Weather Channel: "Unbelievably Dangerous and Intense Storm" (Updated)

[Hissyspit]

Haven't heard them say that in a long time. Another quote: "New Orleans possibly most vulnerable city in the country..."

Hurricane Expert Steve Lyons:
- Projected at it's WEAKEST: "high category 4 winds"
- If projected slight turn does not occur, it will hit west side of New Orleans - worst case scenario
- Water level rise: 20-25 feet "...surge gonna be huge..."
- Large hurricane will spread it's impact
- Eye is 20 miles wide.

Also from The Weather Channel:
Last hurricane to hit New Orleans directly: Betsy in 1965.
Very few direct routes out of New Orleans, so evaculate early.
Floods of record on rivers in southern Mississippi
Hurricane force winds could stretch from New Orleans to Mobile
Katrina as much as four times the size of Charley last year in Florida

Affects of Betsy in 1965 on New Orleans discussed here:

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/2003-10-09-hurricane-betsy_x.htm

Answers: Hurricane Betsy hit Florida, smashed New Orleans in 1965
By Jack Williams, USATODAY.com
Q: In late August or the first part of September 1965 a hurricane came ashore and did considerable damage to New Orleans. Please tell me the name of this hurricane and other details you may have on it. Thank you.

A: The hurricane you are thinking of was Betsy, which not only hit New Orleans with winds of at least 125 mph, but also flooded large parts of the city.

When all of the damage in the USA was totaled, it came to more than $1 billion in 1965 dollars, making Betsy the USA's first billion dollar hurricane. If you factor in inflation and put Betsy's cost into Year 2000 dollars, it cost $8.4 billion, which ties it for third in the list of the nation's most expensive hurricanes. Betsy is tied with Agnes, which caused major flooding in the Northeast in 1972, and behind only Hugo in 1989 and Andrew in 1992 in cost.

- snip -

As the hurricane moved ashore south of New Orleans it destroyed almost every building in Grand Isle, where the Coast Guard station reported gusts up to 160 mph. Winds up to 125 mph were measured in New Orleans.

Betsy drove storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain, which is just north of the city and is connected to the Gulf of Mexico, pushing water over levees around the lake. Flood water reaches the eves of houses in some places in the city.

MORE

[TwilightZone]

1. Many forecasters are saying it could end up being the most powerful

Gulf hurricane in recorded history. The latest descriptions of "likely" damage are nearly unfathomable.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Isn't intense storms a sign of global warming?

Oh, I forgot. Our Great Leader said that was a hoax, so of course he's right.....

[KayLaw]

3. I think it's a graver situation than some think

I'm sure that were that storm headed this way, I'd be in Vermont by now.

[Eloriel]

9. I'm in NW Georgia and *I'm* thinking Vermont sounds good

We can get a lot of fallout from this storm. There were many, many trees blown down when Opal rattled through here a few years ago, a year or two before we bought this property.

My greater concern is for people in NO and along the coast. My concerns are petty compared to that. But it IS a thought that crossed my mind as I noted how large and how strong this storm really is. Heck, it's still going to be a Cat 2 hurricane when it gets 50 - 100 miles inland!

[SofaKingLiberal]

4. Woah

Almost like a giant F3 tornado?

Winds of 175 and Gusts of 207.

Here is a tornado chart.

[Silverhair]

6. No comparison.

I have been through one typhoon and two hurricanes. (Direct strike, eye passed over) I now live in tornado alley. Believe me, I will take my chances with a tornado any day.

A tornado can get higher wind speed, but it is over in a few minutes and highly localized and usually has only a normal heavy rain with it.

A hurricane, especially a major one last for almost a day, has a huge storm surge with it, and torrential rains. The effects can cover a swath of over a hundred miles wide.

[geomon666]

7. Also, hurricanes can produce tornadoes n/t

[SlowDownFast]

23. They're actually predicting tornadoes

as a side effect of this storm.

[Lindacooks]

16. I agree.

But some tornadoes can be miles wide and last for hours - I'm thinking about the 1974 tornado outbreak in Ohio. Still, I'm with you - at least you can get away from a tornado by going underground, unless it's an F5.

