Hurricane Katrina (1 Viewer)

[Generator]

New Orleans residents ordered to evacuate


The Mayor of New Orleans in the US state of Louisiana has ordered residents to evacuate his city of half a million people ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Katrina.

The massive storm with winds of over 250 kilometres an hour is expected to come ashore near New Orleans sometime in the next 24 hours.

If it maintains its current intensity it will be one of the two or three strongest storms ever to hit the US mainland.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin explained the gravity of the situation.

"Ladies and gentlemen I wish I had better news for you, but we are facing a storm that most of us have feared," he said.

"I do not want to create panic but I do want the citizens to understand that this is very serious and it's of the highest nature and that's why we're taking this unprecedented move."

The National Hurricane Centre upgraded Katrina to a category five storm, the top grading on the Saffir-Simpson scale, as television footage showed highways out of New Orleans jammed with cars and vehicles fleeing the city.

"Katrina (is) now a potentially catastrophic category five hurricane headed for the northern Gulf Coast," the centre warned in a bulletin.

It said the hurricane warning was in effect for the north central Gulf Coast from Morgan City, Louisiana, east to the Alabama and Florida borders, including the city of New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.

The massive storm, packing winds near 257 kilometres per hour, could hit those areas within the next 24 hours, the centre said.

"That's now a catastrophic hurricane," Chris Cisco, an expert with the National Hurricane Centre, told AFP.

President George W Bush has issued a state of emergency in Louisiana, clearing the way for federal aid to those affected.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco ordered mandatory evacuations of low-lying areas.

The authorities in New Orleans, which lies below sea level, warned residents to take their warnings seriously and to seek shelter immediately.

About 1.3 million people live in the greater New Orleans area.

Katrina has already been blamed for seven deaths after it slammed ashore late Thursday in southern Florida, flooding entire neighbourhoods, uprooting trees and leaving more than a million people without electricity.

Ed Rappaport from the US National Hurricane Centre describes the sort of damage Katrina will cause if it retains its current intensity.

"The winds themselves are going to be strong enough that they exceed any building codes," he said.

"And in this case we're going to see significant damage, if not the complete destruction, of most structures that are very close to the centre, near that core area. Even fortified structures will have extensive damage.

"In terms of loss of life, we're also greatly concerned about the storm surge."

-AFP

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1447891.htm

The death of a city (well, part of it, anyway), perhaps? Time will tell.

 

[breaking]

i like this pic

 

[Iron]

This is also surreal. I *shame* watched some trashy US natural disaster drama last night, then this morning the actors had improved markedly.

 

[chookyn]

1.3m. people. They get these things every year it seems (only this one's particularly dangerous). I'm trying to figure out why so many still choose to live there!

If the city is destroyed by Katrina, they should bring in development restrictions (i.e. no low-lying development) although that state (louisiana?) is basically a swamp, so there wouldn't be many development options left! Maybe relocate the city further north.

 

[breaking]

i wonder if Hurricane Katrina will cause as much of a flood as the tears shed by Katrina from big brother 2

 

[MoonlightSonata]

Times like these when nature puts humanity in its place -- we're not invincible

 

[iamsickofyear12]

1.3m. people. They get these things every year it seems (only this one's particularly dangerous). I'm trying to figure out why so many still choose to live there!

If the city is destroyed by Katrina, they should bring in development restrictions (i.e. no low-lying development) although that state (louisiana?) is basically a swamp, so there wouldn't be many development options left! Maybe relocate the city further north.

New Orleans is basically 100% under sea level. The land supporting the water can withhold a 10 metre storm surge but apparently this 1 is going to be bigger. They also have pumps to pump the water out but apparently they aren't going to have any effect with this 1.

 

[SashatheMan]

i like this pic

not real

this one is good

http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0829/4908366_400X300.jpg

 

[SashatheMan]

this is a catogory 5 storm.


US only ever experience five storms this strong

 

[go_swans]

has it hit yet? if not, when will it hit...

 

[SashatheMan]

has it hit yet? if not, when will it hit...

umm they said early monday morning (US time)


watch foxnews if u have cable they will tell all

 

[iamsickofyear12]

it hit land 70 something miles southeast of new orleans

 

[SashatheMan]

the real victim in all this is the soaring oil prices

 

[jay2000]

Ah, just saw something about it on a Seven new update...
Many homes flooded...almost as many looters..

 

[SashatheMan]

haha did u see the looters, they used shopping carts to loot more good at a time.

 

[chookyn]

Katrina's Effects: at a glance

 

[jay2000]

Oh look, an NBC news report about the looting

http://media.putfile.com/tdy_quintanilla_looting_050831

mmm..even the guards are doing it

 

[paper cup]

Times like these when nature puts humanity in its place -- we're not invincible

you mean we're not?

It's terrible, but America has the infrastructure to recover from it. I save my greater pity for the natural disasters that claim lives and houses in third world countries.

 

[absolution*]

you mean we're not?

It's terrible, but America has the infrastructure to recover from it. I save my greater pity for the natural disasters that claim lives and houses in third world countries.

Totally agreed.
And all the people who died are from the south. Thats "red" territory. So who cares?!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/2004_US_elections_map_electoral_votes.png

 

[transcendent]

I felt kinda sorry for the people, then they started talking in that southern accent and I found that funny. I keep feeling like it's an act of God, payback for the destruction of Iraq. =\