Hurricane Katrina

[reggikko]

Hey y'all. I will be AWOL for several days. Hurricane Katrina is being a bitch and appears to be heading our way. We'll be vacating the premises and staying with friends in Texas. Bah.

Anyone else along the Gulf Coast, please stay safe.

[Kitiara]

Good Luck To You!

[Katze]

Stay safe and take care hope to see you on here again soon.

[humybyrd]

Take care, been through a few and they are no joke.  Put your electronics up high just in case (I had my whole computer on one shelf of my closet in the last one I went through.)

[Kristalrose]

Good thoughts and prayers with you, Reggi.     I know what you're going through:  The week after we moved to Eastern NC, Hurricane Floyd came by to welcome us properly!     Let us know you and the family are okay as soon as you can. 

[J. M. Pescado]

You guys don't know how to build homes, obviously. If you're in a hurricane area, what you SHOULD be building is a reinforced airtight biodome. One thick enough that it can withstand hurled cars, stray bullets, cannonballs, etc. with no damage. Honestly, why is it that people don't learn to build appropriately in accordance with the hazards of their environment?

[ZephyrZodiac]

I wonder if this is the same one that recently caused havoc in Uruguay, where it was totally unexpected?  They aren't a normal occurrence there, any more than they are in the south of England.

Hope everything works out and your pc keeps safe and dry!

[LK]

Well, I hope you stay safe and that you aren't very impressionable and watch the TV weatherpersons who stand on the beach and urge everyone to stay the hell away from the beaches.

[ZephyrZodiac]

One of these days these weathrpersons will get into something they can't get out of!

[LK]

One of these days these weathrpersons will get into something they can't get out of!

I don't know.  They're all a bunch of habitual liars, so they could probably get out of anything short of murder.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Over here in the UK they're just gullible and believe what the Met Office tell them!  I can remember listening to a radio weatherman telling everyone the sun was shining and would continue to do so all day while all of Central London was in the middle of a thunderstorm and the rain was coming down in buckets!  He obviously had a windowless basement office!

[reggikko]

Well, we're back to a play it by ear stance. It looks like Katrina may be taking a slight northward turn. I've actually never evacuated for a hurricane and I've lived in the New Orleans area my entire life. I was around for Hurricane Betsy, the last big hurricane to hit New Orleans, in 1965. My main concern was my kindergarten homework not getting done. I did it by hurricane lamp at the kitchen table while the storm raged outside. Yes, I was a very strange child.

A direct hit by a Category 4 storm is worth getting out of the way of, but below that and I feel safe enough in staying. Of course, we live 80 miles inland and our area is a whole 15 ft above sea-level (Woo!). And we're inside the hurricane protection levee system, so storm surge isn't really an issue. The city of New Orleans is a whole other issue, as it is basically a soup bowl which is surrounded by water *and* is 10 ft below sea-level. There simply isn't anywhere for the water to go. My prediction is a Biloxi/Gulfport or Pass Christian/Bay St Louis, MS landfall.

So, I'm here until tomorrow for sure, anyway. If I do disappear for a few days, it's probably because we're without power.

[ZephyrZodiac]

We'll keep a look out for you!

[Kitiara]

You guys don't know how to build homes, obviously. If you're in a hurricane area, what you SHOULD be building is a reinforced airtight biodome. One thick enough that it can withstand hurled cars, stray bullets, cannonballs, etc. with no damage. Honestly, why is it that people don't learn to build appropriately in accordance with the hazards of their environment?

JM, if I had the budget I would be quite happy to build a bunker capable of withstanding a nuclear holocaust (and then invite you over to inspect it), but I don't. I am broke. Poverty stricken actually. So, unfortunately, I will continue on in my crappy home that is very vulnerable to the weather (among other things). I would love to be better prepared.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I have the same problem with finances, but luckily hurricanes are not frequent here, just the tail-ends of US ones when they've crossed the Atlantic!  However, we do still get a lot of storm damage and some parts of the country where they've built new estates on flood plains have dreadful problems with flooding.  I'm lucky in that the city where I live is fairly high up, and also is networked underneath with mine workings so water has somewhere to go, but everywhere in the UK is getting wetter, so there could well come a time when whole areas of the country are underwater permanently!  And unless you can afford a submarine, you would have no choice but to move and before long insurance companies are going to class this kind of thing as an "Act of God" and refuse to pay out!

