Before residents had ever heard the words "Hurricane Katrina," the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE ran a story warning residents: If you stay behind during a big storm, you'll be on your own!
Editors at TIMES-PICAYUNE on Monday called for every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be fired. In an open letter to President Bush, the paper said: "Our people deserved rescuing. Many who could have been were not. That's to the government's shame."
But the TIMES-PICAYUNE published a story on July 24, 2005 stating: City, state and federal emergency officials are preparing to give a historically blunt message: "In the event of a major hurricane, you're on your own."
Staff writer Bruce Nolan reported some 7 weeks before Katrina: "In scripted appearances being recorded now, officials such as Mayor Ray Nagin, local Red Cross Executive Director Kay Wilkins and City Council President Oliver Thomas drive home the word that the city does not have the resources to move out of harm's way an estimated 134,000 people without transportation."
"In the video, made by the anti-poverty agency Total Community Action, they urge those people to make arrangements now by finding their own ways to leave the city in the event of an evacuation.
"You're responsible for your safety, and you should be responsible for the person next to you," Wilkins said in an interview. "If you have some room to get that person out of town, the Red Cross will have a space for that person outside the area. We can help you."
THAT IS FROM THE LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS, FOLKS.
Don't let these loony liberals deceive you yet again. It is partisan politics at it's worst....
Trying to make political hay out of this immense tragedy.
Absolutely revolting, and shows the true colors of the left.
Thread
Posts in chronological order
Not much traction with the abuse
September 6, 2005
George W. finally gets it -- in more ways than one. The tardy president was back on the Gulf Coast yesterday, bucking up the spirits of the damned and stiffening the resolve of the slackers.
He's getting it as well from his critics, many of whom can't believe their great good luck, that a hurricane, of all things, finally gives them the opening they've been waiting for to heap calumny and scorn on him for something that might get a little traction. Cindy Sheehan is yesterday's news; she couldn't attract a camera crew this morning if she stripped down to her step-ins for a march on Prairie Chapel Ranch.
The vultures of the venomous left are attacking on two fronts, first that the president didn't do what the incompetent mayor of New Orleans and the pouty governor of Louisiana should have done, and didn't, in the early hours after Katrina loosed the deluge on the city that care and good judgment forgot. Ray Nagin, the mayor, ordered a "mandatory" evacuation a day late, but kept the city's 2,000 school buses parked and locked in neat rows when there was still time to take the refugees to higher ground. The bright-yellow buses sit ruined now in four feet of dirty water. Then the governor, Kathleen Blanco, resisted early pleas to declare martial law, and her dithering opened the way for looters, rapists and killers to make New Orleans an unholy hell. Gov. Haley Barbour did not hesitate in neighboring Mississippi, and looters, rapists and killers have not turned the streets of Gulfport and Biloxi into killing fields.
The drumbeat of partisan ingratitude continues even after the president flooded the city with National Guardsmen from a dozen states, paratroopers from Fort Bragg and Marines from the Atlantic and the Pacific. The flutter and chatter of the helicopters above the ghostly abandoned city, some of them from as far away as Singapore and averaging 240 missions a day, is eerily reminiscent of the last days of Saigon. Nevertheless, Sen. Mary Landrieu, who seems to think she's cute when she's mad, even threatened on national television to punch out the president -- a felony, by the way, even as a threat. Mayor Nagin, who you might think would be looking for a place to hide, and Gov. Blanco, nursing a bigtime snit, can't find the right word of thanks to a nation pouring out its heart and emptying its pockets. Maybe the senator should consider punching out the governor, only a misdemeanor.
The race hustlers waited for three days to inflame a tense situation, but then set to work with their usual dedication. The Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, our self-appointed twin ambassadors of ill will, made the scene as soon as they could, taking up the coded cry that Katrina was the work of white folks, that a shortage of white looters and snipers made looting and sniping look like black crime, that calling the refugees "refugees" was an act of linguistic racism. A "civil rights activist" on Arianna Huffington's celebrity blog even floated the rumor that the starving folks abandoned in New Orleans had been forced to eat their dead -- after only four days. New Orleans has a reputation for its unusual cuisine, but this tale was so tall that nobody paid it much attention. Neither did anyone tell the tale-bearer to put a dirty sock in it.
