News & Politics - New Orleans Mayor Orders Immediate Evacuation

mh67511 · 08-28-2005, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Katrina Packing Wind of Nearly 175 Mph

NEW ORLEANS - Mayor Ray Nagin ordered an immediate evacuation Sunday for all of New Orleans, a city sitting below sea level with 485,000 inhabitants, as Hurricane Katrina bore down with wind revved up to nearly 175 mph and a threat of a massive storm surge.

Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort including the Superdome arena.

"This is a once in a lifetime event," the mayor said. "The city of New Orleans has never seen a hurricane of this magnitude hit it directly."

The mayor called the order unprecedented, but said Katrina's storm surge would likely top the levees that protect the city from the surrounding water of Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi River and marshes. The bowl-shaped city must pump water out even during normal times, and the hurricane threatened pump power.

"We are facing a storm that most of us have long feared," Nagin said.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Interstate 10, which was converted Saturday so that all lanes headed one-way out of town, was totally gridlocked.

At 11 a.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center said Katrina's maximum sustained wind speed had stepped up to nearly 175 mph, with higher gusts. The hurricane's eye was about 225 miles south-southeast of the mouth of Mississippi River.

The storm was moving toward the west-northwest at nearly 12 mph and was expected to turn toward the north-northwest, the hurricane center said.

The mayor said people who opted to go to the Superdome should come with enough food and supplies to last three to five days. He police and firefighters would fan out throughout the city telling residents to get out. He also said police would have the authority to commander any vehicle or building that could be used for evacuation or shelter.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the north-central Gulf Coast from Morgan City, La., to the Alabama-Florida line, meaning hurricane conditions were expected within 24 hours, the hurricane center said. Tropical storm warnings extended east to Indian Pass, Fla., and west to Cameron, La.

Katrina had been blamed for nine deaths in South Florida.

The storm had the potential for storm surge flooding of up to 25 feet, topped with even higher waves, as much as 15 inches of rain, and tornadoes, the National Hurricane Center said.

Katrina Packing Wind of Nearly 175 Mph

Only three Category 5 hurricanes — the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale — have hit the United States since record-keeping began. The last was 1992's Hurricane Andrew, which leveled parts of South Florida, killed 43 people and caused $31 billion in damage. The other two were the 1935 Labor Day hurricane that hit the Florida Keys and killed 600 people and Hurricane Camille, which devastated the Mississippi coast in 1969, killing 256.

The hurricane's landfall could still come in Mississippi and affect Alabama and Florida, but it looked likely to come ashore Monday morning on the southeastern Louisiana coast, said Ed Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. That put New Orleans squarely in the crosshairs.

"If it came ashore with the intensity it has now and went to the New Orleans area, it would be the strongest we've had in recorded history there," Rappaport said in a telephone interview Sunday morning. "We're hoping of course there'll be a slight tapering off at least of the winds, but we can't plan on that. So whichever area gets hit, this is going to be a once in a lifetime event for them."

He said loss of life was "what inevitably occurs" with a storm this strong.

"We're in for some trouble here no matter what," he said.

175 MPH? Holy crap! I hope that everyone can get out in time. I saw on the news they are using the Super Dome as a place for people with special needs to evacuate too and as a last resort, for people without transportation.

TokyoNiGHTS · 08-28-2005, 09:12 AM

I'm in Southern MS, I was thinking about trying to ride it out in my house. I'm not so sure about that now.

mh67511 · 08-28-2005, 10:07 AM

TokyoNights - stay safe!

I have never read such a scary weather service message! This is just insane!

Quote:

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED...

.HURRICANE KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.

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.

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.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BEKILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.

ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE OUTSIDE!

Lexis · 08-28-2005, 10:09 AM

Oh lord...everyone stay safe and check in if you can so that we know you're safe.

Wild Pikachu · 08-28-2005, 10:45 AM

They are now talking about the virtual destruction of New Orleans if the storm hits at or just to the west of it. I've been watching the Weather Channel, and this one person said that FEMA had modeled this scenario and predicted 40,000-60,000 casualties if that happens.

TokyoNiGHTS · 08-28-2005, 11:38 AM

I don't really know what i'm gonna do now. The winds are now at 184mph. Its really too late to leave now. To think its not scheduled to hit till early Monday morning and its already packing those winds.

**Mio** · 08-28-2005, 12:27 PM

I have a friend in NO... Gah!

mcdreamylover · 08-28-2005, 01:02 PM

Quote:

They are now talking about the virtual destruction of New Orleans if the storm hits at or just to the west of it.

Wait I'm hearing conflicting reports then cause someone on FOX said if it hits east of NO that would be the worst. So which is it? Not that it will matter one way or the other since destruction will happen no matter where it hits.

Wild Pikachu · 08-28-2005, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zach Braff Lover

Wait I'm hearing conflicting reports then cause someone on FOX said if it hits east of NO that would be the worst. So which is it? Not that it will matter one way or the other since destruction will happen no matter where it hits.

The strongest winds and heaviest rain are located in the "right front" quadrant, or the north-east section, of the hurricane:

Therefore something east of the center of the storm is going to be hit harder than something west of it. Though as large as Katrina is, anything close to where it hits is going to be pretty much wiped out.

mh67511 · 08-28-2005, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TokyoNiGHTS

I don't really know what i'm gonna do now. The winds are now at 184mph. Its really too late to leave now. To think its not scheduled to hit till early Monday morning and its already packing those winds.

Are you in an area that is in risk of flooding? I don't even know what you are supposed to do in a hurricane if you can't evacute. Is there a shelter you could go to? Good luck and stay safe!

In Fair Verona · 08-28-2005, 01:33 PM

Yes, stay safe Tokyo and best of luck in riding out the hurricane.

I don't even really want to think about the destruction of NO...

mcdreamylover · 08-28-2005, 02:00 PM

Winds are at 165mph now. Not that that makes it any better.

TokyoNiGHTS · 08-28-2005, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mh67511

Are you in an area that is in risk of flooding? I don't even know what you are supposed to do in a hurricane if you can't evacute. Is there a shelter you could go to? Good luck and stay safe!

I'm in Picayune MS which really isn't close to any water so I think i'll be ok on the flooding issue. It just started raining here though pretty hard but my house is on a higher ground so I think i'll be ok from that. There are some shelters I can get to, i'm considering my local hospital (not a shelter but my mom works there so i'd be able to stay there through it). I'm not sure if i'll go yet it'll all depend on how close the eye is to me.

Thanks for all the good wishes everyone. It's much appreciated.

Wild Pikachu · 08-28-2005, 02:18 PM

They are expecting 100,000 people to take shelter in the Superdome...

mh67511 · 08-28-2005, 02:24 PM

Actually I heard that 100K will be left in New Orleans, but they are only expecting 20 to 30K in the Superdome for whatever reason....


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