BERIGAN

It's not obvious to me whether this jump in price is good for all oil companies. It's true that they get to sell oil at higher prices, but those dependant on getting their oil from the refineries in the south now have to acquire it from more costly sources. Guy ← Oh, it's good for them alright. They are going to have record on top of record profits, prices haven't gone up on drilling or processing the oil lately...if they "lose" a little profit in the short run,(They may sell a little less, but fuel is over $3.00 everywhere) they'll get by.

Yup, read it last October. Uncanny eh? Let's hope the death total is lower than in the simulation. ← As a wise man once said, word! I forgot to mention before, but I am glad to hear that most everyone here has heard from loved ones in the region, we all need some good news!

Anyone see this National Geographic story??? Read it! http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/

These people cannot catch a break! I saw the footage from inside the Astrodome, they only have people on cots on the field...people would rather be in chairs even as long as they could be in air conditioning, get a shower, food water....Fuck. Where can they go now???

Indeed. I find this quite difficult to stomach. ← I just don't understand this either! It was supposed to leave Tuesday or Weds. I know it will take a week, but why is it still there? Unless they didn't have it fully stocked, there is no excuse.....

I do believe the Bush administration has been slow to act with this disaster, no doubt. But that is government is in many ways... Congress has been on vacation as well, they are supposed to reconvene later today.FEMA is supposedly spending more than $500 million a day , and they are trying to help Mississippi, and Alabama as well. 1500 National guard troops are coming in a day. There are ships like that huge hospital ship are on the way, as are other navel ships, but they are a week away, coming from the northeast. This is probably too late for those in N.O., unfortunately. It has to take some time to get enough food and water for everyone. Hell, water is the MOST important issue. There is no infrastructure now. There is flooding everywhere. Are the airports still under water? People still have to be rescued from rooftops. The flooding started Tuesday, and it is Thursday afternoon, you can't expect miracles, when was the last time a large city was completely ruined in the U.S. anyway? The looting issue...stealing food or water is not really an issue, except some folks might horde the stuff, or try to re-sell. but There has to be something done to stop the lawlessness. The police can't communicate,(And they can't lock anyone up, can they?) and I am guessing no one else can communicate when they are trying to coordinate operations either. The mayor said it had the looting had to stop, it was making N.O. look bad. Hospitals are having to deal with looters. Someone took a shot at a helicopter. The media has to be protected as well. It has to be safe for people trying to help others. Just a horrible, horrible situation.

Perhaps if we were going to buy a few cds in the next week or so, that money should be given to the Red Cross instead.

Well, this is just total bullshit. They (the State)are going to crack down on these stations. When we went out tonight, several stations conveniently didn't have a price up at all, but the pumps were still on.....and lines like you saw back in the 70's....

← U.S. Hurricane Strikes by Decade http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdec.shtml

Well, rumors being rampant that fuel was going to be cut off at stations at 3 pm, then 4 pm, lines are crazy long at the stations...and...get this, up to $4.59 at some stations!!!!!! No gouging of course!

I'm just glad I don't have to drive 94 miles a day like I used to.....