Condi Rice went to the scene to say what everyone can see for himself, that no one but the race hustlers imagine Americans of any hue attaching strings to the humanitarian aid pouring into the broken and bruised cities of the Gulf. Most of the suffering faces in the flickering television images are black, true enough, and most of the helping hands are white.
Black and white churches of all denominations across a wide swath of the South stretching from Texas across Arkansas and Louisiana into Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia turned their Sunday schools
September 6, 2005
George W. finally gets it -- in more ways than one. The tardy president was back on the Gulf Coast yesterday, bucking up the spirits of the damned and stiffening the resolve of the slackers.
He's getting it as well from his critics, many of whom can't believe their great good luck, that a hurricane, of all things, finally gives them the opening they've been waiting for to heap calumny and scorn on him for something that might get a little traction. Cindy Sheehan is yesterday's news; she couldn't attract a camera crew this morning if she stripped down to her step-ins for a march on Prairie Chapel Ranch.
The vultures of the venomous left are attacking on two fronts, first that the president didn't do what the incompetent mayor of New Orleans and the pouty governor of Louisiana should have done, and didn't, in the early hours after Katrina loosed the deluge on the city that care and good judgment forgot. Ray Nagin, the mayor, ordered a "mandatory" evacuation a day late, but kept the city's 2,000 school buses parked and locked in neat rows when there was still time to take the refugees to higher ground. The bright-yellow buses sit ruined now in four feet of dirty water. Then the governor, Kathleen Blanco, resisted early pleas to declare martial law, and her dithering opened the way for looters, rapists and killers to make New Orleans an unholy hell. Gov. Haley Barbour did not hesitate in neighboring Mississippi, and looters, rapists and killers have not turned the streets of Gulfport and Biloxi into killing fields.
The drumbeat of partisan ingratitude continues even after the president flooded the city with National Guardsmen from a dozen states, paratroopers from Fort Bragg and Marines from the Atlantic and the Pacific. The flutter and chatter of the helicopters above the ghostly abandoned city, some of them from as far away as Singapore and averaging 240 missions a day, is eerily reminiscent of the last days of Saigon. Nevertheless, Sen. Mary Landrieu, who seems to think she's cute when she's mad, even threatened on national television to punch out the president -- a felony, by the way, even as a threat. Mayor Nagin, who you might think would be looking for a place to hide, and Gov. Blanco, nursing a bigtime snit, can't find the right word of thanks to a nation pouring out its heart and emptying its pockets. Maybe the senator should consider punching out the governor, only a misdemeanor.
The race hustlers waited for three days to inflame a tense situation, but then set to work with their usual dedication. The Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, our self-appointed twin ambassadors of ill will, made the scene as soon as they could, taking up the coded cry that Katrina was the work of white folks, that a shortage of white looters and snipers made looting and sniping look like black crime, that calling the refugees "refugees" was an act of linguistic racism. A "civil rights activist" on Arianna Huffington's celebrity blog even floated the rumor that the starving folks abandoned in New Orleans had been forced to eat their dead -- after only four days. New Orleans has a reputation for its unusual cuisine, but this tale was so tall that nobody paid it much attention. Neither did anyone tell the tale-bearer to put a dirty sock in it.
Condi Rice went to the scene to say what everyone can see for himself, that no one but the race hustlers imagine Americans of any hue attaching strings to the humanitarian aid pouring into the broken and bruised cities of the Gulf. Most of the suffering faces in the flickering television images are black, true enough, and most of the helping hands are white.
Black and white churches of all denominations across a wide swath of the South stretching from Texas across Arkansas and Louisiana into Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia turned their Sunday schools
One day the WHOLE truth about what Bush knew and didn't know will come out and then any A-hole who calls me a nutcase will be to busy kicking themself to argue...hey it may even happen sooner if you start being blind little sheep and think for yourselves.
