Yikes! Hurricane Gustav!

[Lisa Denton]

Here in texas in my city 100 buses left for the coast to get peoples out. Some kind of deal they had set up where drivers had volunteered to be on a emergency list, god bless em.

Looks like this one may be big and bad and could hit many areas where the damage will be serious. New Orleans is still an environmental disaster and if it gets hit I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a ghost city/swamp.

Last track I saw showed it blowing New Orleans off the map, blasting into texas and I wished the map was more detailed but I think its coming hundreds of miles inland to my house.

I am used to tornadoes but this far inland never had a hurricane, I assume if it comes this far it will be downgraded to a storm, I hope. it would be like a hurricane blowing through Arizona or something.

Scooter doesn't like lightning and thunder and hides under the bed. This time I might join him. If this thing hits the texas coast I am sure there will be tornadoes swinging off the track and possible flooding and wind damage even this far inland from the downgraded storm.

Can't Bush say this thing is a weapon of mass destruction and bomb the shit out of it or something. Wouldn't a few nukes blow it back on Cuba's ass, no offense to Cuba but I'm scared.

 

[trysail]

According to NOAA's computer models, Gustav is supposed to pass to the west of N'awlins.

Mind you, these models (and their analogues) are brought to you by the very same folk who claim the ability to accurately predict global temperatures, global warming and climate change thirty years in the future:

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Yep, she's a McCain voter, Probably subscribes to the Limbaugh Letter and thinks Ann Coulter is hot.

 

[English Lady]

Take care, everyone, please. I'm praying for you.

it's rained all day here and I've not been annoyed by it, how can I be when people have to deal with Hurricanes?

 

[jeanne_d_artois]

Best wishes to everyone affected.

It should have rained today but all we had were a few spots that didn't wet anything.

The beach huts have been in use, the swimmers and jet-skiers have been around all day and I couldn't park near my house - again.

It is twenty-one years since we lost a third of our roof to a UK hurricane.

Jeanne for Og

 

[3113]

Here's the latest:

Col. Mike Edmondson, state police commander, said he believed that 90 percent of the population had fled the Louisiana coast. The exodus of 1.9 million people is the largest evacuation in state history, and thousands more had left from Mississippi, Alabama and flood-prone southeast Texas.

Louisiana and Mississippi changed traffic flow so all highway lanes led away from the coast, and cars were packed bumper-to-bumper. Stores and restaurants shut down, hotels closed and windows were boarded up. Some who planned to stay changed their mind at the last second, not willing to risk the worst....Forecasters said Gustav was likely to grow stronger as it marched toward the coast with top sustained winds of around 115 mph. At 5 p.m. EDT Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said Gustav was a Category 3 storm centered about 215 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving northwest near 18 mph.

Against all warnings, some gambled and decided to face its wrath. On an otherwise deserted commercial block of downtown Lafayette, about 135 miles west of the city, Tim Schooler removed the awnings from his photography studio. He thought about evacuating Sunday before decided he was better off riding out the storm at home with his wife, Nona. "There's really no place to go. All the hotels are booked up to Little Rock and beyond," he said. "We're just hoping for the best."

There were frightening comparisons between Gustav and Katrina, which flooded 80 percent of New Orleans when storm surge overtook the levees. While Gustav isn't as large as Katrina, which was a massive Category 5 storm at roughly the same place in the Gulf, there was no doubt the storm posed a major threat to a partially rebuilt New Orleans and the flood-prone coasts of Louisiana and southeast Texas. The storm has already killed at least 94 people on its path through the Caribbean.

The storm could bring with it a storm surge of up to 14 feet and rainfall up to 20 inches wherever it hits. By comparison, Hurricane Katrina pushed about 25 feet of surge....Surge models suggest larger areas of southeast Louisiana, including parts of the greater New Orleans area, could be flooded by several feet of water. Gustav appears most likely to overwhelm the levees west of the city that have for decades been underfunded and neglected and are years from an update.

New Orleans or any other parts of other cities may end up under water, but this time around, thank heavens, we won't have thousands of people stranded with no fresh food, water, other other supplies.

While I do blame all branches of government for the Katrina disaster, I also recall that most people who faced Katrina hadn't ever seen a hurricane that bad and thought they could weather it as they had prior hurricanes. Now there's no one living under that illusion. Here's hoping they've homes to come back to, though given the state of the levees in New Orleans, I wouldn't bet any money on that.

Any AH folk who live in or near the danger areas in Texas, Mississippi or Louisiana? Any AH folk with friends or relatives in such places? Are you/they all out and safe?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

The Democrats think its a hoot.

http://www.redstate.com/diaries/absentee/2008/aug/30/fowler-fouls-hurricane-is-gods-favor-to-dem/

http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20080830000004.aspx

 

[SlickTony]

I've got family in Houston, Tx and Galveston. I've been keeping an eye on Hannah. Right now it looks like she's going to go up the East Caost like Floyd did.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I've got family in Houston, Tx and Galveston.

Houston I wouldn't worry about but Galveston . . .

 

[SlickTony]

My sister and her husband will probably just evacuate to my mom's place. When Rita threatened they all evacuated to my sister's workplace, which was further inland.

 

[Lisa Denton]

I'm far inland but they just said we will give shelter to anyone from anywhere on the coast, most other north central texas cities doing the same. The shelters they said will all be well stocked, staffed and maintained.

Anybody from LA who can't find shelter just dash across the state lines and we will take you in texas.

 

[Guest]

The Democrats think its a hoot.

http://www.redstate.com/diaries/absentee/2008/aug/30/fowler-fouls-hurricane-is-gods-favor-to-dem/

http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20080830000004.aspx

Silly.

I suppose it's in response to James Dobson urging his supporters to pray for rain for Obama's acceptance speech.

