CNN reporter seeing daylight. “Keeps getting larger and larger.” “One section of the Superdome roof may soon peel away from the actual stadium.”
Probably one-twelfth of the roof. [CORRECTION: Brian Williams’s pictures indicate it is only a small portion of the roof. There is some confusion about what the CNN reporter said or meant re: “one-twelfth of the roof.”] [UPDATE: It’s a “3-by-5-foot chunk,” according to the WDSU Katrina Blog.]
Authorities are moving people to a different part of the Dome, getting underneath the terrace level, moving away from the open area. “Rain and wind is now starting to pour into the Superdome.”
No panic, but “obvious concern.” “Everyone is just kind of looking up in awe, that this is supposed to be the safest place in New Orleans, and now the Superdome is giving way to this Superstorm.”
“There’s nowhere for these folks to go. This is where they’re going to be, whether the roof comes off this dome or not.”
And New Orleans is still about an hour away from its closest approach to the eyewall.
Brian Williams, MSNBC: “Katrina has opened at least two holes along one seam in the roof.” “Just about six minutes ago, the wind peeled one section and now it has opened a second section.” Rain is pouring in through the open section, and inside the whole Dome now there is mist swirling around. But “it is not as if the structural integrity of the Superdome is in any danger.”
UPDATE, 9:17 AM: “The National Guard told reporters at a news conference in Baton Rouge, La., that the holes in the roof at the Superdome are only minor. A representative of the National Guard blamed the strong winds for ripping the fabric, but he said there were no structural problems with the roof, and evacuees in the affected areas were moved,” according to the WDSU Katrina Blog.
|
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
|
August 29th, 2005 at 9:02:52 am
That is scary. Most buildings are built as a single unit. If you start taking pieces of it away, the entire structure weakens. On the other hand, most buildings are seriously over-built.
In this case, once one part of the roof is gone, I can see the wind coming in and the remaining parts of the roof acting like an airplane wing. Get the wind underneath them, and they can start peeling off one by one.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:03:41 am
Exactly.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:06:43 am
Shame… I really liked the “air conditioning condesate” theory.
Yep, three days of refuge in the Superdome… yea, that’s going to work.
There are also reports of windows at the Hilton shattering.
Dodged a bullet maybe. But it still looks like the city is going to get clipped.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:08:49 am
Aslo remember the whole dome was built in the hey day of nola and Louisiana graft. Lets hope there wernt too many structual shortcuts/payoffs in the construction.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:17:26 am
MSNBC has pictures of the holes.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:26:54 am
Yeah, I liked the air conditioning condensate theory too. (I posted it.) :-)
The frightening thing is that the roof should not be failing that early if it was properly constructed. As others have said, once a little opening is made, the rest will go quickly.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:34:17 am
NBC bigcheese Brian Williams sounded quite P.O.’ed about it, as though right now he’d rather be Stuck inside of Mobile than the Superdome. But it was good of him to share his structural-engineering expertise with us, as you noted: “…it is not as if the structural integrity of the Superdome is in any danger.” :| (He also got in a Shot at the Security procedures last night, re patting down the storm refugees etc. I don’t think Brian is entirely Sold on the whole Superdome Experience.)
Remember, it was well-reported yesterday that the wind-resiliency of the stadium is in fact Unknown.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:36:01 am
One twelve foot section, NOT 1/12 of the roof. Big difference, there.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:43:57 am
Maybe I’m losing my mind, but I swear the CNN anchor also heard “one-twelfth” and started babbling about what a big deal that is. Anyway, having seen Brian Williams’s picture, it’s obviously not what the reporter said. I fixed the post. Thanks.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:45:22 am
I heard it as one-twelfth, likened to a slice of a pie. Let me see if it’s still in the Tivo.
Oh, they just repeated “1/12″.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:49:19 am
Of course, Brian’s picture could have been taken before Ed Ream’s report was filed.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:51:46 am
Well, after seeing those holes, William’s statements make more sense. While concerning, those two small holes aren’t going to bring the whole structure down. When they were reporting 1/12 of the dome’s roof being gone, that claim sounded ludacris. Now, it sounds plausible, though I’m sure they are watching the roof with some concern.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:51:46 am
Well, after seeing those holes, William’s statements make more sense. While concerning, those two small holes aren’t going to bring the whole structure down. When they were reporting 1/12 of the dome’s roof being gone, that claim sounded ludacris. Now, it sounds plausible, though I’m sure they are watching the roof with some concern.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:52:25 am
The CNN reporter absolutely DID say that 1/12th of the roof was in danger of peeling away. He even illustrated it with an analogy to a pizza sliced into 12 pieces, so there is little chance that he was misunderstood.
He did NOT say that 1/12th of the roof had already peeled away. While they were talking to him, he said that a small section had just opened up, but that claim was distinct from his claim that 1/12th the roof was on the verge of peeling away.
The reporter may have overreacted to the roof damage, but that possibility doesn’t change what he said…
August 29th, 2005 at 10:34:18 am
Well…so, now the Superdome IS retractable.