Id also like to thank Zeni and Mr. Jingles for defending me against the moron named Haystacks Calhoun...you sir need to WAKE UP!
One day the WHOLE truth about what Bush knew and didn't know will come out and then any A-hole who calls me a nutcase will be to busy kicking themself to argue...hey it may even happen sooner if you start being blind little sheep and think for yourselves.
Shut up, you idiot. Check this out from 2002...
LEFT BEHIND
Once it’s certain a major storm is about to hit, evacuation offers the best chance for survival. But for those who wait, getting out will become nearly impossible as the few routes out of town grow hopelessly clogged. And 100,000 people without transportation will be especially threatened.
By John McQuaid and Mark Schleifstein
Staff writers
A flooded underpass on I-10 westbound near the Orleans/Jefferson parish line was a critical choke point during Tropical Storm Frances.
(FILE PHOTO BY ALEX BRANDON / The Times-Picayune)
CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE
Hurricane evacuations rarely go as planned. Storm tracks are hard to predict, and roads are not designed to handle the traffic flow, so huge traffic jams are a common result. In 1998 it took six hours for people leaving the New Orleans area in advance of Hurricane Georges to reach Baton Rouge, 80 miles away. The following year, Hurricane Floyd’s constantly changing course spurred evacuations and bumper-to-bumper traffic on highways from Florida to North Carolina.
Moving entire populations out of harm’s way is a time-consuming and unpredictable operation complicated by geography, demographics, human psychology, the limits of weather forecasting, and transportation problems that tie many cities in knots even in perfect weather.
Like every coastal area vulnerable to hurricanes, south Louisiana faces these challenges. But the Louisiana delta also has it worse than other coastal areas.
Because the entire region is susceptible to storm-surge flooding, hurricanes pose more danger to those left behind than in places where the coastal profile is higher.
*****"Evacuation is what’s necessary: evacuation, evacuation, evacuation," Jefferson Parish Emergency Preparedness Director Walter Maestri said. "We anticipate that (even) with refuges of last resort in place, some 5 (percent) to 10 percent of the individuals who remain in the face of catastrophic storms are going to lose their lives."*******
The region’s sinking coast and rising flood risk also make the task of getting people out harder than it is elsewhere. South Louisiana presents some of the most daunting evacuation problems in the United States because:
The region’s large population, including more than 1 million people in the New Orleans area, requires a 72- to 84-hour window for evacuation, well ahead of the time that forecasters can accurately predict a storm’s track and strength.
Few north-south escape routes exist to move residents away from the coast, and many of those include low-lying sections that can flood days before a hurricane makes landfall.
Evacuees must travel more than 80 miles to reach high ground, meaning more cars on the highways for a longer time as the storm approaches.
A large population of low-income residents do not own cars and would have to depend on an untested emergency public transportation system to evacuate them.
Much of the area is below sea level and vulnerable to catastrophic flooding. Based on the danger to refugees and workers, the Red Cross has decided not to operate shelters south of the Interstate 10-Interstate 12 corridor, leaving refuges of last resort that offer only minimal protection and no food or bedding.
The risk of dying is so high that trying to ride out a storm is foolish, emergency managers say. Yet for various reasons, many people do not leave. In New Orleans, many residents don’t own cars. Some are unaware of the danger. Some think they can judge it for themselves. About 44 percent of Orleans residents and 52 percent of Jefferson residents ev
One day the WHOLE truth about what Bush knew and didn't know will come out and then any A-hole who calls me a nutcase will be to busy kicking themself to argue...hey it may even happen sooner if you start being blind little sheep and think for yourselves.
Krizzy...first I want to make clear to all on QZ...
1) This was in fact a natural disaster. It was not Bush's fault.
2) It was NOT God's or Allah's or any God's (if there is a God and which ever one you pray to) will. It was just nature, like it has been for gazillion's of years.
3) However....what WAS Bush's fault and also the fault of the past several administrations, was NOT heading the facts and pleas of the Louisiana's meteorologists, weather monitors, engineers, developers, and legislators...who KNEW that the century old levys were FAR outdated and needed updating/restructuring to PREVENT a catastrophe such as this, and repeatedly requested funding and were repeatedly DENIED and told there was no ''budget''.
