[gitmo]

This one's been expected for a while. Be praying.

[dennisw]

What's that Led Zepplin tune? "When the Levee Breaks"

[ladyinred]

Prayers going up for all of those in harms way. This is just terrible.

[SoftballMominVA]

Want to know the worst part about New Orleans being devastated? Who here knows what the LOOP is?--that would be the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port. The LOOP handles 50% of ALL INCOMING PETROLEUM and almost that much in natural gas. The tankers pull up, dump the MidEast oil and the pipes send it on its way.

The LOOP can sustain 200 mph winds, so the engineers say.

We lose the LOOP, we will be looking back fondly at gas only being 3 bucks a gallon.

[MizSterious]

Yes, they've known for a long time this could happen. Sad that the governor and mayor did so little to prepare.

[mattdono]

The implications of this storm could be devastating for our economy, but I hope that everyone has gotten the hell out of dodge.

This could be the worst US disaster ever.

Of course, I'm sure that it is, somehow, all George Bush's fault. (I'm just waiting for that explanation to be given...if it already hasn't)

[kittymyrib]

Praying is very powerful. In 1980 when Hurricane Allen, with the lowest pressure ever recorded at 888mbs, was heading straight for Brownsville with approximately the same size and intensity of Katrina, the National Weather Service guy signed off with, "We are being evacuated now. May God have mercy on Brownsville." A miracle happened and the huge storm fell apart off the coast. Incidentally, this is the storm that Pat Robertson took credit for stopping, since he had asked all the audience of the PTL Club to pray and practically at that instant, the storm collapsed. Considering his bad publicity last week, I hope Pat is praying today to stop Katrina! (Personally, I think it will come in west of NO, closer to the Texas border, unless it abruptly turns north.)

[pctech]

IS what they are saying true? If so, New Orleans is gonna need all the help they can get.

[devane617]

I can't believe all the people lined up to get into the SuperDome. This could be devasting folks.

[JerseyHighlander]

Click on the thumbnail to open full picture in a new window.

This is a 1998 modelling a CAT 4 or CAT 5 moving through New Orleans in a very similar path.

[1rudeboy]

The Dutch deal with it.

[dfwgator]

The impact on the economy will be huge. The Mississippi could be blocked, so barge traffic will be affected. Expect the increased demand on rail freight to affect rates there. Then there is the oil impact. This could be a tremendous shock to the economy. Get ready for long lines at the gas pump, and higher prices for goods.

[Mountain Troll]

Let's see:

Massive disaster pending? check

Politicians delay evacuations until it's too late ? check

Desperate survivors huddled in famous landmark? check

Haven't we seen this movie before?

[NaughtiusMaximus]

Can cockroaches swim?

[Fishrrman]

From an old Tom Rush recording:

Galveston Flood

It was the year of 1900 that was 60 years ago
Death come'd a howling on the ocean and when death calls you've got to go

Galveston had a sea wall just to keep the water down
But a high tide from the ocean blew the water all over the town.

Wasn't that a mighty storm
Wasn't that a mighty storm in the morning
Wasn't that a mighty storm
It blew all the people away.

The sea began to rolling the ships they could not land
I heard a captain crying Oh God save a drowning man

The rain it was a falling and the thunder began to roll
The lightning flashed like Hell-fire and the wind began to blow

The trees fell on the island and the houses gave away
Some they strived and drownded others died every way.

The trains at the station were loaded with the people all leaving town
But the trestle gave way with the water and the trains they went on down

Old death the cruel master when the winds began to blow
Rode in on a team of horses and cried death won't you let me go.

The flood it took my mother it took my brother too
I thought I heard my father cry as I watched my mother go

Old death your hands are clammy when you've got them on my knee
You come and took my mother won't you come back after me?

Wasn't that a mighty storm
Wasn't that a mighty storm in the morning
Wasn't that a mighty storm
It blew all the people away.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

I once read that one of the largest man made projects on earth is a losing battle to keep the Mississippi River flowing down it's present course. As the river silts up, they just keep raising the levees, and in the end it will all be for naught.

Over the eons the Mississippi has alternately changed course between the present one and down through the Atchafalaya Basin, located to the north and west of New Orleans.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Has martial law and a curfew been declared in the Big Easy? To say criminal types will exploit the situation for looting and a myriad of other crimes is an understatement.

[elfman2]

" Scientists at Louisiana State University (L.S.U.), who have modeled hundreds of possible storm tracks on advanced computers, predict that more than 100,000 people could die."

Another example of how a group of smart people can become so stupid. There’re probably not 100,000 people in or near New Orleans now.

This is that same kind of academic environment in which global warming models are created.