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.
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