4) What Bush and the past administrations are also responsible for (including at this year's 2005 G8 Summir..was repeatedly being asked by other nations to take measures to reduce and STOP global warming to prevent..something like thus hurricane...and far worse that can and WILL continue to happen if measures are not put into effective place...NOW..and again, Bash said NO!
5) Bush's and the US government's response time was rediculous. I've seen snails that were faster. If a war had been declared overnight, like WW2 after Pearl Harbor say, you can bet you ass, that within 24 hours, 20 times the military personnel, security personnel, medical personnel, water, food, medical supplies, and evacuations necessary would have been done ASAP!!!!!! without pause ot hesitation.
6) I do put alot of blame on the residents..AFTER the storm hit. While most that stayed in New Orleans did so because they were too poor and had no vehicles to get out, once and AFTER the storm hit, I agree that people, rather than acting like savages in ''Lord Of The Flies'', raping, pillaging, looting for electronics (NOT foof/water), and ESPECIALLY.......shooting the rescue personnel, medical personnel trying to HELP THEM was F**KING absurd. They should have stuck together as people DID do durin say, 911, and tried to help one another and not acted like it was the stone age, ''let's go and kill for thrill.''
7) Alot of finger poiting is going on and deservedly so...and in end...alot of innocent and NOT innocent people are suffering or dying and in the end...it is BOTH heart wrenching and disgusting at the same time. My heart goes out for many while others have only my disdain. This is the first 2 sided catastrophe I have ever seen in the USA. There are BOTH innocent victims and gukity idiots....a very complex and dismaying chapter in America's history....which I hope people LEARN from and is NEVER...repeated.
'5) Bush's and the US government's response time was rediculous. I've seen snails that were faster. If a war had been declared overnight, like WW2 after Pearl Harbor say, you can bet you ass, that within 24 hours, 20 times the military personnel, security personnel, medical personnel, water, food, medical supplies, and evacuations necessary would have been done ASAP!!!!!! without pause ot hesitation.'
WW2 started on 1st September 1939, you were 2 years late in joining in.
WW2 started on 1st September 1939, you were 2 years late in joining in.
'5) Bush's and the US government's response time was rediculous. I've seen snails that were faster. If a war had been declared overnight, like WW2 after Pearl Harbor say, you can bet you ass, that within 24 hours, 20 times the military personnel, security personnel, medical personnel, water, food, medical supplies, and evacuations necessary would have been done ASAP!!!!!! without pause ot hesitation.'
WW2 started on 1st September 1939, you were 2 years late in joining in.
I am referring to when the USA declared war on the Axis powers, and enacted in congress for the USA ro be involved IN WW2..AFTER being attacked the day of Pearl Harbor. We wer'ent ''Late''. We were not yet involved and were trying to stay out of that war, until we were under personal attack. Then...it was our war too. But we were not ''late''.
The rescuers would have been 24-36 hours less "late" had they not had to wait for SECURITY FORCES for the rescue boats.....
As far as I'm concerned Krizzy never said the hurricaine was Bush's fault, but she does indeed criticize him for his slow reaction to respond to the emergency. After all, Bush himself said that the lack of preparation and the relief effort on the first days after the tragedy was "unacceptable". At least I have to say that I have a bit more respect for someone who is actually willing to acknowledge his own failure, even if it's one out of many.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050906/pl_nm/bush_dc_8
Krizzy is one of the best posters on this board, and thanks to people like her is why many of us haven't left. I'm sure many people will agree with me.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050906/pl_nm/bush_dc_8
Krizzy is one of the best posters on this board, and thanks to people like her is why many of us haven't left. I'm sure many people will agree with me.
***CLAPS***CHEERS***
My point exactly, thank you to Arlene, Bob the Shrek and Mr. Jingles for explaining it to the S-L-O-W!!!
My point exactly, thank you to Arlene, Bob the Shrek and Mr. Jingles for explaining it to the S-L-O-W!!!
