I need some help

[Hurricane Andrew]

Hello S2K friends,

I am currently working on a trilogy about the effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. I just need some information that I have not been able to find.

Thanks

1. What time did the bad winds (hurricane force, nasty, damaging) start in New Orleans?
2. When did the Lower Ninth Ward flood, and what else was flooded at this time?

Again, thanks. If this should be in off topic, please move it.

[USTropics]

You can get hourly observations dating back to 2005 here for most of the stations in LA (just click on the state, station, timeframe, etc):
http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/qclcd/QCLCD?prior=N

This link should help answer question 2:
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/h2005_katrina.html

Here is a good link of the levee breaches:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_levee ... ew_Orleans

Let me know if you need anything more in depth.

[Hurricane Andrew]

I can't find what I'm looking for on either. The OBS is all blank for 8/29/2005, and nothing saying when the Lower 9th was flooded.

[USTropics]

I can't find what I'm looking for on either. The OBS is all blank for 8/29/2005

Yes this takes a little bit of work. Most of the lesser known observation stations were not functioning prior to Katrina (I think this may be because the power was cut to the city prior to Katrina's landfall). Also, after sustained hurricane force winds most stopped functioning. The most dependable one that I've found is NEW ORLEANS: LAKEFRONT AIRPORT (53917/NEW). I downloaded the data and attached it as a PDF for you in this link: http://www.pdfhost.net/index.php?Action=Download&File=1bc74593866c23485e881a7e1d56f291

Also here are instructions on how to view the data for anyone else interested:
1. Go to http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/qclcd/QCLCD?prior=N.

2. On the right (under Select State Where Desired Station is Located) choose your desired state and hit continue. For this example I'll choose Louisiana.

3. This page presents you with a list of observation stations located in the state you selected. Choose which one you want to view info on and hit continue. For this example I'll choose NEW ORLEANS: LAKEFRONT AIRPORT (53917/NEW).

4. This page is our list of data sets we can choose from. They are arranged by year and month on the far left. Since we want to view Hurricane Katrina's impact, I'm going to scroll towards the bottom and choose 2005 08 (12916/MSY).... and hit continue.

5. Next we're going to choose which days we want to view first. If you want to see the entire month's data choose E. Since we only want to see the 29th, I'm going to choose the 29th. After this, we're going to choose our product type. We're going to go ahead and choose Hourly (10A) and hit submit.

6. This will open up a new window with our data now. This is arranged by Date/Time.

[USTropics]

and nothing saying when the Lower 9th was flooded.

I don't think you will find anything explicitly saying the Lower 9th Ward flooded at 'insert specific time'. There are a few methods we can use to go about creating a general time frame though. First geography is important. It's location, being down river of the Industrial Canal towards the mouth of the Mississippi River, creates a sort of bowl effect (you can see this on the last image of this post). It's also to the west of the Saint Bernard Parish. While the Lower 9th Ward flooding is often just referred to as being associated with the Industrial Canal levee breach within the media reports, this is not the whole story. The Lower 9th Ward was one of the most devastated areas in New Orleans as a result of being flooded from three completely different and separate sources (To the east, water flowed in from Saint Bernard Parish, while to the west the Industrial Canal suffered two major breaches: one a block in from Florida Avenue, the second back from Claiborne Avenue).

So, you essentially have to take all of this data and develop your own time frame for the Lower 9th Ward flooding. The eastern side of the Lower 9th Ward was being flooded from overflow of storm surge in Saint Bernard Parish (up to 25 feet being pushed through the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet as a result of the eye of Katrina passing to the east of the parish). Witnessess stated in a matter of 15 minutes, water rose 5-12 feet in certain areas. I'm sure there are points of interest nearby that can show water level rises with time stamps but by 8:00AM CDT it was reported there was massive water rising on both sides of the Industrial Canal. We can then surmise just prior to this that St. Bernard Parish/Eastern side of Lower 9th Ward had begun to severely flood as well.

Using the links I provided a few posts ago, our first major breach in the Industrial Canal occured right before 9:00AM CDT. A few minutes later, another breach occured at Tennessee Street. The Lower 9th Ward, particulary around Florida Avenue and St. Bernard/Orleans parish line, began to flood. Pump failures began to report back as failing along the western and northern portions of the Lower 9th Ward. It was reported by 9:00AM CDT there was 6-8 feet of water in the Lower Ninth Ward and that an estimated 66% to 77% of the city was now under water. Two hours later, at 11:00AM CDT, it was reported that Saint Bernard Parish and parts of the Lower 9th Ward were under 10 feet of water.


An image of some of the major levee breaches from Katrina. Number 4 is the IHNC East Side, South Breach of the 9th ward. Number 5 is our IHNC East Side, North Breach of the 9th ward.


City of New Orleans Ground Elevations (Canal St. to our left).

[Hurricane Andrew]

Thank you so much. The levee stuff is good.

[Hurricane Andrew]

I can't find what I'm looking for on either. The OBS is all blank for 8/29/2005

Yes this takes a little bit of work. Most of the lesser known observation stations were not functioning prior to Katrina (I think this may be because the power was cut to the city prior to Katrina's landfall). Also, after sustained hurricane force winds most stopped functioning. The most dependable one that I've found is NEW ORLEANS: LAKEFRONT AIRPORT (53917/NEW). I downloaded the data and attached it as a PDF for you in this link: http://www.pdfhost.net/index.php?Action=Download&File=1bc74593866c23485e881a7e1d56f291

Also here are instructions on how to view the data for anyone else interested:
1. Go to http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/qclcd/QCLCD?prior=N.

2. On the right (under Select State Where Desired Station is Located) choose your desired state and hit continue. For this example I'll choose Louisiana.

3. This page presents you with a list of observation stations located in the state you selected. Choose which one you want to view info on and hit continue. For this example I'll choose NEW ORLEANS: LAKEFRONT AIRPORT (53917/NEW).

4. This page is our list of data sets we can choose from. They are arranged by year and month on the far left. Since we want to view Hurricane Katrina's impact, I'm going to scroll towards the bottom and choose 2005 08 (12916/MSY).... and hit continue.

5. Next we're going to choose which days we want to view first. If you want to see the entire month's data choose E. Since we only want to see the 29th, I'm going to choose the 29th. After this, we're going to choose our product type. We're going to go ahead and choose Hourly (10A) and hit submit.

6. This will open up a new window with our data now. This is arranged by Date/Time.

1 question. Is this in Zulu time or Military Time?

[USTropics]

It's in military time. The last reading in my example would have been just before 7:00AM ET.

[Hurricane Andrew]

Thanks.