I’m not a meteorologist. I’m just an amateur weather enthusiast, a law-student blogger who happens to be a hurricane buff. But if I lived in New Orleans, I would definitely leave at this point. Tonight. Barring a major change in the forecast, I expect the evacuation orders to come tomorrow. That will produce massive traffic jams and general confusion. My advice? Beat the rush; get out now. For it is imperative to get out. Katrina probably won’t destroy New Orleans — but it could. So if anyone in New Orleans is reading this, I’d personally advise you to get the hell out of dodge.
You’re doing a great job here Brendan. And I say that as a veteran of many hurricanes..Camille, Frederick, Elena, Georges and on and on. I haven’t seen the news today, and I heard some vague references to Katrina tracking more to the west. I came in from a high school football game and found this link. So I guess I’ll keep checking in for the latest and start making some preparations.
I’m glad to help! I really want to get the word out about this. It’s driving me crazy that the media isn’t playing it up more. You know they’ll be sensationalizing it like crazy in 24-48 hours from now, but by then it will be TOO LATE for people to do anything!! I keep emailing Drudge to try and get him to change his headline (he’s STILL saying “next Florida landfall”), because if he had a banner headline “NEW ORLEANS AT RISK” or whatever, you know the national media would follow (it’s amazing how much they follow him), and the local media follows the national media. But oh well, if I can help keep one Gulfport resident informed, at least I’ve done something right. :)
I have 3 teen-agers that play soccer in N.O. They have games scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and Sunday afternoon. I’ll have to let you know if they get cancelled. :-) I can tell you from observation that most New Orleanians won’t make any evacuation plans until the NHC posts watches or warnings. Then you’ll begin to see an exodus.
Unfortunately, Hurricane Watches typically are not issued until 48 hours before the leading edge is expected to be felt — that’s cutting it awfully close. Personally I would love to see the NHC put up the watch a little early, like first thing tomorrow morning, just to get things moving.
If I lived in New Orleans I would evacuate. I am paranoid but I have seen enough natural disasters not to be. Bette safe than sorry. Nobody will be laughing when I am alive and everyone else is dead or injured. I think that just as Mike won’t watch shuttle take offs and landings after his challenger experience as a young, impressionable child, I remember a horrific avalanche of melted snow, mud and lava after the explotion of a volcano when I was five, remember the rescue workers, the people who could not be rescued from the mud and died while rescue workers watched, powerless, and the people going on national television for months looking for missing relatives, entire towns wiped out.. and when you are five, I guess you just never forget. If someone tells me to get the hell out, I would get the hell out.
Call it morbid curiosity, but I kinda want to see what happens when a cat. 4 hurricane hits a below-sea-level city. (Unfortunately there are people in it.)
Brian, if you read everything Brendan has linked to, you can get a pretty good idea, and it is so disturbing I couldn’t really sleep that well last night thinking about it…
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August 27th, 2005 at 1:20:41 am
You’re doing a great job here Brendan. And I say that as a veteran of many hurricanes..Camille, Frederick, Elena, Georges and on and on. I haven’t seen the news today, and I heard some vague references to Katrina tracking more to the west. I came in from a high school football game and found this link. So I guess I’ll keep checking in for the latest and start making some preparations.
August 27th, 2005 at 1:26:13 am
I’m glad to help! I really want to get the word out about this. It’s driving me crazy that the media isn’t playing it up more. You know they’ll be sensationalizing it like crazy in 24-48 hours from now, but by then it will be TOO LATE for people to do anything!! I keep emailing Drudge to try and get him to change his headline (he’s STILL saying “next Florida landfall”), because if he had a banner headline “NEW ORLEANS AT RISK” or whatever, you know the national media would follow (it’s amazing how much they follow him), and the local media follows the national media. But oh well, if I can help keep one Gulfport resident informed, at least I’ve done something right. :)
August 27th, 2005 at 1:37:20 am
I have 3 teen-agers that play soccer in N.O. They have games scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and Sunday afternoon. I’ll have to let you know if they get cancelled. :-) I can tell you from observation that most New Orleanians won’t make any evacuation plans until the NHC posts watches or warnings. Then you’ll begin to see an exodus.
August 27th, 2005 at 1:47:50 am
Unfortunately, Hurricane Watches typically are not issued until 48 hours before the leading edge is expected to be felt — that’s cutting it awfully close. Personally I would love to see the NHC put up the watch a little early, like first thing tomorrow morning, just to get things moving.
August 27th, 2005 at 1:48:54 am
If I lived in New Orleans I would evacuate. I am paranoid but I have seen enough natural disasters not to be. Bette safe than sorry. Nobody will be laughing when I am alive and everyone else is dead or injured. I think that just as Mike won’t watch shuttle take offs and landings after his challenger experience as a young, impressionable child, I remember a horrific avalanche of melted snow, mud and lava after the explotion of a volcano when I was five, remember the rescue workers, the people who could not be rescued from the mud and died while rescue workers watched, powerless, and the people going on national television for months looking for missing relatives, entire towns wiped out.. and when you are five, I guess you just never forget. If someone tells me to get the hell out, I would get the hell out.
August 27th, 2005 at 2:04:08 am
If someone tells me to get the hell out, I would get the hell out.
Well, if you were in New Orleans, I would be telling you to get the hell out. :)
August 27th, 2005 at 5:45:50 am
Call it morbid curiosity, but I kinda want to see what happens when a cat. 4 hurricane hits a below-sea-level city. (Unfortunately there are people in it.)
August 27th, 2005 at 11:49:36 am
Brian, if you read everything Brendan has linked to, you can get a pretty good idea, and it is so disturbing I couldn’t really sleep that well last night thinking about it…