Katrina Roundup
It's bad and getting worse in New Orleans. Katrina has passed, but the city's flood waters are rising due to at least two levee failures. Even the Superdome (where 10,000 people originally took shelter, but hospital evacuees and those recued from the floods have since added to the number) is beginning to flood and officials are saying that the city needs to be completely evacuated. The Weather Channel's website has a post on it's blog called "Desperately Seeking..." where readers are posting to find more information about how people they know or the regions they live in are fairing. They are also encouraging readers to post info they may have and they are posting links where you can get more information.
According to Jeff Masters' blog, six NWS locations lost communication yesterday, leaving a hole in the radar picture. Also, the Hurricane Hunters' home base, Keesler AFB in Buloxi, MS, took a direct hit from Katrina and has suffered exstensive damage (some pictures have been posted on Flickr, but information is hard to find). I'm not sure what this will do to our ability to monitor future hurricanes this season, but they suffered a hit from Ivan last year and managed to continue their missions after that (I believe they moved their planes elsewhere before the storm).
An oil rig broke loose in Alabama and is now lodged under a bridge. Oil prices, of course, have skyrocketed to near $71 a barrel and closed at $69.94. Though some of that is panic due to the uncertainty of how much damaged Katrina did to the rigs in the Gulf, there is the real possibility of $3.00 a gallon coming soon rather than later because of this.
If flood waters continue to rise, the entire city of New Orleans may be under water by this evening. I'm not sure how they plan to evacuate the Superdome, escpecially since there are so many people. For now, people will just have to move to higher floors to avoid flood waters. Even if they manage to fix the levees in the next few days, they then have to get rid of the water.
Keep in mind also that New Orleans didn't get the brunt of this system; southern Mississippi did. News from these areas will come out more slowly due to loss of communication, infrastructure losses, and travel difficulties. I am reminded of Mitch, which rewrote Honduras' geography, though the death toll here will (hopefully) not be as high. Here's a map of the total rainfall from the storm.
If you want pictures, the Weather Channel (click on "Slideshow: Katrina's Force") has the most extensive collection I'v seen. CNN.com also has several picture galleries. Washingon Post has pictures from more than just NO.
WWL is apparently a local news station in New Orleans that a lot of local blogs are using as a source (in addition their own eyes). This video is long (so don't click if you don't have broadband) but informative. Via Jody, here's a local NO blog that's updating regularly.
The Red Cross is accepting donations, of course. This disaster will take a long time to recover from. If you pray, please do so. The victims and survivors need all the help they can get.
According to Jeff Masters' blog, six NWS locations lost communication yesterday, leaving a hole in the radar picture. Also, the Hurricane Hunters' home base, Keesler AFB in Buloxi, MS, took a direct hit from Katrina and has suffered exstensive damage (some pictures have been posted on Flickr, but information is hard to find). I'm not sure what this will do to our ability to monitor future hurricanes this season, but they suffered a hit from Ivan last year and managed to continue their missions after that (I believe they moved their planes elsewhere before the storm).
An oil rig broke loose in Alabama and is now lodged under a bridge. Oil prices, of course, have skyrocketed to near $71 a barrel and closed at $69.94. Though some of that is panic due to the uncertainty of how much damaged Katrina did to the rigs in the Gulf, there is the real possibility of $3.00 a gallon coming soon rather than later because of this.
If flood waters continue to rise, the entire city of New Orleans may be under water by this evening. I'm not sure how they plan to evacuate the Superdome, escpecially since there are so many people. For now, people will just have to move to higher floors to avoid flood waters. Even if they manage to fix the levees in the next few days, they then have to get rid of the water.
Keep in mind also that New Orleans didn't get the brunt of this system; southern Mississippi did. News from these areas will come out more slowly due to loss of communication, infrastructure losses, and travel difficulties. I am reminded of Mitch, which rewrote Honduras' geography, though the death toll here will (hopefully) not be as high. Here's a map of the total rainfall from the storm.
If you want pictures, the Weather Channel (click on "Slideshow: Katrina's Force") has the most extensive collection I'v seen. CNN.com also has several picture galleries. Washingon Post has pictures from more than just NO.
WWL is apparently a local news station in New Orleans that a lot of local blogs are using as a source (in addition their own eyes). This video is long (so don't click if you don't have broadband) but informative. Via Jody, here's a local NO blog that's updating regularly.
The Red Cross is accepting donations, of course. This disaster will take a long time to recover from. If you pray, please do so. The victims and survivors need all the help they can get.
posted by SpakKadi at 6:19 PM
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