New Orleans Escapes The Big One Again - Thank God

[ConvergenceZone]

"escaped the big one".. Sounds like someone's in denial.. I wouldn't go as far as escaping the big 1..

Just because she made landfall at 150 instead of 175.. doesn't mean New Orleans escaped..

Although I will say.. that because New Orleans is not directly on the water.. It could have been a whole lot worse.. I haven't seen any damage photos though so I don't know..

goodness guys. can you guys not understand what the original poster was saying? they did escape the big one.

1) the hurricane made landfall with winds of 140 or 145, not 150.
2) the eastern side of the city had a glancing blow from the western eyewall when the storm had diminished down to 130 or 135 mph.

if this thing had moved 20 miles to the west as a true cat 5, new orleans would have been destroyed. instead, it just sustained minor to moderate damage. some parts of the city resemble a direct hit from a cat 1, others resemble a direct hit from a cat 2.

Exactly Steve. The horrific images I had painted in my mind by the media yesterday, is not what I"m seeing and hearing about today. Perhaps they have yet to mention the worst that's happened. I'll just have to wait and see.

[GalvestonDuck]

I remember after the World Series quake, they were showing the Bay Bridge on TV and the sports reporters were saying, "Well, things look okay now and we don't have reports of injuries." I was looking at one layer of bridge collapsed on top of the other, saying to myself, "Bullcrap, there aren't any injuries!!" It was still early and they didn't know yet.

I think that's the case here.

I'm still trying to reach a couple of friends in MS, including Linda, but I still hear nothing but "All circuits are busy." It's probably the same in a lot of areas. No one can get a word out yet to give anyone else a good damage report.

We simply have to wait and pray.

[stormie_skies]

ill go lower than 24...with the wildcard that every heart attack might be tallied in katrinas column.

That's awful low. If I remember correctly TS Allison killed nearly double that many people.... and that was with flood waters alone.

If we only see 24 deaths out of Katrina, it will be a true miracle....

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see a death toll in the hundreds.

[djtil]

well we will have to wait and see....i could be wrong, hope not though....andrew killed 26 directly.....i just dont see this being as unexpected as andrew, nor as bad.

i also question whether 25 billion of andrews cost will really be topped.....

[Viper452]

I think it will be up in the thousands before it is all said and done. Deadliest hurricane of all time. Mississippi got the doomsday scenario.

[DESTRUCTION5]

there is a lot of damage to the high rises.

There is also a building that ahs collapsed with many inside and help cannot get to them

This is the costliest hurricane in US history. They didn't really dodge anything completely

No doubt...Billions on Billions...

[Brent]

By no means am I saying there will be thousands dead... we defintely escaped that by it missing New Orleans... but I wouldn't be surprised to see a death toll approaching 75-100. The surge on the MS coast is MASSIVE.

Oh and I do believe it will beat Andrew and take #1 for costliest U.S. hurricane. Add the numbers from Florida too... remember that?

[djtil]

thats quite a 2nd post viper!!


andrew = 26 killed...thats my basis/thought process..

ill be around to eat crow if im way off.

[sfwx]

I knew the "dodged the bullet" comment was coming. It happens EVERY storm.

Eric

[GalvestonDuck]

I think it will be up in the thousands before it is all said and done. Deadliest hurricane of all time. Mississippi got the doomsday scenario.

Deadlier than 1900? I doubt it. I pray more people were able to evacuate than that. Sadly, there were those who couldn't. But hopefully, most of them had decent shelters and/or the ability to evacuate vertically.

[Brent]

8,000 died in the 1900 Galveston Hurricane... there's no way there's that many dead, but there could have been had it hit New Orleans head on...

[Viper452]

It wouldnt surprise me. Remember, New Orleans got all the press for this.

[TPACane04]

good points by most...I thought doomsday as NOLA being totally out of business, which does not appear to be the outcome. I am very concerned about MS coast outcomes...

Still, this is one for the books, and I am with Derek that we will be talking about her for the rest of the year.

[ConvergenceZone]

There could be hundreds killed on the MS coast with that 30+ foot storm surge.

I agree. I'm more concerned about the places EAST of New Orleans. That's all we hear about is New Orleans, New Orleans. What about all of the small towns East of New Orleans that probably got it far worse? They don't get any coverage....

I agreed with one poster in that we will probably be talking Andrew type damage if you include the entire scope of the storm.

[cajungal]

I don't consider them dodging it. No, it might not have been as bad as it could of been. If she would of made landfall just a tad bit to the west, it would of been a lot worse. But, there is still going to be a lot of damage. Some people even had water to the ceiling of their homes. There will probably be some casualities. I hear MS coast fared very bad. The whole coast is a wasteland.

[Praxus]

I agree about the mississipi coast...no word yet and with that surge I fear there will be some drownings....perhaps a lot more than some.

[Brent]

There could be hundreds killed on the MS coast with that 30+ foot storm surge.

I agree. I'm more concerned about the places EAST of New Orleans. That's all we hear about is New Orleans, New Orleans. What about all of the small towns East of New Orleans that probably got it far worse? They don't get any coverage....

That is setting off alarm bells... Jim Cantore was on the phone on TWC a little while ago and I've never heard him so scared before... he was asking the people on-air where the eye was, how much longer the winds would last, etc, etc.

[anniecros]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

What is wrong with this Steve Klein guy? I live in Palm Beach County. FL and got "glancing" blows from both Frances and Jeanne last year(CATS 2 and 3). Not even close to the eyewall either time. Yes, there are still blue tarps on roofs, still signs that have not been replaced, still buildings that were condemned that have not been pulled down yet. We don't even want to get into the state of mind of the residents in the aftermath, the lack of water, food and electricity. Forget phone service. There was no such thing.

Tell you what, that is not what I consider "dodging" anything, considering the damage on the reports coming in from the gulf coast. Especially considering it will be a couple of days before anyone will know exactly what they are dealing with, and at least a couple of months before a serious damage assessment can be completed. Certainly not anything "moderate" about the damage either. The words "dodging" and "moderate" do not even belong in the same paragraph with the word "Katrina". Just because it could have been worse, doesn't make the destruction any better. It doesn't undo anything that Katrina has done, no matter how hard someone tries to minimalize a major hurricane.

I don't understand how any human being can be so complacent when it is obvious that so much has been damaged and downright destroyed. The body count from Dade county is already 7.

Shameful attempt at trolling, I think.

[ConvergenceZone]

I knew the "dodged the bullet" comment was coming. It happens EVERY storm.

Eric

They didn't dodge the bullet, they dodged the "BIG" one. Big difference!

[blueeyes_austin]

Has anyone heard ANYTHING from Slidell? The eye went right over it.