'I am referring to when the USA declared war on the Axis powers, and enacted in congress for the USA ro be involved IN WW2..AFTER being attacked the day of Pearl Harbor. We wer'ent ''Late''. We were not yet involved and were trying to stay out of that war, until we were under personal attack. Then...it was our war too. But we were not ''late''
You were already involved by supplying the Allies with ships, tanks, trucks and other vital spupplies to keep the war effort going - the only thing you didn't do was send troops.
WW2 was already 2 years old and you didn't want in until attacked by Japan. Regardless of how you word it, the USA was late joining in the fight for freedom.
Edit: This is not an attack on the USA's policy at the time, btw.
You were already involved by supplying the Allies with ships, tanks, trucks and other vital spupplies to keep the war effort going - the only thing you didn't do was send troops.
WW2 was already 2 years old and you didn't want in until attacked by Japan. Regardless of how you word it, the USA was late joining in the fight for freedom.
Edit: This is not an attack on the USA's policy at the time, btw.
As far as I'm concerned Krizzy never said the hurricaine was Bush's fault, but she does indeed criticize him for his slow reaction to respond to the emergency. After all, Bush himself said that the lack of preparation and the relief effort on the first days after the tragedy was "unacceptable". At least I have to say that I have a bit more respect for someone who is actually willing to acknowledge his own failure, even if it's one out of many.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050906/pl_nm/bush_dc_8
Krizzy is one of the best posters on this board, and thanks to people like her is why many of us haven't left. I'm sure many people will agree with me.
Krizzu used the biggest natural disaster to ever strike the US to attempt to score points politically. That, to me, is simply wrong.
I have no doubt that Krizzy is a fine person. However, that said, she is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY of base on this thread that SHE started....
The local folks knew that if this storm hit, that thousands would die. What could have been done differently? Getting the people OUT of harms way would have been a start...all it would hav taken was a phone call from Nagin on Friday morning asking for Federal help, but did it come?
Get a look at the "real" New Orleans to see why the raping, pillaging, murder, and looting took place....
The American Spectator reports that "New Orleans has one of the highest murder rates in the country. By mid-August of this year, 192 murders had been committed in New Orleans, 'nearly 10 times the national average,' ...New Orleans was ripe for collapse. Its dangerous geography, combined with a dangerous culture, made it susceptible to an unfolding catastrophe. Currents of chaos and lawlessness were running through the city long before this past week, and they were bound to come to the surface under the pressure of natural disaster and explode in a scene of looting and mayhem".
The Sept. 4 New York Daily News reported "Louisiana and New Orleans have a long, well-known reputation for corruption... Adjusted for population size, the state ranks third in the number of elected officials convicted of crimes (Mississippi is No. 1). Recent scandals include the conviction of 14 state judges and an FBI raid on the business and personal files of a Louisiana congressman." One former governor from the 1990's recently completed a prison term for tax fraud and the one that followed him, reports the Daily New, "is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for taking bribes from casino owners".
The Daily News goes on to note that in the 1990s the New Orleans Police Department "had the dubious distinction of being the nation's most corrupt police force and the least effective: the city had the highest murder rate in America. More than 50 officers were eventually convicted of crimes including murder, rape and robbery; two are currently on Death Row."
Playing politics with disaster, Krizzy? You are better than that....
As far as I'm concerned Krizzy never said the hurricaine was Bush's fault, but she does indeed criticize him for his slow reaction to respond to the emergency. After all, Bush himself said that the lack of preparation and the relief effort on the first days after the tragedy was "unacceptable". At least I have to say that I have a bit more respect for someone who is actually willing to acknowledge his own failure, even if it's one out of many.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050906/pl_nm/bush_dc_8
Krizzy is one of the best posters on this board, and thanks to people like her is why many of us haven't left. I'm sure many people will agree with me.
Krizzy used the biggest natural disaster to ever strike the US to attempt to score points politically. That, to me, is simply wrong.
Playing politics with disaster, Krizzy? You are better than that....
For God's sake how many fuckin' times do we have to repeat that Krizzy is criticizing Bush for not responding fast enough to the emergency. She's not the only one, and even Republicans have expressed their criticism for the lack of fast reaction to this tragedy.