[reggikko]

You guys don't know how to build homes, obviously. If you're in a hurricane area, what you SHOULD be building is a reinforced airtight biodome. One thick enough that it can withstand hurled cars, stray bullets, cannonballs, etc. with no damage. Honestly, why is it that people don't learn to build appropriately in accordance with the hazards of their environment?

Actually, the homes in the New Orleans area tend to survive just fine. We have many 200+ year old buildings that have made it through numerous hurricanes. The problem is the water. Hurricane Audrey in the late 1950's left behind over 20 ft of water in some parts of the city. People drowned in their attics. As I said in my other post, New Orleans is a very soggy soup bowl. When that much water is dumped on the city, it has nowhere to go. There are massive pumping stations that constantly work to keep the city dry, but if the power is compromised, well, you get the picture. Plus, geography can work against the pumps. They pump water out into Lake Pontchartrain, which in turn, empties into the gulf, which is exactly where the storm surge will come from. Water won't run in both directions. In these cases, nature tends to win.

Despite the occasional threat of a storm, this is still the best place in the world to live.

[reggikko]

The Bitch has strengthened. Over and out from N.O. Will be back when I can.

[cabelle]

Best wishes from here in CA for you all to remain safe and well.

[SJActress]

You guys don't know how to build homes, obviously. If you're in a hurricane area, what you SHOULD be building is a reinforced airtight biodome. One thick enough that it can withstand hurled cars, stray bullets, cannonballs, etc. with no damage. Honestly, why is it that people don't learn to build appropriately in accordance with the hazards of their environment?

I'm sure the historical society in New Orleans would have no problem with that, JM! 

We in Houston are thrilled about the hurricane...our hotels are all booked up with Creoles! 
Seriously, though, I hope everything goes well for Louisiana...I love Nolas (especially the window at Molly's and the gumbo at Coop's!)

[ElviraGoth]

reggikko, I hope you're well out of the way by now.  I just saw this thread and turned on the weather channel to see where she finally decided to head - OMG!

I moved to NC just in time for Fran back in '95.  The winds reminded me of a typical IA blizzard, so I wasn't too worried. (Our big problem was the threat of a tornado.)  And I live 2 hours from the beach, so most hurricanes don't wind up being very strong by the time they get here.  Last year, we got the remnants of 7 of the hurricanes that hit FLA and the gulf coast, and the rain, rain, rain was bad enough.  But seeing the storm damage on tv gives you a huge respect for Mother Nature.

I can't believe how big that bitch got in the last 24 hours.  Hope you are all safe and sound!

[vecki]

Good luck.  May my namesake not cause too much damage 

[J. M. Pescado]

I'm sure the historical society in New Orleans would have no problem with that, JM! 

It's kind of pointless to have a historical society when nothing in the area can be more than 2 years old because it gets destroyed every other year.

In fact, I hear at this moment, the sea has reclaimed New Orleans and the place no longer exists.

[ZephyrZodiac]

They need to get some dutchmen over to teach them how to put their fingers into the holes in dykes!

[Kristalrose]

I saw the "French Quarter" on TV a little while ago, and it looked soggy and windy, but the buildings looked okay for the most part.  

I too wish I had the money to build an industructable bio-dome!  I'd never come out!  LOL

The government is using this to jack up the gasoline prices some more.  
Anyone else see this movie besides my Hubby?  
http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/oilstorm/main.html

More prayers and good thoughts for the people of the Gulf Coast.  Katrinia really is a nasty one!!  Hope you're okay, Reggie!

[Brynne]

I thought about you, Reg, when I saw that Katrina was headed for your area. Hope you're okay. We've got tornado warnings going on all around us from this storm. It's pitch black outside! I am in Atlanta, too, pretty far from the coast.