fortunately, it weakened before striking Japan. Tip was also the largest cyclone on record, with a circulation 1,350 miles (2,170 km) wide. The average tropical cyclone is only 300 miles (480 km) wide.

Tip does not, however, hold alone the record for fastest sustained winds in a cyclone; Typhoon Keith in the Pacific, and Hurricane Camille and Hurricane Allen in the North Atlantic currently share this record as well, although recorded windspeeds that fast are suspect, since most monitoring equipment is likely to be destroyed by such conditions.
Camille was the only storm to actually strike land while at that intensity, making it, with 190 mph (305 km/h) sustained winds and 210 mph (335 km/h) gusts, the strongest tropical cyclone of record to ever hit land. For comparison, these speeds are encounted at the center of a strong tornado, but Camille was much larger and long-lived than any tornado.

A gust caused by Category 5 Super Typhoon Paka over Guam in 1997, was recorded at 236 mph (380 km/h); however, this reading had to be discarded, since the anemometer was damaged by the storm. Had it been confirmed, this would be the strongest wind ever recorded at the Earth's surface. (The current record is held by a non-hurricane wind registering 231 mph (372 km/h) at Mount Washington in New Hampshire.)

If I heard on the radio the wind speed was 235 miles per hour, I would have been sure I was going to DIE . The tiniest thing, moving at 235 miles per hour could easily injure a person. I sure am glad I was living in Michigan at that time.

I did more research on the Mount Washington thing and found that Mount Washington literally has some of the worst weather in the world. It holds the record for land-measured wind-speed at 231 mph (372 km/h), recorded in 1934, and regular winter temperatures of -47°F (-44°C). Snow storms at high altitudes are routine in every month of the year. Buildings at the summit are designed to withstand 300 mph (480 km/h) winds; some are literally chained to the mountain.

Ironically, Guam has some of the best weather and cleanest air in the world. Everyday is beautiful, except for the ones where we're in the eye of a supertyphoon.

arildno

I suppose Katrina made a lot of Waves..
http://www.katw.com/

honestrosewater

It's times like this that I really wish we had a groan smiley.

arildno

yes, it was worth a couple of groans.

honestrosewater

Oh, sorry, I'm not really a groaner.

robphy

When I left New Orleans on Friday (..by chance, for a wedding), I thought the track was back to the Florida panhandle. To my surprise on Saturday morning, I saw the new track and it now looks like a direct hit for us .

I changed my return flight from Sunday night to Tuesday night.
Hopefully, there will be a place to land.

In case anyone is interested, here is a projected flood map (projected by folks at LSU) http://www.nola.com/hurricane/conten...ding082805.pdf
and here is a graphic with the height-profile of New Orleans
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index....oingunder.html .

Moonbear

Oh, I hope for your sake that your flight is cancelled if it hits...it would be much better to be someplace else until order is restored. On the weather report this morning, there's still a chance it could hit New Orleans as a Category 5. If it doesn't start weakening soon, it could be the second worst hurricane to hit the US according to the news (or maybe that's second worst to hit New Orleans...I was still waking up while it was being reported ).

The residual rain and thunderstorms are supposed to hit here Tuesday afternoon, so I'm really hoping it slows down just enough for the movers to get most of my stuff out of the house before it hits...I just don't want to think about everything being carried out in pouring rain! As it is, I'll be driving with it. Why oh why can't I ever move without any precipitation around?!

honestrosewater

You must have angered the Flying Spaghetti Monster by not wearing your pirate attire.

hypatia

Its not too late !!!! At least put the hat on and maybe a dagger! This also may make the movers hustle a bit more