jkt21787 wrote:superfly wrote:jkt21787 wrote:People should have been more concerned about the surge and not wind since the surge is what could flood the city and kill many more than the wind. The surge will still be very impressive and destructive, even cat 5 levels of 20+ feet is very possible. Everyone remembers Ivan's surge even though it weakened, we are looking at the same situation here, only worse.
Surge is caused by wind.
True, and that is exactly what the problem is. This was a cat 5, and cat 5 surge was produced. That surge just doesn't go away. Again look at Ivan. It was 120 mph coming, yet it had a cat 4 surge as it was a cat 4 hours before landfall. Same situation here could be playing out except we're dealing with cat 5 surge.
The surge created right now is going west in Lake Pontchartrain. The southern direction of the surge is the main concern which is produced when the center passes east of the city. I'm taking a stab in the dark on this, but I'm pretty sure surge waves don't change direction. Therefore, the surge toward NOLA will be when the storm passes to the east, not what it is creating right now.
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