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Gustav-Hit Houma, La., Sees Little Flooding |
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Written by Dan
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Tuesday, 02 September 2008 |
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NPR -
Houma is one of the coastal Louisiana town that sustained damage during Hurricane Gustav. There, power lines and utility poles are down everywhere and trees are blocking most roads — but the good news is, there is little flooding. If a city could breathe a sigh of relief, New Orleans would be doing that now. Bracing for what Mayor Ray Nagin had said would be the "storm of the century," local, state and federal authorities directed one of the nation's largest exoduses, getting some 2 million people along the Gulf Coast out of the path of Hurricane Gustav over the course of 2 1/2 days. Now the task is to get them all home. The city's evacuees are scattered across the country and naturally are eager to return to survey the damage. Nagin has asked them to hold off and stay in shelters and motels for a few more days. He wants officials to fan out and assess the storm's effects first. While the levees and flood walls seem to have done what they needed to do — a far cry from what happened three years ago during Hurricane Katrina — there is other storm damage. The city remains under a mandatory evacuation order and curfew. Power lines are down all over the city, and electricity is out in some 80,000 homes in New Orleans. Some 35 substations are believed to be out of service. The city's sewer system also took a hit.Nagin wants time to fix those problems before residents start back. He said a return home was "only days away, not weeks," and he hoped residents could begin to flow back to the city Wednesday or Thursday. "[At] the latest Thursday we'll start letting our citizens arrive," Nagin told CNN on Tuesday morning. "We're just going to reverse the process; once we give them the word, the same process will get them back," Nagin said, adding that buses, trains and planes would be available to drop off returning residents. "We'll provide them all the assistance they need to get them back efficiently and effectively." Retailers and employers will be allowed to send workers to check on the damage to their establishments Wednesday, the mayor said."I would not do a thing differently," the mayor said Monday night. "I'd probably call Gustav, instead of the mother of all storms, maybe the mother-in-law or the ugly sister of all storms."Gustav is now a tropical depression moving across Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. That's a far cry from Monday, when Gustav made landfall as a Category 2 storm with sustained winds of 110 mph. Lt. Gen. Robert Van Antwerp, the commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans, said Tuesday that the city "dodged a bullet." |
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New Orleans gets jump on Gustav to avoid 2005 repeat |
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Contributed by webmaster
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Saturday, 30 August 2008 |
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USA TODAY: NEW ORLEANS — As Gustav threatened to pack a wallop, local leaders and emergency workers unfurled plans and readied evacuation tactics Thursday to avoid a repeat of the deadly mistakes that preceded Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, widely blamed for the ineffective response following Katrina, went over plans to keep communication lines open and set up command centers. City leaders readied police officers and National Guard troops to prevent post-disaster looting and urged residents to heed evacuation orders. On Thursday, the eve of the third anniversary of Katrina, some residents required little convincing. Katrina hit just east of New Orleans, flooding 80% of the city and leading to the costliest disaster in U.S. history. "They're moving. They're getting out," said Linda Jackson, president of the Lower 9th Ward Homeowners Association. "We're never going to disrespect another hurricane again in our life."
•No shelters of last resort. The Superdome and Convention Center, sites of massive, unruly crowds during Katrina, won't be used as shelters. Instead, city officials pledged to orchestrate a pre-storm evacuation using Amtrak trains, buses and flights. •Looting control. New Orleans police say they will have the entire force on call, along with 300 National Guardsmen, at major department stores and neighborhoods across the city.
•Communication FEMA officials will set up a "Unified Command" center in Baton Rouge, where state, local and federal agents will share daily information. Lack of communication between agencies after Katrina contributed to a slow response. "We feel we are more ready this year than we have ever been," says Coast Guard Rear Adm. Brian Salerno, assistant commandant for Marine Safety, Security and Stewardship. The Coast Guard is moving its boats and aircraft out of the storm's path and mobilizing an emergency response group that can help after the storm with law enforcement and hazardous waste issues, Salerno says. Ports will be closed 12 hours before the storm arrives, he says.American Red Cross field operations are underway in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, says Armond Mascelli, vice president of disaster services. The organization began moving supplies and equipment into the areas on Tuesday, including trucks for mobile feeding, and cots and blankets for shelters. Mascelli says they are following a script written in part from "lessons learned from Katrina." The Defense Department's Northern Command says it will help with search-and-rescue and medical evacuation operations, says Rear Adm. Chris Colvin, director of operations."In general, we're finding that state, local and federal agencies are tremendously more capable than they were three years ago after Katrina," Colvin says. Hospitals also took steps to avoid the disastrous weeks following Katrina, where patients were evacuated in floodwaters. Newly installed hurricane-proof satellite dishes were readied at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans, to improve communications after a storm, and many of the patients were scheduled to be relocated early. During Katrina, the hospital evacuated 1,600 patients from its premises, CEO Robert Lynch said. Gov. Bobby Jindal said that residents in areas south of New Orleans could be told to leave as early as today, the Associated Press reported. Louisiana prison authorities also said they would begin evacuating 2,300 prisoners from New Orleans-area jails today and could move as many as 8,000 inmates from low-lying state and local detention centers. Inmates in local jails and detention centers were among the casualties when Katrina swept through, Angola State Prison warden Burl Cain said. Celebrity chef John Besh, owner of four restaurants in the New Orleans area, said he was letting his more than 300 employees go home early today to prepare for the storm. He was also stockpiling 300 pounds of rice and 300 pounds of red beans to help feed evacuees later, if needed. Five years ago, we wouldn't even know there was a hurricane out there," Besh said. "We're all taking it far more seriously." |
