Katrina and the Waves

There'll be no "walkin' on sunshine" for the folks of Louisiana. This looks
like the storm that all of the gulf states have been dreading for decades.
This storm looks even bigger than Andrew, physically; and if it maintains
it's current strength, New Orleans may be no more after Monday.

Any of you ROFFians, still in harms way, grab your families, friends, and
pets and get the hell out of there!

Mark

Boy Mark it does look like a doozy. New Orleans has been the feature of more
than one news story, in regards to hurricanes. Isn't a lot of the coast or
city area at sea level or below? Something about the lay of the land that
makes it especially vulnerable to flooding in some peculiar way?

john
"Guyz-N-Flyz" wrote in message
...

There'll be no "walkin' on sunshine" for the folks of Louisiana. This
looks
like the storm that all of the gulf states have been dreading for decades.
This storm looks even bigger than Andrew, physically; and if it maintains
it's current strength, New Orleans may be no more after Monday.

Any of you ROFFians, still in harms way, grab your families, friends, and
pets and get the hell out of there!

Mark

"asadi" wrote in message
.. .
Boy Mark it does look like a doozy. New Orleans has been the feature of
more
than one news story, in regards to hurricanes. Isn't a lot of the coast or
city area at sea level or below? Something about the lay of the land that
makes it especially vulnerable to flooding in some peculiar way?

Well most of the city is below sea level, protected only by a series of
dikes and pump drainage systems which they say can be breached easily in a
large hurricane. Add to it the destruction of the delta over the past few
decades and you have a recipe for large problems.

"asadi" wrote in message
.. .
Boy Mark it does look like a doozy. New Orleans has been the feature of
more
than one news story, in regards to hurricanes. Isn't a lot of the coast or
city area at sea level or below? Something about the lay of the land that
makes it especially vulnerable to flooding in some peculiar way?

john
//snip//

Downtown New Orleans is actually below sea level. But here's what's really
interesting: the natural course of the Mississppi river is not its present
course past Baton Rouge and New Orleans to the Gulf. It naturally would
would turn right north of BR and flow into the Atchafalaya River system, and
thence to the Gulf near Morgan City, well west of New Orleans.

It's prevented from doing that by a Corps of Engineers project called the
"Old River Control Structure". If that structure, built in 1963 to solve
problems that had been accumulating for two hundered years, were to fail,
the results would be catastrophic for both New Orleans and Morgan City.

--
Bob Patton
(remove hat to respond)

"Bob Patton"
Downtown New Orleans is actually below sea level. But here's what's really
interesting: the natural course of the Mississppi river is not its present
course past Baton Rouge and New Orleans to the Gulf. It naturally would
would turn right north of BR and flow into the Atchafalaya River system,
and
thence to the Gulf near Morgan City, well west of New Orleans.

It's prevented from doing that by a Corps of Engineers project called the
"Old River Control Structure". If that structure, built in 1963 to solve
problems that had been accumulating for two hundered years, were to fail,
the results would be catastrophic for both New Orleans and Morgan City.

--
Bob Patton
(remove hat to respond)


I just went to a couple of news sites and read some stories about the dikes
and pumps and such.... this could be bad...

john

"asadi" wrote

I just went to a couple of news sites and read some stories about the
dikes
and pumps and such.... this could be bad...

sustained winds now at 175mph. this will be the worst ever. good luck
to all.

yfitons
wayno

Glad I'm not in New Orleans! I heard that in a worst case scenario, it
would be entirely flooded for several weeks until they could pump it
out, but would probably be partying for Mardi Gras. The real question
is about what will happen to the shape of the coastline and the few
surviving islands. If Katrina moves 100 miles or so westward, the Old
River Control Structure could be deeply threatened, but with the storm
to the East of the dam, I think there's no real danger of that being
washed out. Hell, if it could withstand the flood of (what was
it...93?), then one hurricane dumping tons of rain downstream isn't
such a big worry.

Nonetheless, the next day or so will be a horrendous one for New
Orleans, and the folks just northeast of there. Hang on, folks.

--riverman

"riverman" wrote in message
ps.com...
Glad I'm not in New Orleans! I heard that in a worst case scenario, it
would be entirely flooded for several weeks until they could pump it
out, but would probably be partying for Mardi Gras. The real question
is about what will happen to the shape of the coastline and the few
surviving islands. If Katrina moves 100 miles or so westward, the Old
River Control Structure could be deeply threatened, but with the storm
to the East of the dam, I think there's no real danger of that being
washed out. Hell, if it could withstand the flood of (what was
it...93?), then one hurricane dumping tons of rain downstream isn't
such a big worry.

Nonetheless, the next day or so will be a horrendous one for New
Orleans, and the folks just northeast of there. Hang on, folks.

--riverman

I think you're right - there's probably not a huge threat to the ORCS - it
has come through some large floods. The flood of '93 was a bigger deal north
of Louisiana. Below Cairo the Mississippi is large enough to handle the
increased flows from Iowa and Missouri because there was relatively little
rainfall south of Missouri and there was a smaller percentage increase in
volume below the confluence with the Ohio. Also, today the rivers are a
little low because of the drought in the northern midwest. But the ORCS
still represents a man-made barrier to the natural course of the river. I'm
reminded of Ralph Kramden's frequent comment to his wife: "One of these
days, Alice, one of these days . . . !"

I used to travel all over Louisiana on business, and am thinking today of
people in places like Houma, Thibodaux, and Lafayette.

Now: which direction will Katrina go next? My guess is that people in the
Tennessee valley and western NC had better stock up on lamp oil.


--
Bob Patton
(remove hat to respond)

Bob Patton wrote:
snip
I used to travel all over Louisiana on business, and am thinking
today of people in places like Houma, Thibodaux, and Lafayette.

My thoughts, too. I have quite a few friends and associates in Houma,
and I surely hope they are no longer in Houma - for now. My thoughts are
also with the folks within 100 miles east of where the eye landfall
takes place. The people on the FL panhandle must be shell-shocked by
now.
--
TL,
Tim
---------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj/

Tim J. wrote:

My thoughts, too. I have quite a few friends and associates in Houma,
and I surely hope they are no longer in Houma - for now.

Small world. SWMBO and I were in Houma a couple of years back. We
went to Bayou Black for one of their bayou tours and stopped in Houma at
the seafood restaurant right near the intersection of Bayou Black Road
and the main highway. It was a Friday or Saturday afternoon and it
looked like they were getting the place ready for a big dance that
night. We were obviously outsiders, but they invited us to stay.
Unfortunately, we had already made plans in New Orleans for the night.

Here's hoping they all make it through safely. Latest word from the
National Hurricane Center has her as a category 4 and the surge is
expected to be between 18-22'.


Chuck Vance