Sunday, August 28, 2005
Supercane-- Katrina barreling towards the Big Easy
Special 5pm update
Jason Samenow @ 4:15 PM
Vicious Category 5 Hurricane Katrina continues on a path straight for New Orleans. Katrina's pressure is holding at 902mb but winds have dropped to 165mph according to latest National Hurricane Center update. Not sure, from a communications standpoint, it's a good idea to be decreasing the winds if the storm hasn't weakened. You don't want to give folks any reason to let their guard down.I'm a bit concerned that the northward turn, that would spare New Orleans from a direct hit, has not commenced yet. It needs to soon, or the worst case scenario could be realized. The trouble is, the storm is so large, that it's own inertia may force it a bit west of model projections. The National Hurricane Center did shift its official track a bit west in the 5pm advisory--pretty much right over New Orleans.
Those of you who have tracked the comments in the previous post surely saw the foreboding statement (scroll down to the 10:11am statement) issued by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in New Orleans. Here is an excerpt:
MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.Here are some key resources for additional information on the storm:
THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE ... INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.
HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.
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