Katrina Will Be Catastrophic

[Spirit of Me]

Lethal is probably the best word to use to describe her fury. Sunday, sustained winds had vaulted to 175 mph and highest gusts reached an unbelievable 215 mph. A human being simply could not withstand a wind that strong. There are two reasons for the storm's severeness. First, there has been no opposing flow in the tropics that would disrupt the storm's circulation. Second, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico are between 85 and 90 degrees, which is supplying all the fuel necessary to drive the storm's furious winds. Extreme eastern Louisiana will get the worst of it where damage will reach catastrophic proportions. So what do we mean by that? Look at it this way. If a category 3 or 4 hurricane strikes, things get blown down. When a buzz-saw like Katrina hits, not only are things destroyed, you cannot find the pieces.

[Spirit of Me]

not just the coast either...

[FarginMofo]

I experienced Andrew. Katrina is 3x bigger than Andrew and the pressure is significantly less. This could be very ugly for the New Orleans area.

[Stl Lunatic]

Category 5...wow...

[Sabres]

wow, it is on the way...

[Stl Lunatic]

Holly Crap!!!

[FarginMofo]

photos from the past ...

[FarginMofo]

...

[cavalierlwt]

I guess there's a 'doomsday' movie called 'The Oil Storm' that was a string of 'What If' scenarios happened to the US oil supply. Basically a huge storm that hits the gulf and puts the refinery and pipelines out of action, combined with a terrorist event in Saudi Arabia that crimp production temporarily, send oil to $153 a barrel, and bring the US economy to its knees.
We got the storm possibility.
The Saudi thing is always a possibility these days.
Now add in that we get 8% of our oil from Venuzuela, whom is pretty pissed at us right now over remarks from a prominent religious figure who publicly called for the assassination of Venuzuela's president.
If Saudi were to cut production (willingly or unwillingly) and Venuzuela did the same, plus the storm scenario, it would indeed screw America right into the ground. Throw in the huge Housing Market bubble (this would pop it like balloon), and it would be 'The Perfect Storm' of economics.

I'm not saying this stuff is going to happen, I just love 'What Ifs' and doomsday scenarios.

[Evan]

Goodbye New Orleans?

Puts a new meaning on "floating city".

Doesn't New Orleans have a problem with cemetaries losing bodies when it floods?

I remember hearing something like that years ago.

[Namloot]

New Orleans is below sea level; It's between a lake and The Mississippi River. I saw a graphic on CNN and was like "wow".

Good luck to anyone who doesn't get out.

[deathBOB]

Will this be the storm that finally get New Orleans. Everything I have read about the stop gap methods used to seal off the city say it is a question of when not if.

I hope everything is ok.

[DocTrebor]

It may just miss me here in Tally...I sure hope so.

[Sabres]

good luck Doc!