WINDS: 190 mphHurricane Katrina is headed directly for New Orleans today, and it is a category 5 hurricane. New Orleans is an average of 6 ft below sealevel with Lake Pontchartrain on the north and the Mississippi river on the east. It is about 100 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.
PRESSURE: 909 Mb./26.84 inches.
STORM - SURGE: 22 - 25 feet above Mean Tide.
Although there is some question as to the total death toll, the best estimates are - 255 people killed, and 8,900 injured. A number of people (50 - 75) were never found. Nearly 14,000 housing units were damaged, and 6,000 others were totally destroyed.
I have ridden out several hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast. I was dumb enough to throw my newspaper route when Hurricane Audrey hit in 1957, and the eye passed over Cameron, LA about 100 miles east of where I was in Texas. I evacuated for Hurricane Carla in 1961. In 1980 Hurricane Allen hit the coast south and a bit west of Houston, then curved to pass over Houston itself. I was living south of Houston, and by the time I decided to leave the highways going north were parking lots. It dumped 18 inches of rain in less than a day, and I was lucky to live in a second floor apartment. Then in August of 1983 I rode Hurricane Alicia out in Houston. I was always on high ground with emergency supplies.
New Orleans is low ground and much more built up than it was in 1969. As of 6:15 AM CDT this morning Hurricane Katrina was a category 5 Hurricane with wind speeds around 160 MPH. It should hit New Orleans tomorrow morning, and while I have not seen any reports, the roads out to higher ground are certainly crowded by now.
This is going to be a rough one.
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