Hurricane Katrina? | Golden Skate

Hurricane Katrina?

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
How many members are in 'her' path? I am horrible when it comes to remember where everyone is. So other members help me out.

New Orleans is the projected 'target' for the storm. Katrina is a category 5 hurricane with winds topping 160mph (I think that's what they just said anyway)

New Orleans is being evacuated.

Any and all members that are going to be hit: BE SAFE. You're in my prayers. :yes:
 

KwanFan1212

Joey Votto Fangirl
Final Flight
Joined
Jun 24, 2003
Ditto what Toni said up there. That's a big storm heading your way and my heart goes out to every single one of you. To all our members in the New Orleans or Louisiana area and any other area close to where Katrina is heading, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be safe, get to higher ground, and take good care of yourselves. You will all be in my thoughts and prayers. If you can at some point, please let us know how you are all doing as soon as possible so we know that you are all okay. *HUGS* :frown: :cry:
 
Joined
Jan 30, 2004
My safe wishes and prayers go out to any GS members and all persons in Katrina's path!
The news footage of everyone driving out of New Orleans is scary looking.
Once again I thank my lucky stars I live in boring ol' New Jersey where not much goes on weather-wise!
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I agree NJS8Fan! The Northeast definitely seems to not favor Big disasters, although technically we are at risk for smaller versions.

A few years ago, Bound Brook was flooded during the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd and it's no where near the ocean. Any area that has a river or stream has a risk of flooding, although I'm sure the effects aren't as devastating as wherever landfall occurs.

My college roomie's niece is a teacher in NO. She and her friends packed up and are enroute to Florida since the authorities have told people to head east since the storm is moving Northwest.

I visited the Big Easy several years ago and had a great time. I definitely recall how easily it floods - on our last morning, it rained heavily and streets were flooded. I can't even imagine what it will be like with all the rain and wind from Katrina. Good Luck to everyone!
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Wasn't a mandatory evacuation issued for the city?

I was watching this program on the Weather Channel about hurricanes, and at the end of the program they did a short piece on New Orleans, saying that the city is a disaster waiting to happen (since it is below sea level, and the levies wouldn't be able to keep up with a major (cat.3 or higher) hurricane, let alone a 5. New Orleans has dodged the bullet so many times in the past, but I dunno- this one looks like it's headed straight for the city. That's not good- at all. Fortunately, looks like it might weaken a little and hit as a 4 (but still strong storm) instead of a 5, but it still doesn't look good for them. Judging by the radars, it looks like the eye may pass right of the city (or if it waits a little longer to make that northward turn, NO might get a direct hit :eek: )

Those who look at where people are from on their handle may recall I used to live in Houston, where we are prone to these storms. I was fortunate enough to not have a major storm hit in my 18 years there...
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Red Dog said:
Wasn't a mandatory evacuation issued for the city?

yes, but they said some refused to leave even though it's expected to get nearly 25 feet of water (or something like that) deep! :eek:hwell:
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
half a million have been evacuated from NO... and an estimated 30,000 are going to be living in the SuperDome

that is according to Bryan Williams and NBC news. :eek:hwell:
 

Blue Bead

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I've been watching the NBC coverage this morning of Katrina from Biloxi, Mississippi and the audio coverage by phone with another reporter in New Orleans. This is a truely wicked storm. :frown: The roof of the Super Dome has been damaged, rain is pouring inside in some spots. There are approximately 9,000 people who have taken shelter there, and there is a report that they are being evacuated from the Super Dome due to the damage and moved to another area adjacent to it. Windows have blown out of several downtown hotels.

While the NBC reporter in Biloxi was on the air from a sheltered outside area next to a downtown hotel, a gust of wind broke a traffic light from it's overhead wires and sent it bouncing and rolling down the street behind the guy during the broadcast. Yipes! They are saying that New Orleans has been spared from the brunt of the storm but that the levee along the Mississippi River has been breached in some locations and flooding has begun in the 9th Ward.

Having been to New Orleans several times it just breaks my heart to see this happen to that city and it's wonderful people. They are in my prayers.
 

KwanFan1212

Joey Votto Fangirl
Final Flight
Joined
Jun 24, 2003
The people in the SuperDome are all right last I read about fifteen minutes ago. Here is an article with a few updates. Its still a mess down there but some areas actually did get spared which is a VERY good thing.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050829/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina_13

The holes in the Dome haven't breeched everything (they think that wind got under the vents and pullted those off the roof causing the holes but there's no structural instability) and the water is still coming in but its more of a trickly annoyance than anything right now. They moved people out of the way of the water but everyone is still okay in there. Just wanted to give that report so people didn't panic too badly that the SuperDome was in trouble. Hopefully, the people inside the Dome are all hanging in there okay too.

(((((New Orleans and Gulf Coast Residents))))) :cry:
 
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millie

Medalist
Joined
Nov 1, 2004
Our hearts and prayers go out to people that have been caught in the path of Hurricane Katrina. I live in eastern Canada, where we almost never get weather conditions like that, maybe snow storms, but not hurricanes. Our Red Cross in Newfoundland, are preparing to go to Alabama, to help out.

When disasters happen like this, everybody, everwhere, should gather together and help out.

Again, our prayers and thoughts are with you.
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Yes, the evacuation was mandatory, but there wasn't enough time to actually enforce it. If officials came across people who refused to evacuate, they had to choose between taking the time to force someone out vs going to the next home and helping someone who didn't have the means to evacuate.

New Orleans is a very Poor city. My friend's niece is a school teacher there and she get about $40 for classroom expense per YEAR. She has to spend a lot of her own money for supplies.

Also, there is probably even less street parking in NO than there is in NYC. Not everyone owns a car because of the expense.

The 2nd problem was that there was no where to go. The roads were jammed. Even if one got on the road, you probably weren't moving. Eventually, it would become a choice between being inside vs stuck in a car. Being inside is the safer choice since cars can easily be swept away and are more vulnerable to debris. Before the evacuation was ordered, news reports cited that there were no more rental cars available.

The hurricane itself was survivable. The villian is the water and the breached levees. If the levees hadn't been breached NO would not be under this much water.

I saw the governor of Louisiana on CNN. She said that the airlines could have stayed open longer, which would have allowed more tourists and others to leave and lightened the load on the roads. According to her, there were very few planes leaving NO on Sunday and the weather was clear enough for planes to fly at that time, but the airlines cancelled the flights, instead.

Obviously, the area needs a better emergency plan. The problem with these types of plans is that they aren't always reviewed and updated for growing populations, etc.
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
They thought they had systems in place to protect the city. Those systems failed (the levees broke) and that caused the whole mess. The other thing that surprised me was that they were designed for a hurricane at level 3. Katrina was a strong level 4, even after being downgraded from the level 5. I wonder why they did not prepare for the strongest possible hurricane? Fortunately the superdome made it through the hurricane, as it was supposed to, or things would have been even worse.

I spent 3 wonderful weeks in New Orleans many years ago, so it is sad to see what is happening there.

Vash
 
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