Post by DazedOblivion on Aug 29, 2005 6:29:47 GMT 1
Tonight Hurricane Katrina is bearing towards the good old city of New Orleans, founded by the French at the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1718. The winds are at 160 mph (257 kph) and the storm surge is expected to be as high as 28 feet (8.5 meters), and the City of New Orleans is situated below sea level in some parts.
"The conditions have to be absolutely perfect to have a hurricane become this strong," National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield, noting that Katrina may yet be more powerful than the last Category 5 storm, 1992's Hurricane Andrew, which at 165 mph leveled parts of South Florida, killed 43 people and caused $31 billion in damage.
"It's capable of causing catastrophic damage," Mayfield said. "Even well-built structures will have tremendous damage. Of course, what we're really worried about is the loss of lives."
"New Orleans may never be the same" says Mayfield. "We are facing a storm that most of us have long feared," he said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime event."
As many as 100,000 inner-city residents didn't have the means to leave and an untold number of tourists were stranded by the closing of the airport, so the city arranged buses to take people to 10 last-resort shelters, including the Superdome.
For years, forecasters have warned of the nightmare flooding a big storm could bring to New Orleans, a bowl-shaped city bounded by the half-mile-wide Mississippi River and massive Lake Pontchartrain.
As much as 10 feet below sea level in spots, the city is as the mercy of a network of levees, canals and pumps to keep dry.
Scientists predicted Katrina could easily overtake that levee system, swamping the city under a 30-feet cesspool of toxic chemicals, human waste and even coffins that could leave more than 1 million people homeless.
"All indications are that this is absolutely worst-case scenario," Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, said Sunday afternoon.
www.nhc.noaa.gov
Tonight will be the last night for many an old building in the old city. But, more importantly, many peoples lives will be changed forever in the next 24 hours. Say a prayer for the people of the South. Say a prayer for New Orleans, one of America's most historic cities and a city so important to the development of JAZZ, the heart of American music.
NEW ORLEANS
KATRINA RIGHT NOW (New Orleans = MSY):
gatewayno.com/history/new_orleans.html
God bless the people of Lousiana and Mississippi.
"The conditions have to be absolutely perfect to have a hurricane become this strong," National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield, noting that Katrina may yet be more powerful than the last Category 5 storm, 1992's Hurricane Andrew, which at 165 mph leveled parts of South Florida, killed 43 people and caused $31 billion in damage.
"It's capable of causing catastrophic damage," Mayfield said. "Even well-built structures will have tremendous damage. Of course, what we're really worried about is the loss of lives."
"New Orleans may never be the same" says Mayfield. "We are facing a storm that most of us have long feared," he said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime event."
As many as 100,000 inner-city residents didn't have the means to leave and an untold number of tourists were stranded by the closing of the airport, so the city arranged buses to take people to 10 last-resort shelters, including the Superdome.
For years, forecasters have warned of the nightmare flooding a big storm could bring to New Orleans, a bowl-shaped city bounded by the half-mile-wide Mississippi River and massive Lake Pontchartrain.
As much as 10 feet below sea level in spots, the city is as the mercy of a network of levees, canals and pumps to keep dry.
Scientists predicted Katrina could easily overtake that levee system, swamping the city under a 30-feet cesspool of toxic chemicals, human waste and even coffins that could leave more than 1 million people homeless.
"All indications are that this is absolutely worst-case scenario," Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, said Sunday afternoon.
www.nhc.noaa.gov
Tonight will be the last night for many an old building in the old city. But, more importantly, many peoples lives will be changed forever in the next 24 hours. Say a prayer for the people of the South. Say a prayer for New Orleans, one of America's most historic cities and a city so important to the development of JAZZ, the heart of American music.
NEW ORLEANS
KATRINA RIGHT NOW (New Orleans = MSY):
gatewayno.com/history/new_orleans.html
God bless the people of Lousiana and Mississippi.