When the real world rears it's ugly head

Anyone who lives in America,especially Louisiana,knows about hurricane Katrina.When Katrina hit south Florida it was a category 3 hurricane meaning that it had winds of up to 130mph.Yesterday evening I read that it was expected to reach category 4 status (winds up to 155 mph)by the time it hit south Louisiana because the water in the Gulf of Mexico was around 90 degrees and would act like high octane fuel for a hurricane.

Well apparently it is worse than they thought because I saw this morning that Katrina had developed into a category 5 hurricane.This is what the National Hurricane Center describes a category 5 hurricane as:

Category Five Hurricane:
Winds greater than 155 mph (135 kt or 249 km/hr). Storm surge generally greater than 18 ft above normal. Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. All shrubs, trees, and signs blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Severe and extensive window and door damage. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of all structures located less than 15 ft above sea level and within 500 yards of the shoreline. Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5-10 miles (8-16 km) of the shoreline may be required. Only 3 Category Five Hurricanes have made landfall in the United States since records began: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Hurricane Camille (1969), and Hurricane Andrew in August, 1992. The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane struck the Florida Keys with a minimum pressure of 892 mb--the lowest pressure ever observed in the United States. Hurricane Camille struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast causing a 25-foot storm surge, which inundated Pass Christian. Hurricane Andrew of 1992 made landfall over southern Miami-Dade County, Florida causing 26.5 billion dollars in losses--the costliest hurricane on record. In addition, Hurricane Gilbert of 1988 was a Category Five hurricane at peak intensity and is the strongest Atlantic tropical cyclone on record with a minimum pressure of 888 mb.

Just so you know,the category 5 is the highest category on the chart.If memory serves me,then New Orleans is about 15 feet below sea level and the water is kept out using a series of pumps and walls.I know that they called for an evacuation of the area yesterday and I spoke to my cousin earlier who said that he had noticed lots of car loads of families on the road here(Shrevepot,La.).

I read earlier that they are expecting 1 million to be left homeless because of this.1 million left homeless.All I can say is that I hope and pray that everyone trying to get out does.I would surely hate for anything to happen to any of our friends here on 1up that live in the area.I would hate for anything to happen to anyone for that matter.So I ask that anyone who reads this will be thinking about everyone down there for the next couple of days because they will need all of our hopes and prayers.It is expected to hit landfall around 2:00am tonight(central time zone).May God be with them.