Do we need to bring Barney The Dinosaur to explain it to you? Hopefully that purple S.O.B. has better luck than we do.
Here is yet another take...
Contrary to what is being spouted within the media at this time, a Cat 5 storm did not exist, AND WAS NOT PREDICTED by the National Hurricane Center 84 hours prior to landfall.
And, as of today, there never will be.
All of NOAA's predictions beyond 72 hours are "experimental", and its stated they should NOT be used for evac planning.
As for the 72-hour window prior to landfall, this storm was a Cat 2 72 hours before obliterating the Gulf Coast. Here is the projected strengths divulged by NOAA, which shows a maximum projected wind speed of 90 knots - hardly the killer that came ashore. These from the update on Friday at 0500 - 72 hours prior to landfall.
---------------------------------
FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS
INITIAL 26/0900Z 25.3N 81.5W 65 KT
12HR VT 26/1800Z 25.2N 82.6W 70 KT
24HR VT 27/0600Z 25.4N 83.8W 75 KT
36HR VT 27/1800Z 25.9N 84.6W 80 KT
48HR VT 28/0600Z 26.6N 85.4W 85 KT
72HR VT 29/0600Z 28.5N 86.5W 90 KT
96HR VT 30/0600Z 33.0N 84.5W 40 KT...INLAND
120HR VT 31/0600Z 39.0N 79.0W 25 KT...INLAND
----------------------------------------------
Get to a mere 48 hours prior to landfall, and the storm had just become a Cat 3 as of 0500 Saturday. Below is the actual 0500 update from NOAA on Saturday.
---------------------------------------------
ZCZC MIATCPAT2 ALL
TTAA00 KNHC DDHHMM
BULLETIN
HURRICANE KATRINA ADVISORY NUMBER 16
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
5 AM EDT SAT AUG 27 2005
...KATRINA BECOMES A MAJOR HURRICANE WITH 115 MPH WINDS...
AT 5 AM EDT... 0900Z... THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING HAS BEEN
DISCONTINUED FROM THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE TO KEY LARGO FLORIDA AND
FOR FLORIDA BAY. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM
WEST OF THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE WESTWARD TO KEY WEST INCLUDING THE
DRY TORTUGAS.
FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.
AT 5 AM EDT...0900Z...THE EYE OF HURRICANE KATRINA WAS LOCATED BY
RADAR AND RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT NEAR LATITUDE 24.4 NORTH...
LONGITUDE 84.4 WEST OR ABOUT 435 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE MOUTH OF
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ABOUT 165 MILES WEST OF KEY WEST FLORIDA.
KATRINA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 7 MPH... 11 KM/HR. A
GRADUAL TURN TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT
24 HOURS.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 115 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS.
KATRINA IS A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE.
SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT DATA AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS INDICATE THAT
KATRINA HAS BECOME A LARGER HURRICANE. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND
OUTWARD UP TO 40 MILES FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE
WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 150 MILES. TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS
ARE OCCURRING JUST OFFSHORE OF THE NORTHERN COAST OF WESTERN CUBA.
THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE RECENTLY REPORTED BY AN AIR FORCE
RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT WAS 945 MB...27.91 INCHES.
STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 2 TO 4 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS...
CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG THE SOUTHWEST COAST OF FLORIDA IN AREAS OF
ONSHORE FLOW EAST OF CAPE SABLE... AND IN FLORIDA BAY. STORM SURGE
WILL GRADUALLY SUBSIDE TODAY.
KATRINA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES
OVER WESTERN CUBA... AND 1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL IS EXPECTED
OVER THE YUCATAN PENINSULA. RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO SLOWLY DIMINISH
ACROSS THE LOWER FLORIDA KEYS TODAY... ALTHOUGH AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2
INCHES OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE IN SOME OF THE HEAVIER RAIN BANDS.
ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE THIS MORNING OVER THE LOWER FLORIDA
KEYS.
REPEATING THE 5 AM EDT POSITION...24.4 N... 84.4 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...WEST NEAR 7 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WINDS...115 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 945 MB.
AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CENTER AT 8 AM EDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE AD
Contrary to what is being spouted within the media at this time, a Cat 5 storm did not exist, AND WAS NOT PREDICTED by the National Hurricane Center 84 hours prior to landfall.
And, as of today, there never will be.
All of NOAA's predictions beyond 72 hours are "experimental", and its stated they should NOT be used for evac planning.
As for the 72-hour window prior to landfall, this storm was a Cat 2 72 hours before obliterating the Gulf Coast. Here is the projected strengths divulged by NOAA, which shows a maximum projected wind speed of 90 knots - hardly the killer that came ashore. These from the update on Friday at 0500 - 72 hours prior to landfall.
---------------------------------
FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS
INITIAL 26/0900Z 25.3N 81.5W 65 KT
12HR VT 26/1800Z 25.2N 82.6W 70 KT
24HR VT 27/0600Z 25.4N 83.8W 75 KT
36HR VT 27/1800Z 25.9N 84.6W 80 KT
48HR VT 28/0600Z 26.6N 85.4W 85 KT
72HR VT 29/0600Z 28.5N 86.5W 90 KT
96HR VT 30/0600Z 33.0N 84.5W 40 KT...INLAND
120HR VT 31/0600Z 39.0N 79.0W 25 KT...INLAND
----------------------------------------------
Get to a mere 48 hours prior to landfall, and the storm had just become a Cat 3 as of 0500 Saturday. Below is the actual 0500 update from NOAA on Saturday.
---------------------------------------------
ZCZC MIATCPAT2 ALL
TTAA00 KNHC DDHHMM
BULLETIN
HURRICANE KATRINA ADVISORY NUMBER 16
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
5 AM EDT SAT AUG 27 2005
...KATRINA BECOMES A MAJOR HURRICANE WITH 115 MPH WINDS...
AT 5 AM EDT... 0900Z... THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING HAS BEEN
DISCONTINUED FROM THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE TO KEY LARGO FLORIDA AND
FOR FLORIDA BAY. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM
WEST OF THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE WESTWARD TO KEY WEST INCLUDING THE
DRY TORTUGAS.
FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.
AT 5 AM EDT...0900Z...THE EYE OF HURRICANE KATRINA WAS LOCATED BY
RADAR AND RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT NEAR LATITUDE 24.4 NORTH...
LONGITUDE 84.4 WEST OR ABOUT 435 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE MOUTH OF
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ABOUT 165 MILES WEST OF KEY WEST FLORIDA.
KATRINA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 7 MPH... 11 KM/HR. A
GRADUAL TURN TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT
24 HOURS.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 115 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS.
KATRINA IS A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE.
SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT DATA AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS INDICATE THAT
KATRINA HAS BECOME A LARGER HURRICANE. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND
OUTWARD UP TO 40 MILES FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE
WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 150 MILES. TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS
ARE OCCURRING JUST OFFSHORE OF THE NORTHERN COAST OF WESTERN CUBA.
THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE RECENTLY REPORTED BY AN AIR FORCE
RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT WAS 945 MB...27.91 INCHES.
STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 2 TO 4 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS...
CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG THE SOUTHWEST COAST OF FLORIDA IN AREAS OF
ONSHORE FLOW EAST OF CAPE SABLE... AND IN FLORIDA BAY. STORM SURGE
WILL GRADUALLY SUBSIDE TODAY.
KATRINA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES
OVER WESTERN CUBA... AND 1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL IS EXPECTED
OVER THE YUCATAN PENINSULA. RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO SLOWLY DIMINISH
ACROSS THE LOWER FLORIDA KEYS TODAY... ALTHOUGH AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2
INCHES OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE IN SOME OF THE HEAVIER RAIN BANDS.
ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE THIS MORNING OVER THE LOWER FLORIDA
KEYS.
REPEATING THE 5 AM EDT POSITION...24.4 N... 84.4 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...WEST NEAR 7 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WINDS...115 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 945 MB.
AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CENTER AT 8 AM EDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE AD