Or restoring some of the one million acres of coastal wetlands that that area has lost to development over the past few decades. The natural "sponges" are gone, which is one reason why this is so much worse than Camille. ← Yep, development and those levees... Why Louisiana’s Wetlands Are Being Lost Louisiana is losing coastal wetland areas for several reasons, both natural and man-made. All are interrelated. Prior to the 1930s, Louisiana’s coastal wetland areas thrived. The Mississippi River fed them by bringing huge loads of river mud and replenishing silt from flooded upstream waters from 31 states. The deposits were left where the river meets the Gulf of Mexico to form a vibrant delta. As with most things, this annual flooding had a downside. Even though the Mississippi spring floods brought life to the region, it also brought devastating flooding and death. In the 1930s, the Army Corps of Engineers built a series of levees on the river to prevent the annual flooding. Even though this project was considered very successful, it was not so successful in protecting the wetlands. Without the annual deposits of fresh mud and silt, the wetlands slowly started decaying and dying. Because of levees, the Mississippi River is no longer able to change course to create new land or marshes, or is it able to seasonally overflow its natural banks to replenish existing wetlands with fresh water and sediment. Without sediment from the river to stop it, the Gulf of Mexico has moved in. It has uncovered oil pipelines and killed fresh-water plants; the lost of these plants has hastened erosion in the wetlands. Without healthy wetlands acting as a buffer, ocean salt water is working its way into areas that were previously fresh-water marshes, killing fresh water plants whose roots once held the land in place. The salt water advances closer to the shore, threatening the nation’s energy supply. The delta has another vital job Ñ it protects New Orleans and other coastal communities, where nearly half the states’ population lives, from storm surges of gulf water. Most of New Orleans population of approximately 438,000 people lives below sea level. In places, it is as much as 11 feet lower. Another hit to the coastal wetlands happened in the 1960s when the Army Corps of Engineers dredged 14 major ship cannels leading to inland ports and oil companies. The building of these channels was instrumental in laying the oil and gas pipelines, which now supply vital energy resources to the rest of the nation. Coastal Louisiana has miles and miles of pipelines that carry the offshore oil and gas from the Gulf of Mexico to refineries. However, these channels have become yet another damaging puzzle piece in the fight to save America’s Wetland. They give lethal seawater easy access to inland marshes, further damaging this fragile resource. Essentially Louisiana’s coastal wetlands are being attacked from both sides - from the Mississippi River which is no longer able to save them due to a complex levee system and from incoming salt water from the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, some studies have shown the highest peaks of wetlands loss occur during or after the period of peak oil and gas production in the 1970s and early 1980s. Removal of millions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas caused a drop in subsurface pressure that led to underground faults. This caused the land to slip and then slump, thus putting more wetlands under water. This theory is known as regional depressurization. All of these reasons contribute to the reasons why America’s Wetlands are dying. http://www.naco.org/CountyNewsTemplate.cfm...ContentID=14710

Just saw this on Drudge... GAS SCARE HITS ATLANTA Tue Aug 2005 30 22:23:23 ET Metro Atlanta drivers are facing the possibility of paying considerably more than $3 a gallon for gas by Labor Day -- if they can get it at all, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting Wednesday. The two pipelines that bring gasoline and jet fuel to the region are down -- powerless to pump as Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on electrical infrastructure. The metro Atlanta region generally has about a 10-day supply of gasoline in inventory, said BP spokesman Michael Kumpf. The pipelines have been down for two days. Alpharetta, Ga.-based Colonial Pipeline Co., cut off from its suppliers on the Gulf Coast, is now pumping gas from huge storage tanks, many in Powder Springs, Ga. Whether electric power can be restored to the pipeline pumps before supplies run out is "the great uncertainty ... that hangs over all of us," said Daniel Moenter, a spokesman for Marathon Ashland Petroleum, a major supplier of metro Atlanta's fuel. http://www.drudgereport.com/flash2.htm

This region is going to need help from everyone. Financial, and otherwise. How many people no longer have a way to earn money? How many people who made it out of town are going to max out their credit cards, and not be able to pay for hotels, gas, or meals? How many poor people are there who stayed in N.O. who can't get diapers, food, medicine or clean clothes? Can you even imagine how bad the mosquitoes problem is going to be? West Nile Virus? Dead bodies rotting in the water? It's supposed to be in the mid 90's the rest of the week, no air. Imagine how horrible it feels inside the Superdome right now. Imagine trying to sleep in a plastic chair for days, weeks. The mayor in the clip above even mentioned how people with drug addictions were breaking into stores to steal whatever they could to get a fix...so many problems right now. How do you rebuild in a timely manner, the number of homes that will need to be rebuilt? Tent cities everywhere?

August 30, 2005 Storms Vary With Cycles, Experts Say By KENNETH CHANG Because hurricanes form over warm ocean water, it is easy to assume that the recent rise in their number and ferocity is because of global warming. But that is not the case, scientists say. Instead, the severity of hurricane seasons changes with cycles of temperatures of several decades in the Atlantic Ocean. The recent onslaught "is very much natural," said William M. Gray, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University who issues forecasts for the hurricane season. From 1970 to 1994, the Atlantic was relatively quiet, with no more than three major hurricanes in any year and none at all in three of those years. Cooler water in the North Atlantic strengthened wind shear, which tends to tear storms apart before they turn into hurricanes. In 1995, hurricane patterns reverted to the active mode of the 1950's and 60's. From 1995 to 2003, 32 major hurricanes, with sustained winds of 111 miles per hour or greater, stormed across the Atlantic. It was chance, Dr. Gray said, that only three of them struck the United States at full strength. Historically, the rate has been 1 in 3. Then last year, three major hurricanes, half of the six that formed during the season, hit the United States. A fourth, Frances, weakened before striking Florida. "We were very lucky in that eight-year period, and the luck just ran out," Dr. Gray said. Global warming may eventually intensify hurricanes somewhat, though different climate models disagree. In an article this month in the journal Nature, Kerry A. Emanuel, a hurricane expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote that global warming might have already had some effect. The total power dissipated by tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic and North Pacific increased 70 to 80 percent in the last 30 years, he wrote. But even that seemingly large jump is not what has been pushing the hurricanes of the last two years, Dr. Emanuel said, adding, "What we see in the Atlantic is mostly the natural swing." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/national...agewanted=print