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/..._christians_to_pray_for_rain_at_obama_speech/

 

[trysail]

Gustav:

I've got family in Houston, Tx and Galveston. I've been keeping an eye on Hannah. Right now it looks like she's going to go up the East Caost like Floyd did.

Hanna:

 

[Lisa Denton]

I don't think I like your picture Trysail, this guy gustav seems to be coming after me.

 

[Weird Harold]

Yeah Gus's a biggie. Maybe it ought to be renamed Hurricane Get-Out-of-Town-by-Sundown-Brown. That begins with a G.

G.U.S.T.A.V. stands for Get Ur Shit Together And Vamoose.

I don't think I like your picture Trysail, this guy gustav seems to be coming after me.

Not to worry, Lisa -- Gustav won't get to your house until Friday or Saturday and by then he'll be just a huge weepy rainstorm that will hang around for 39 days or so. You'll have plenty of time to get your ark built or just run out an buy a big snorkle.

 

[matriarch]

My brother's in Alvin, between Houston and the coast........*fingers crossed*. Mom told me yesterday he was busy boarding up the windows of his house. Last time, during Katrina, he did the same, and then took refuge in the centre of the rice millwhere he's production manager. He and his home came out of that unscathed. Fingers crossed the outcome is the same this time. Will try calling him later today.

L&V are between Dallas and Houston, well within the circle of the map above. Fingers crossed for them too.

 

[trysail]

I don't think I like your picture Trysail, this guy gustav seems to be coming after me.

Yikes, Lisa! Not to worry— I've dispatched the following message to Gustav:
Gustav, ol' buddy, ol' pal— if you knew Lisa like I know Lisa, you'd be well advised not to mess with her!
(and, if that doesn't work, as WH pointed out— by the time ol' Gustav gets to "Lisa's house" all you're going to need is some good foul weather gear and an umbrella)

( nice graphics work, LD! Well done!)

 

[Lisa Denton]

Yikes, Lisa! Not to worry— I've dispatched the following message to Gustav:
Gustav, ol' buddy, ol' pal— if you knew Lisa like I know Lisa, you'd be well advised not to mess with her!
(and, if that doesn't work, as WH pointed out— by the time ol' Gustav gets to "Lisa's house" all you're going to need is some good foul weather gear and an umbrella)

( nice graphics work, LD! Well done!)

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!!!!!!!

Help!! We is under attack!!!

Runnin low on water and ammo!!

Well, the water is still on, but the power went off.

WTF? I am hundreds of miles from the coast, and the hurricane hasn't even hit yet, and it's not as big of one as they thought, and MY power went off.

Scooter woke me up cause he don't like things turning on or off by themselves. So when the lights and a/c went out he woke me up.

I couldn't make coffee!!!

OMGosh it was like goin back to the stone ages!!

There I was, wonderin if I should build a fire in the back yard and try to boil some coffee grounds, when finally after over an hour the power came back on, but it was a close call.

I'll keep everbody posted on upcoming trials and tribulations.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

no coffee??? WTF is the world coming to? The END is near!

 

[Lisa Denton]

no coffee??? WTF is the world coming to? The END is near!

Thats what I thought too!!!

I needed the coffee to try to figure out how to survive later when the texas sun turns my house into a huge oven in the afternoon. It was still early but we are not supposed to get any clouds and rain from the storm until later this week, heat advisory yesterday.

They shouldn't have disasters right when you wake up with no coffee, I couldn't hardly think.

Oh well, in texas we are still valiantly hangin on, courageously battling the elements, and I made some coffee so the emergency has somewhat subsided.

 

[English Lady]

take care everyone! I've not heard anything from Joe.W since yesterday morning, but I'll let you know when I do.

 

[R. Richard]

Keep safe Lisa! The weather reports say that Gustav is weakening substantially and should be no more than a tropical depression as it makes its way into Texas.

 

[Guest]

Keep safe Lisa! The weather reports say that Gustav is weakening substantially and should be no more than a tropical depression as it makes its way into Texas.

This is very good news.

 

[3113]

Here's the latest--looks like Gustav was a lot of bluster and not that much bite (hooray!):

NEW ORLEANS, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Hurricane Gustav slammed ashore on the U.S. Gulf Coast just west of New Orleans on Monday, hammering the city devastated by Katrina in 2005 with surging floodwaters that threatened its rebuilt levees. The storm was weaker than had been feared. But waves splashed over floodwalls containing the New Orleans Industrial Canal, triggering a tense watch over the barrier system that failed three years ago, flooding 80 percent of the city and stranding thousands of people.

Six inches (15 cm) of water pooled in some streets near the canal, and troops prepared to evacuate residents. But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the levees had not been breached and city pumps were able to keep up with the flooding.

A National Guard official said the Department of Defense had authorized up to 50,000 troops to help with rescue, clean-up and the possibility of looting. The storm roared through the heart of the U.S. Gulf oilpatch but oil and natural gas prices plunged as Gustav weakened to a Category 2 hurricane with 110 mph (177 kph) winds before landfall, easing fears of serious supply disruptions that had put energy markets on edge.

...Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal warned residents it was too early to sound the all-clear because floodwaters could take hours to recede. "Just because the storm is moving over your area, do not think that the tidal surge impacts are yet over," he said. By mid-afternoon the Louisiana National Guard reported only minor street flooding in New Orleans and the Army Corps of Engineers said the water levels had receded slightly in the Industrial Canal. The storm weakened to a Category 1 hurricane with 90 mph (145 kph) winds as it moved inland.

Edited to add: Now we can switch our attention over to Hurricane Hannah!

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Here's the latest--looks like Gustav was a lot of bluster and not that much bite (hooray!):



Edited to add: Now we can switch our attention over to Hurricane Hannah!

Yeah, anything but politics!