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Hurricane Gustav Heads for Haiti; Gulf Faces `Dangerous' Threat |
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Written by Dan
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Tuesday, 26 August 2008 |
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Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Gustav is forecast to make landfall later today in Haiti and may strike U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil rigs and refineries by next week. Gustav packed sustained winds of 90 miles (145 kilometers) per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory just before 11 a.m. Miami time. The system, located about 50 miles south of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, was heading northwest at 9 mph. Crude oil rose more than $2 a barrel. ``The entire Gulf is under the gun from Gustav,'' said Jim Rouiller, a senior energy meteorologist with Planalytics Inc., a forecaster based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, whose clients include oil companies. ``Gustav represents a real and potentially dangerous storm for the entire Gulf energy production region.'' Gustav has the potential to grow from Category 1 into a Category 4 hurricane with winds of at least 131 miles per hour by the time it enters the Gulf, home to about one-fifth of all U.S. oil production, Rouiller said. Hurricanes are rated on the 5-step Saffir-Simpson scale, with Categories 3 or higher deemed ``major'' storms, with winds of 111 mph and higher. U.S. crude oil and fuel production plunged and prices rose to records when hurricanes Katrina and Rita shut refineries and platforms as they struck the Gulf of Mexico coast in August and September 2005. Katrina closed 95 percent of offshore output in the region. Almost 19 percent of U.S. refining capacity was idled because of damage and blackouts caused by the hurricanes. Oil Climbs Crude oil for October delivery rose $2.27, or 2 percent, to $117.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Royal Dutch Shell Plc may start evacuating non-essential staff from the Gulf of Mexico as early as tomorrow, Shell spokeswoman Destin Singleton said in an e-mail. ``This time next week it will be somewhere in the Gulf,'' said Eric Wilhelm, a senior meteorologist at private forecaster AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. ``All the states lining the Gulf Coast of the U.S. will be on the lookout.'' Forecasts from the Hurricane Center show Gustav striking Haiti later today and then following a track between Jamaica in the south and Cuba to the north. Wilhelm said that path will give the hurricane access to the warm waters of the Caribbean and let it strengthen. Sometime on Aug. 30 or 31, the hurricane will likely pass Cuba and head into the Gulf. New Orleans, Houston The storm may be poised to strike New Orleans or Houston next week, Rouiller said. Three areas of low pressure are following Gustav in the Atlantic, marking the start of what should be an active three- week period, he said. ``Gustav is the forerunner of what could become a very nasty hurricane season for the U.S.,'' Rouiller said. Gustav comes after Tropical Storm Fay last week left a trail of death and flooding in the Caribbean and Florida, where it made an unprecedented four landfalls. A hurricane warning was in effect for parts of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The storm may bring as much as 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain to parts of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica, the U.S. center said. Gustav formed yesterday as a depression and then a tropical storm, before reaching the 74 mph threshold for a hurricane early today. Gustav is the seventh named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's forecasters predict 14 to 18 named storms will develop this year. |
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Written by Dan
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Monday, 25 August 2008 |
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Tropical Storm Gustav became the 7th named storm today as it rapidly developed in the Caribbean. Just early this morning it was a TD and by 2pm EDT this afternoon it developed into a Tropical Storm and as of 5pm, it remains a Tropical Storm with max winds estimated at 60 mph. It is located just South of the Dominican Republic and is expected to move NE over the next couple days. The models diverge significantly beyond 48 hours, as a ridge develops over Florida in the coming days. The strength of the ridge will determine where this system will go. If it rolls up to the NW through the Dominican Republic and Cuba mostly over land, then the system won't be able to develop much and will remain weak. The bigger question is that Gustav will emerge into the Gulf of Mexico in about 3 to 4 days if it keeps a NW track and will be able to gain strength and could intensify rapidly. If it stays further south of Cuba as some models are projecting then this storm will continue to gather strength and will move more to the West towards Mexico. Interests in the Gulf of Mexico should watch this situation in the coming days. Position: 16.3 N 71.0 W Max Winds: 60mph gusts to 70mph Moving NW @ 13mph Central Pressure: 996 mb |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 25 August 2008 )
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Fay is one for the record books |
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Written by Dan
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Monday, 25 August 2008 |
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Source: USA Today The remnants of Tropical Storm Fay lumbered inland Sunday, dumping heavy rains across the South and putting Gulf Coast cities including New Orleans on flood watch as the region prepares to mark the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina this week. Fay never reached hurricane strength and was downgraded Saturday to a tropical depression. Yet during its eight days as a tropical storm, it notched a record four landfalls in Florida. The zigzagging storm that unleashed 25.38 inches of rain near Melbourne Beach, Fla., also ranks among the top four tropical rainmakers to hit the state since 1950, according to the federal Hydrometeorological Prediction Center. Tropical Storm Amelia in 1978 produced the heaviest single rainfall — 48 inches at Medina, Texas. The storm still has a few days left before it peters out, said Mike Eckert, a meteorologist at the center in Camp Springs, Md. "Fay is not finished yet," he said. "Sometimes, the weaker storms that move very, very slowly can be your biggest rainfall makers." President Bush declared Brevard, Monroe, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties in Florida major disaster areas, clearing the way for funds to help local governments do emergency work and repairs. |
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