Big Easy in Big Trouble

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by BillDayson, Aug 28, 2005.

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  1. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    I've just been watching the cable news and I have a bad feeling about this.

    Hurricane Katrina had been relatively modest, but it's rapidly growing into a monster that headed direct towards New Orleans. They say that it has sustained winds of over 150 mph and heading for 175. It could have gusts over 200. Apparently it's currently one of the three biggest hurricanes ever to strike the US, and it's headed for our most vulnerable city.

    They are saying that many wooden buildings won't stand that and will come apart. Windows will get blown out of highrises.

    Lots of New Orleans is below sea level and the city is protected by levees. But the storm surge is predicted to swamp them, the city's pumps will fail and N.O. could be 20 feet deep in stagnant water for weeks or even months to come.

    They have already ordered a mandatory evacuation of the metropolitan area, home to more than a million people. Highways are clogged. And tens or even hundreds of thousands of people either don't have cars or won't leave. Loss of life could conceivably be substantial. Property damage almost certainly will be.

    (I don't want to even think of what will happen to gasoline prices when the area's petroleum refineries go down.)

    Here in California we all know the earthquake "big one" is coming inevitably, but we just shrug it off. In N.O. their 'big one' has always been the monster storm that swamps the levees and inundates the city.

    I'm starting to be afraid that the Gulf Coast's 'big one' might arrive this evening.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 28, 2005
  2. mcdirector

    mcdirector New Member

    I was raised on the Gulf Coast and I pity anyone in the path of a hurricane -- and this one is nasty. My thoughts and prayers are for their safety.

    And I don't think this will do gas prices any good either (but I do want their safety to be first).
     
  3. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    What both of you said. Thank you for caring.
     
  4. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Definitely something to concern us all, especially those of us with relatives there.

    My mother and sister and her family all live in Bay St. Louis MS, not far from NO and will be leaving if they haven't already. I have other family in LA also.

    I lived in NO for 12 years and was there during Hurricane Betsy in 1965; it was one of the big ones.

    My uncle's house was completely submerged in water and they had to use boats to escape. Bad. Bad. Bad!

    The prayers of God's people are certainly needed for this one!
     
  5. Definitely praying for those people in that area right now.... I also give thanks to God almighty that I had the sense to get out of that region (Ft. Lauderdale) after last year's devastation, having a gut feeling that it was just the beginning of a lengthy pattern of horrible storms. Of course, selling my house at nearly 100% profit after 18 months didn't hurt the decision either.....

    Not sure those homes will be worth quite so much in the future, after a few more of these monster storms pummel the area.

    God help New Orleans and the immediate area.
     
  6. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Don't know about nowadays, but when I lived in NOLA, flood homes could never be rid of the smell. One always knew a flood home or car immediately upon opening the doors of either.
     
  7. Mr. Engineer

    Mr. Engineer member

    Close friends have parent in NO. I am hoping and praying for the best possible outcome. Hopefully our nation can come together and provide the needed releif that the area will need (other than what the FEDS can provide)
     
  8. Laser200

    Laser200 Guest

    Fox News

    Fox News went on record predicting "70%" of New Orleans will be underwater by this time tomorrow.
     
  9. kevingaily

    kevingaily New Member

    Thankfully the hurricane has downgraded to a catagory 3, and has shifted and the Big Easy will not get the worst of it. The local news also said that the storm surge is now estimated to be 15 feet approximately, not the 25 or so earlier predicted.

    Still, they will be in trouble there. It will still probably wipe a lot of the city out....... I guess Mississippi is looking to have the lion's share of the trouble, though they aren't under sea level as New Orleans is.
     
  10. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    The cable news isn't a pretty picture this morning.

    Yesterday I had the impression that New Orleans had dodged a bullet. Downtown was reasonably intact and the historic French Quarter had come through well.

    But today they have helicopters up and the picture isn't nearly as reassuring. It now appears that large parts New Orleans are under water, extending way out into the suburbs.

    But that's only half of it. The devastation extends a hundred miles east across the Mississippi gulf coast to Mobile. Many towns along that strip are hard hit.

    If things really are as bad as they are being presented on TV (which does tend to exaggerate), this could turn out to be a disaster of nuclear proportions.

    The rest of the country needs to come together to support our stricken Southern compatriots.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 30, 2005
  11. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I guess God didn't grant such wisdom to others? Man, all that power and He just screws people! I wonder what criteria He uses?

    It's like the people who said their prayers were answered when Katrina moved east a little and didn't hit New Orleans as hard. Did God, then, ignore the prayers of people in Mississippi? :rolleyes: What a capricious omniscient being He is!
     
  12. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    As my wife points out, the disasters are yet to come. Power outages stretching weeks, the lack of potable water, disease, loss of medical services (including a lack of available medicines), hundreds of thousands without their homes, etc. Oh, and I guess the Saints will be playing their games on the road for a while.

    Seriously, I'm worried not about New Orleans, but about all of those little towns and cities that cannot muster the resources necessary. Katrina didn't hit them proportionately. She just hit them. :(
     
  13. Khan

    Khan New Member

    Everything I'm seeing today is really quite scary. I'm afraid the death toll may really mount up as they find everyone.
     
  14. BoogieRambler

    BoogieRambler Member

    As a native New Orleanian I am both blessed that my relatives based in and around the Greater New Orleans area survived Katrina, and profoundly saddened that my old high school, junior high, etc. did not fare so well. We (natives) had always talked of New O being beneath sea-level, but now that it has happened..I am not sure how to describe this feeling. The infrastructure of the city was in a shambles to begin with (public school system, sewerage, levees, etc.), but this is a truely devastating blow.
     
  15. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

  16. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    Right now the Saints are practicing at San Jose State. They have a Thursday night exibition game against the Oakland Raiders in Oakland that's still on, apparently.

    It must be hard for them to keep their mind on football. I hope that the team has released the ones with homes in NOLA to see to their families.

    After the Oakland game they apparently will head for San Antonio where they will be operating out of the local Marriot.

    Reality apparently hasn't fully set in yet, since the team is saying that they aren't sure if the Superdome will be ready for their home opener against the NY Giants September 18. Hint=no. A better question is whether the Saints will ever play in New Orleans again.

    http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/NO/8789559
     
  17. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    Tulane University in New Orleans is one of America's major private research universities. Their website seems to have been replaced by this emergency page:

    http://www.tulane.edu/

    Apparently the University has wind damage but isn't flooded. There's no electricity or communications. They have a skeleton crew maintaining security over the campus and virtually everyone else has been evacuated. Students have been sent home and the university administration is in Jackson MS. It sounds like they really don't know what the future will bring, but they are determined that the historic university will survive.
     
  18. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    I have heard that they have made arrangements to play their home games at LSU.
    Jack
     
  19. Orson

    Orson New Member

    Hi Karl - my buddy Paul is also a Lafayette grad - greetings! I'm sure Paulie is there and working on relief.

    But consider the seasonal timing opportunity. Many billions of bucks are going to arrive, and just as the outdoor building season's winding down up North between September and October, the re-building in NO, Biloxi and elsewhere can ramp up. Given the aged infrastructure, given decent civic leadership (always a question in this part of the South), there is an important opportunity to do it right! Vision and Am can-do.

    Meantime, I expect a record setting Mardi Gras!

    -Orson
     
  20. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    Are they going to hold it in Dallas?
    Jack
     

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