10 years ago...

[tatertawt24]

000
WWUS74 KLIX 281550
NPWLIX

URGENT — WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28, 2005

...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED...

HURRICANE KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED
STRENGTH... RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT
LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL
FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY
DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL.
PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD
FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE
BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME
WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A
FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH
AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES
AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE
ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE
WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN
AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING
INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY
THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW
CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE
KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR
HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE
CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.

ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE
OUTSIDE!

[Steve]

Hate. Hate. Hate.

Watched most of Anderson Cooper's show yesterday revisiting New Orleans and Waveland, MS. That was tough as hell to watch. Celebrations and remembrances are this weekend. I won't be attending any. I talked with one of our staff from the MS Gulf Coast this morning, and they felt the same way. Life was just too upside down for over a million people. Sure, most everyone in government bungled their responsibilities. And I'll never have any respect for Brownie or Chertoff. I said it last night, but I will repeat that I don't believe that individuals who have hardcore beliefs in smaller government (libertarian bent) ought to be running disaster agencies or homeland security. Heckofajob Brownie is still trying to deflect blame 10 years later and this week noted that he handled the media wrong. Right. While you were dining at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Baton Rouge and couldn't be bothered to take a call from your on the ground guy in Superdome, you sealed your fate with me. A simple apology for f'ing up would have otherwise sufficed as we all make mistakes. Accept some blame and move on.

But I don't want to go back to having my family and kids scattered to the four winds. I don't want to lose everything I own again. I'm still an enthusiast, but that's all pretty tempered now having experienced pretty much the worst things that could happen to any family outside of direct loss of loved ones. And there were plenty of people in that boat as well. Hopefully none of us (except the very young) will see another 1933 or 2005 type of year. And hopefully, as a nation, we'll get better with dealing with emergencies of this scale if we ever have to face one again.