Live Thread - Hurricane Katrina, Part IV (Update: Now a Category 5 )

NOAA - NHC ^ | 27 August 2005 | NOAA - NHC

[NautiNurse]

Hurricane warnings and watches are posted. Hurricane Katrina continues to strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico. The forecast models continue to converge upon New Orleans. However, all interests in the northern Gulf of Mexico should follow the path of this very large and dangerous storm, and be prepared for a major hurricane landfall. There have been reports of coastal animals leaving in droves for higher ground. Meanwhile, New Orleans continues to suggest that residents evacuate.

The following links are self-updating:

Public Advisory Currently published every 3 hours 5A, 8A, 11A, 2P, etc. ET
NHC Discussion Published every six hours 6A, 11A, 6P, 11P
Three Day Forecast Track
Five Day Forecast Track
Navy Storm Track
Katrina Track Forecast Archive Nice loop of each NHC forecast track for both three and five day
Forecast Models
Alternate Hurricane Models via Skeetobite
Bouy Data Louisiana/Mississippi
Buoy Data Florida

Images:

New Orleans/Baton Rouge Experimental Radar Subject to delays and outages - and well worth the wait

Mobile Long Range Radar Loop

New Orleans/Baton Rouge Radar

Ft. Polk, LA Long Range Radar Loop

Northwest Florida Long Range Radar

Storm Floater IR Loop
Storm Floater Still & Loop Options
Color Enhanced IR Loop

Other Resources:

Hurricane Wind Risk Very informative tables showing inland wind potential by hurricane strength and forward motion
Central Florida Hurricane Center
New Orleans Web Cams Loads of web cam sites here. The sites have been very slow due to high traffic
New Orleans Music Online Couldn't resist--love that jazz
Golden Triangle Weather Page Nice Beaumont weather site with lots of tracks and graphics
Hurricane City
Crown Weather Tropical Website Offers a variety of storm info, with some nice track graphics

Live streaming:
copy/paste into player:

WWL-TV/DT New Orleans (WMP) - mms://beloint.wm.llnwd.net/beloint_wwltv
WVTM-TV/DT Birmingham (WMP) - mms://a1256.l1289835255.c12898.g.lm.akamaistream.net/D/1256/12898/v0001/reflector:35255
WDSU-TV/DT New Orleans (WMP) - http://mfile.akamai.com/12912/live/reflector:38202.asx
Hurricane City (Real Player) - http://hurricanecity.com/live.ram
ABCNews Now (Real Player) - http://reallive.stream.aol.com/ramgen/redundant/abc/now_hi.rm

Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part III
Katrina Live Thread, Part II
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm 12

Category	Wind Speed	Barometric Pressure	Storm Surge	Damage Potential
Tropical Depression	< 39 mph < 34 kts			Minimal
Tropical Storm	39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts			Minimal
Hurricane 1 (Weak)	74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts	28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more	4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m	Minimal damage to vegetation
Hurricane 2 (Moderate)	96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts	28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb	6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m	Moderate damage to houses
Hurricane 3 (Strong)	111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts	27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb	9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m	Extensive damage to small buildings
Hurricane 4 (Very strong)	131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts	27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb	13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m	Extreme structural damage
Hurricane 5 (Devastating)	Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts	Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb	Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m	Catastrophic building failures possible

[spectre]

Risk? He's taking his old, sick Mother in law and wife with him. Says it will be "easier" to just stay in town.. (Oh gawd...I can't EVEN go there..LOL)

[LibSnubber]

jb, for the moment we aren't leaving. No sense in further clogging the highways. We also haven't boarded up, but could have it all done in an hour or so. Hubby has permanent double-sided screws in all frames and the boards are pre-drilled. We just put them up and screw them on tight. If I were you, I'd pack for a quick getaway just in case. Gas up vehicles. Pack food, water, flashlight, radio, blankets, pillows, medications, roadmaps, important phone numbers, important papers (titles, insurance info, birth certificates, etc.), and favorite photos. It's more important to be safe than sorry. If, later, you have to unpack because you didn't need these things to leave - thank God. But whatever you do, DON'T TAKE YOUR EYE OFF OF THIS BEAST. I need to check into what schools are being closed tomorrow, have you heard anything on that?

If our plans change, I'll ping or FReepmail you. God bless and stay safe.


