OMG, I think they are going to make it!!!! HOORAY!!!

[bribri16]

The worst of the surge may be over for NO. Wonderful people in NO!! All the best during the clean up and aftermath.

[BlueJac]

1. A mess for sure

Hope the best for all them good people!!

[Cleita]

2. Thank God. I hope there is no loss of life.n/t

[aquart]

3. The levee has been breached.

Let's just wait a bit more before we start cheering.

But when I got up and saw that New Orleans still had streets.....Oh.

Superdome people might want to speak to the ones who made that roof.

[bribri16]

5. Same people who made the NASA Shuttle skin...maybe? n/t

[ultraist]

7. I agree, it's too early to start cheering

They are reporting catastrophic structural damage and major flooding. Downed power lines and water are very dangerous.

[KyndCulture]

4. Don't skip and jump yet... there's little or no communication yet.

They can't assess anything until the winds completely die down... keep a good thought but it's not known what happened yet.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. 5 dead, from stress and heart attacks when they tried to evacuate.

probably find a few people who refused to leave, but they are VERY VERY lucky overall.

Looks like Florida, Alabama and upstate Louisiana will get rocked and rolled now.

[bee]

8. msnbc (tv) just reported

That in a LA near baton rouge, (I didnt catch which area specifically)... water has now topped the roofs of 1 story houses. only 80% of people in that area evacuated... they were said to be taking refuge in their attics, now completely under water...

not exactly cheering time...

:cry:

[expatriot]

17. people want to be optimistic.... but this is so shitty....

nt

[quisp]

9. It's not over yet

I heard that although Katrina has been downgraded to a CAT 3, NO is still facing 5 - 6 hours of hurricane conditions.

[Riverman]

10. Good Southern People Not Suffering

IS terrific news. Now if these were blue states Falwell, Robertson, Ralph Reed etc, would be shouting that Katrina is the wrath of GOD for their sinful lives!

[alkaline9]

16. it would be helpful if religious people would say...

...that these storms are god's payback for reaping the land of it's oil, and not developing better technologies. Now THAT would be something that might lead to better legislation. Just a thought.

[TorchTheWitch]

12. I LOVE your ID name and avitar!

Off topic, I know, but it gave me a flood of good childhood memories seeing that.

Back on topic... It isn't over yet, so I don't think we should be jumping for joy at the moment. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that the Dome doesn't flood too badly and trap people in there (I'm feeling a bit better about it holding up though).

[bvar22]

11. Yes! We CAN start cheering.

This was NOT the Big One!
The Storm Surge did NOT top the levees in New Orleans.
New Orleans will NOT be submerged.

There are some reports of levee breaches(different from levee topping) in Eastern New Olreans. This is the same low lying area that flooded during Betsy.
This is bad for that small area, but that area is protected by a different a levee system than New Orleans. Some people will be flooded. There will be rain water flooding in the other sections of New Orleans, but nothing that New Orleans hasn't dealt with many times in the past.

There was NO 28' Storm Surge.
There were NO winds above 120mph.

This storm was NO Andrew or Camille.

The Missippi Gulf Coast towns appear to have suffered some Storm Surge damage. This area is NOT protected by a levee system, and floods during most regular hurricanes.

This was NOT the BIG ONE.

[Maple]

13. You should be hoping it IS the big one

because if it's not...the 'big one' is yet to come.

[underthedome]

14. Reports that sections of the city are under 6 feet of water and rising

why cheer?

[fishnfla]

15. Looks like NO's gain was Miss loss eom

[jsamuel]

18. Levee in the Industrial row has been TOPPED, water is flowing in

TWC

[expatriot]

19. tell that to these people....

http://www.wdsu.com/news/4908558/detail.html

11:50 a.m.:St. Bernard Residents Forced Into Attics

Several people in St. Bernard Parish have been forced into their attics because of the rising water. In many homes, the water has risen above the second floor. "We know people are up in their attics hollering for help," said state Sen. Walter Boasso. The state Department of Wildlife and Fish says it is standing by with 60 boats and will head out into neighborhoods as soon as the winds subside to assist stranded and trapped residents. -- WDSU anchor Kriss Fairbairn.

--------------------
Still feel like cheering?

[soothsayer]

20. Yes! They were expecting devastating loss of life. So cheer!

Magic still works.

[bvar22]

21. Yes.

This is much better than the Best Case scenario forecast yesterday.

St Benard parish is low lying and flood prone during moderate thunderstorms. The levee system in St Benard Parish was NOT topped. There are unconfirmed reports of levee breaching on the Industrial Canal. If this is the case, there will be some serious flooding of a local area. This is NOT the same levee system that protects New Orleans. There will be some people that will need assisstance, but they will be few. Because the storm caused MUCH LESS DAMAGE than forecast,and because the damage is localized these people will be receiving the help they need IMMEDIATELY.

I am sure that the local flooding will be sensationalized on the Media. You will see it over and over, but even the Cable CorpoNews Scandal Rags are having difficulty finding damage in New Orleans for their disaster hungry audiences.

I am NOT cheering for the few people that will suffer flood and wind damage. I am cheering for the MILLION that didn't.


There DOES appear to be some significant storm damage on the Gulf Coast. This ALWAYS happens when a moderate hurricane hits the Gulf Coast.

This was NOT the BIG ONE!
Not even CLOSE.

[Shakespeare]

22. No, it doesn't "always happen."

What they're dealing with in Gulfport and Biloxi right now is as bad or worse than what they got with Camille. This is a very, very bad storm for that part of the state.

Yeah, it's pretty fuckin' big.

[bvar22]

23. Nope. Not a Camille.

CNN has reporters standing on the streets of Biloxi and Gulf Port. Higest sustained winds were reported at 130 (short duration).
Camille had 200MPH winds and NO ONE standing on the streets.

Hwy 90 ALWAYS floods during moderate hurricanes.

The Gulf Coast took a moderate hit.
Much less than even Ivan last year on the Fla panhandle.

[Shakespeare]

24. I'm quite familiar with highway 90, thanks.

Jim Cantore of the weather channel is at the retired vets' home in Gulfport, which is 27 feet above sea level. They're evacuating residents to upper floors because the first floor is flooding.

90 always floods a little during hurricanes--this storm surge is much more than that.

It's far too early to say whether this one was better or worse than Ivan--nobody's seen the pictures yet, and there are many, many small communities along the LA/MS state line that are likely decimated. My parents live in Pensacola (and I used to live there as well), so I have more than a passing familiarity and interest in this.

[KoKo]

25. This wasn't a "moderate" hurricane that hit the coast. And the storm

surge isn't over, plus the people in the swamps who stayed, plus that folks outide the coast are getting hit with a Category 2 and 3 hurrican is no cause to say "It's Over." :eyes: What do you think the million who evacuated are coming back to? It's far from over.

[bvar22]

26. The million who evacuated from New Orleans

will be coming back to their homes largely intact.
Minor flood and wind damage.

[Oreegone]

27. The Governor of Mississippi

The Governor of Mississippi was in tears minutes ago. He is afraid for the loss of life due to all the calls they got from people trapped in their houses with the water rising. They had to tell them they couldn't help them. I guess they got at least 100 of these calls in New Orleans also. They say that downtown Gulfport is decimated.

Now their concern is when it drops its 15 inches in various locations going north, it will all come down the river and flood again.

[KoKo]

28. kick...........