[Hissyspit]

5. Lower pressure right now than Camille n/t

[Silverhair]

8. That is scary.

For folks that don't know. Camille was a super storm that hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast (Pass Christian/Long Beach got the eye)in 1969. The storm surge lifted a tugboat and left it hundreds of yards inland, lifted three ocean going freighters and left them on dry beach.

It completely erased from existence, except for the cement slabs, luxury seaside apartment complexes.

[ewagner]

10. I saw one of the freighters

in March of '70 in Biloxi....

I also remember the steel street light poles bent over into "U"s .

Now this could be worse? It's hard to even imagine.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

13. I saw that as well. Never forgot that sight.

It was during Easter break 1970. My senior class trip to New Orleans and Panama City Beach Florida. We took a bus from NO to PCB and I remember the bus driver pointing out the damage from Camille the previous summer. I also remember the concrete slabs that were all that were left from houses and businesses, etc. Truly terrifying to a 16 year old from Chicago.

[ewagner]

15. Remember Pass Christian?

On the landward side of the highway there were all these concrete or brick steps...like going up to a front porch...and there were no houses...NOTHING attached to them....

I also remember talking to one of the residents there who told the story about finding bodies after the storm that were already embalmed. ....because the ground was so saturated that some caskets in the cemetaries floated up and the wind shattered them against trees. I heard that some of the above ground crypts were busted up that way too....gory, gory gory.

but people don't understand the true horror of hurricanes.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

20. Yeah, I remember the steps and no houses. Picture a bus full of

16 and 17 year old high school kids on their senior trip. When we passed the devastation from Camille everyone on that bus was speechless.

It brought home to me how powerful Mother Nature can be.

I just hope and pray that Katrina's not a repeat of Camille, but it's not looking too good.

Sending prayers and good thoughts to everyone in this monster's path. They're gonna need them I think.

[hobbit709]

18. I was there in 1970

That summer a baby hurricane came (80mph). You should have seen everyone book-they'd had the fear of god put in them. I was in the Air Farce and we couldn't leave.

[ewagner]

28. Me too!

I left Keesler in late May....

[hobbit709]

30. I got there about the first of May

was there until November.
Then they sent me back for 2 months in 71 before sending me to Italy and Turkey.

[Eloriel]

11. And IIRC some of those apartment complexes had people in them

who were trying to ride out the hurricane (and some of them, party thru it).

[Hissyspit]

12. And Camille was SMALLER in size than Katrina...

according to the Weather Channel.

[stevietheman]

14. With a storm this strong, inland areas will also need to be concerned...

about very severe thunderstorms and tornadoes... I'm in Louisville, KY and I'm now concerned that it will track up here and cause incredible damage.

[Hissyspit]

17. Camillie killed many people with inland flooding in VIRGINIA and W. VA

[HereSince1628]

22. Yes, I remember television news about the flooding in W. VA.

[Hissyspit]

25. There is a park dedicated to the flood victims of Camille in Virginia

I pass as I drive up to D.C. or Baltimore. It is so strange to see a historical marker for a hurricane in the middle of the Virginia mountains.

[NewJeffCT]

19. what did Hurricane Betsy do in 1965?

the above post says it hit NO directly in 1965.

[Hissyspit]

21. Info at this link:

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/2003-10-09-hurricane-betsy_x.htm

[Hissyspit]

24. Thanks. I added the info to the original post. n/t

[Hissyspit]

26. "One of the most intense hurricanes in recorded history.."

Quote from The Weather Channel.

[Hissyspit]

27. "People on the road a little late in the game..." Cantore on evacuation

Weather Channel's Jim Cantore disturbed by the evacuation problems. "People on the road a little late in the game... The worst thing is to see a disaster within a disaster."

"Even if it weakens, it won't weaken much."

[Boomer]

29. Continual reports of gridlock

which creates the ultimate disaster scenario: Late evacuees caught out in the open when the storms begin.