Centerfield

Sustained winds of 175 with gusting over 200. That's the equivalent of an F3 tornado, but spread over a massively larger area. Winds like that can (and will) peel the roofs right off of some houses, and then flatten the frames. They can pick up cars and move them quite a ways.

As a hurricane and tornado "veteran," I wish you all the best, and nail those shutters down tight! For those folks in the low-lying coastal areas, don't be a moron, GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!!!

In 1969 when Camille looked to be heading right at our section of the Texas Gulf Coast, one of our neighbors decided to flee "laterally" instead of inland. He went east, and ended up on the second floor of a motel in Louisiana, about fifty miles inland. He was a little miffed at having to climb the stairs, until two days later when the first floor was three feet deep...the storm had turned and whacked Louisiana instead of Texas, and he'd "fled" right into the storm path. (We went inland in Texas and had a sunny weekend around the hotel pool.)

Yes, this is no time to be macho and say "So the wind is blowin' a little faster. So what?" As one comedian put it: "It's not how fast the wind is blowin', cowboy, it'swhat the wind is blowin'."

I was going to make a silly joke about Katrina and the Waves making a smash hit on New Orleans, but I don't think you're "Walkin' On Sunshine" now, so I won't. ;-)

Hi, Jean! Thanks for the warm wishes. Check your spam folder today, and maybe send something back before I loose internet connections tomorrow afternoon? ;)

You got it! I have to work this afternoon, but hopefully, I can send you something tonight. in the meantime, I'll be meditating for y'all's safety (in between library patron's questions, of course.):-)

"What the wind is blowin'." Straight from twister country.

Best of luck to you and Louisiana! Don't forget to prepare for the flooding as well as the wind!

Here's the full text of that NWS briefing:

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 BE
KILLED.

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!

Wow. I've never seen the National Weather Service use apocalyptic language like that before.

David, the really scary thing to me is this is language they were using AFTER pretty much everybody who could had evacuated the city. They didn't need to keep scaring people to get out.

I've seen language that scary--some of it's the boilerplate used for F3 and over tornado warnings. But the storm path of an F5 is rarely more than 2 miles wide, even if runs across whole counties. And they mean it.

Translation: If you don't have good shelter, as in blastproof-type shelter, go find some. NOW. This is not a drill.

The "storm width" (path of maximum damage) is currently running at 200-210 miles.

Well, power is starting to go in and out now. Was just off for about 5 minutes before starting back up again. It's gonna be a long night. Thank God I'm not in New Orleans, and I pray fervently for anybody who is.

"What the wind is blowin'." Straight from twister country.

LOL! Yes, that guy knew what he was talking about. So did Dorothy Gael (Gale?) when the wind blew her house all the way to Oz. ;-)

Well, you can't blame the weather folks for going a little nuts. Katrina is the first Class 5 hurricane to hit the U.S. since Camille in '69. Of course, they're a little excited.

Well, some weakening of the winds and a slight turn eastward look to keep it from being Armageddon on Bourbon Street, but N'awlins is still getting whacked pretty damn hard. Gulfport/Biloxi will get hit harder, but isn't in the same position for massive flooding that NO is. The weakening of the storm has dropped the storm surge by ten feet, which makes one heck of a lot difference.

Just downgraded to F3.

Whew!

Pat,

Hope you made it through okay. It looks like NO is taking a hard hit--althought perhaps not as bad as we had all feared.

Touch base with us when you can.

Y'all can keep praying and sending aid. It's not over until the floodwaters recede.