R.I.P. - New Orleans, August 29, 2005??
Looks like Katrina is the real deal. If anyone here lives in the New Orleans area, I'd suggest you get out now. We were watching the Weather Channel before, they said the only recorded storm with a lower air pressure was Camile. A category 5 coming in from due south can easily wipe New Orleans off the map, there was a story about that in National Geographic once.
Comments
Originally posted by CosmoNut
CNN Breaking News just said the mayor of N.O. just ordered a complete evacuation.
To paraphrase one of my favorite Radiators song titles, it's a TOTAL EVACUATION.
Anyone and everyone in or around NOLA needs to get out now if they haven't already.
reg
I often kicked myself for that . . .
but then again I merely have to remember why I didn't take the job: The city feels like you are in a toilet bowl!
They have to literally pump water out of it, and over the levy ring that surrounds the city 24/7
It an ugly miserable feeling town . . . . . High crime rate and rascism is still very present . . . and even with all that, its still extremely expensive . .
and to top it off, I read recently that 0ver 60% of every masquito in Louisiana is carrying West Nile Virus . . .
But really . . . . where will people from Farrgo go to party in the winter now?
And hopefully, (for the sake for New Orleans), it will take its northward turn earlier than expected and pass to the east of the city, meaning that the strongest part of the system also avoids them, and the prevailing wind direction will be from the North, backing towards the West as the storm moves inland...ie offfshore, mitigating the effects of the surge. Wherever it hits is going to get severely damaged...lets hope its the least populated area along the Gulf Coast.
I just watched a scary interview on ABC... there are some 100,000+ people who cannot afford, or dont have the means to get out of the New Orleans area, those parts of the city that are below sea-level. The worst case scenario is almost unimaginably horrific... lets just hope that N.O dodges this bullet.
The place is a sitting duck for a storm based disaster. That's if the termites don't do permanent damage first...
http://www.stadiumsofnfl.com/nfc/Superdome.htm
ugh...
Originally posted by iPoster
Lthey said the only recorded storm with a lower air pressure was Camile.
The biggest storm was typhoon tip (870 mb, 200+ mph winds), Camille was 905 mb (the lower the pressure, the bigger the storm).
This one is 902mb, which seems pretty nasty to me, and is larger than Camille.
GILBERT (1988 ) 888 mb
UNNAMED (1935 ) 892 mb
ALLEN (1980 ) 899 mb
CAMILLE (1969 ) 905 mb
MITCH (1988 ) 905 mb
Well, Regardless of the ultimate severity, a lot of people's lives are about to be put through a blender, we can only hope they can recover...
Originally posted by FormerLurker
The Superdome is rated for 200 MPH continuous winds.
True, found the following online (wiki):
The Superdome is a massive structure located on 52 acres (210,000 m²) of land; the dome has an interior space of 125,000,000 ft³ (3,500,000 m²), a height of 253 feet (82.3 meters), a dome diameter of 680 feet (210 meters), and a total floor area of 269,000 ft² (25,000 m²), making it the largest domed structure in the world.
The Superdome is built to withstand catastrophes; the roof is built to stand up to 200 MPH wind and even deep flood water wouldn't reach the second level 35 feet from the ground. It has thus been used as an emergency shelter but is not designed for the task; in 1998 during Hurricane Georges problems included looting and supplying 14,000 people with necessities.
One thing I didn't know about it is, the roof literally holds the whole thing together, it holds the exterior walls from falling down....
Contractors building the Superdome also found that it required efforts and techniques that were a bit out of the ordinary, especially in the construction of its roof. For this building, the largest clear span steel structure in the world (as attested to by the new Guinness Book of World Records) is literally held together by its roof. In its flying - saucer-shaped design , the walls of the Superdome literally hang (for want of more descriptive term) from the roof, with the force vectors at foundation level pointing away from the center.
Low-rise, wood-frame buildings will be destroyed, and concrete apartment buildings "will sustain major damage," it said.
"High-rise office and apartment buildings will sway dangerously, a few to the point of total collapse," the warning read.
"All windows will blow out. Airborne debris will be widespread, and may include heavy items such as household appliances and even light vehicles."
I am currently hunkered down in Biloxi, waiting for hell to break loose... It's usually a bad sign when Weather Channel's Jim Cantore is stationed in your city... ack!
It already getting pretty stormy here.
I hope that Nawlins fairs okay, but unfortunately, I think we are going to bear the major brunt of this storm.
I am mostly concerned about our casinos here... as they are just not rated to withstand this kind of a storm... and they are extremely vital to our economy here.
Will try and post some pics as soon as I can (assuming we have power.)
Originally posted by SCARECROW
Woo Boy...
I am currently hunkered down in Biloxi, waiting for hell to break loose... It's usually a bad sign when Weather Channel's Jim Cantore is stationed in your city... ack!
It already getting pretty stormy here.
I hope that Nawlins fairs okay, but unfortunately, I think we are going to bear the major brunt of this storm.
I am mostly concerned about our casinos here... as they are just not rated to withstand this kind of a storm... and they are extremely vital to our economy here.
Will try and post some pics as soon as I can (assuming we have power.)
good luck
Jesus, I'm going to miss NO.