The Prayer or Blessing Against Storms

Jesus Christ the King of Glory has come in Peace.
God became man,
and the Word was made Flesh.
Christ was born of a Virgin.
Christ suffered.
Christ was crucified.
Christ died.
Christ rose from the dead.
Christ ascended into Heaven.
Christ conquers.
Christ reigns.
Christ orders.
May Christ protect us from all storms and lightning.
Christ went through their midst in Peace,
and the Word was made Flesh.
Christ is with us with Mary.
Flee you enemy spirits because the Lion of the Generation of Juda, the Root David has won.
Holy God!
Holy Powerful God!
Holy Immortal God!
Have Mercy on us.
Amen!

[Amelia]

IF the Hilton is left standing, then all he has to contend with is to wait for someone to airdrop him some food and water. No electricity (TV, phone, internet..ELEVATORS), no air conditioning, no water and no way to flush a toilet. No thanks..

And I don't think the windows on those upper floors open either......

[don-o]

"Figure out a way to leave the city"

IOW, you are on your own. Run like hell.

[small voice in the wilderness]

Yep. They'll be human Cheerios in a big cereal bowl of New Orleans.

[nhoward14]

I wonder how similar Katrina is to the 1900 Galveston hurricane. Galveston was almost, if not entirely, underwater after the storm passed. New Orleans may be underwater for weeks as the water inland keeps flowing south through the Mississippi.

[NautiNurse]

OMG--if Slidell is just now evacuating the hospital--have you heard anything about all the NO hospitals? I can't even count how many hospitals are in NO.

[Petronski]

There could be a lot of reasons. That's why I was asking if anyone had other experience with the man to tell us if he's always like this, or if this is different.

[Aquamarine]

Bout time, Katfive has sped up from 7 mph to 12 mph and will be there soon.

[Peach]

Bugout is a military evacuation.

Thanks for explaining that.

[NautiNurse]

Did anyone mention the Sheraton? That's a very tall one, and not directly on the river as the Hilton is.

[Petronski]

It could be a regional accent, too, for all I know.

[kenth]

How many hours were wasted and how many lives will be lost because this man was playing footsie with his lawyers instead of being the leader he was elected to be.

Some people really make me sick.

[GummyIII]

I bet the mayor is going on little or no sleep.

[Sprite518]

Typical... I can hear it now some bed wetter trying to shake down the tax payers because the government did not warn them... My question is where in the constitution does it say that government has to warn people for Hurricanes? I am just waiting to hear all the "Price Gouging" stories after this is over. Hey if someone is going to provide a service, then let the free market take its course.

[lifacs]

Okay, these people are real eggheads, the first feeder bands are coming on shore and now they demand mandatory evacuations?

[jacquej]

Does anyone who has read "The Fourth Turning" think this has the possibility to be a trigger for the "crisis"?

I am going to go get it off the bookshelf, and see if it could be it, considering the impact on oil and gasoline, endless numbers of people displaced for months at a time, the inability to get the water out of the "soupbowl", and the loss of life from people stuck in the Superdome, turning animal on one another when that becomes a behavioral sink...

This situation is scaring me. Oh, how I hope it misses NO, and goes east to lesser populated areas.

[LibFreeOrDie]

The Mayor was probably awake all night. He sounded fine when he was on WWL-TV about 10PM NOLA time last night.

[kx9088]

They just showed a shot of some interstate (I have no idea which one or at what point) but traffic was not moving at all. I think that would be worse than being on the 5th or 6th floor of a tall building or even on the 3rd floor of a rowhome.

[Bogey78O]

Looks like it'll be passing right over the Chalmette-Slidell- New Orleans East area.

Slidell has an extensive upper middle class community right on the lake. In fact they have 300 thousand plus dollar homes right on it. Used to be water 20 years ago. Looks like it'll be water agaisnt pretty soon. As to Chalmette, well, there goes the refineries. It's a refinery city so you can expect oils prices to go nuts on Monday. Also New Orleans East is the site of the Lockhead-Martin Michoud assembly facility (they make the fuel tank for the space shuttle). Also it has one of the largest Folger's factories in America right across the street from it. My job was literally in the building across the tracks from them.

I'm north of I-12 in Covington so I'm just hoping the winds don't take out what should be a secure spot.