The Mayor of New Orleans on WWL http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmP...082905mayor.wmv

http://www.nola.com/hurricane/t-p/katrina....tastrophic.html

CNN has a story now.... » How Hurricanes Form | Deadliest Storms | Tips New Orleans levee breaks Katrina's death toll at 54 Tuesday, August 30, 2005 Posted: 1022 GMT (1822 HKT) ? NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- As the death toll from Hurricane Katrina reached at least 54, a levee holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain sustained a breach two blocks long overnight in the Lakefront area of New Orleans. The breach triggered rapidly rising floodwaters in the city's downtown and prompted at least one hospital to evacuate patients by air. The death toll was expected to climb from one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in half a century. Fifty of the deaths occurred in one county in Mississippi, CNN confirmed. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin confirmed the breach in a local TV interview. City fire officials said the break was about 200 feet long in the levee surrounding the 17th Street Canal. "My heart is heavy tonight," Nagin said in the interview on WWL-TV. "I don't have any good news to share. "The city of New Orleans is in a state of devastation. We probably have 80 percent of our city underwater. With some sections of our city, the water is as deep as 20 feet." The state Department of Emergency Preparedness said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was holding a meeting on the breach. Karen Troyer Caraway, vice president of Tulane University Hospital, told CNN earlier that Louisiana State Police had confirmed the breach to her. A hospital across from Tulane, Charity Hospital, was evacuating its 90 patients by air, she said. The hospitals are in the city's central business district. Water at Tulane's hospital had been rising at the rate of a foot an hour, Caraway said, and had reached the top of the first floor. "It's dumping all the lake water in Orleans Parish," she said. "It's essentially running down Canal Street. We have whitecaps on Canal Street. "We now are completely surrounded by 6 feet of water and are about to get on the phone with Federal Emergency Management Agency to start talking about evacuation plans," Caraway said. "The water is rising so fast, I can't even begin to describe how fast it is rising." She did not know whether any pumps had been turned on to pump the water but said, "They're not going to be able to compete with Lake Pontchartrain." A system of levees and pumping stations usually protects the city, most of which sits below sea level. Tulane hospital had moved its emergency room to the second floor, she said. It has been on emergency generator power for the past 24 hours, but she said if water continued rising rapidly, it would swamp the power source and electricity would be lost. "We have patients on respirators," she said. There are more than 1,000 people in the hospital, and most of the patients are critically ill, meaning they would have to be evacuated by air, she said. Tulane hospital's command center later reported the rate of rising water had slowed to about an inch an hour, and an official there said evacuations at the hospital had been postponed. In the city's eastern portion, emergency workers were using boats to rescue people from the 9th Ward neighborhood, which was largely submerged after water topped a levee. A state official said at least 50 people had been rescued. Some residents said water rose so quickly they did not have time to grab their shoes before climbing to safety. (Watch video of a helicopter rescue) "We've got a massive search-and-rescue operation going on," Louisiana, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said. "I believe that we're going to pull out hundreds of people." Katrina left at least 54 people dead when it slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast on Monday, about 50 of them in one Mississippi county, CNN confirmed. Thirty of the confirmed deaths in Harrison County were at the St. Charles apartment complex, near the beach in the casino resort town of Biloxi, said Kelly Jakubic with the county's Emergency Operations Center. Separately, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency in Jackson confirmed four Katrina-related deaths -- one each in Warren, Leake, Pearl River and Hinds counties, a spokeswoman said. The Associated Press reported two people lost their lives in storm-related traffic accidents in Alabama. The storm's daylong rampage claimed lives and ravaged property in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, where coastal areas remained under several feet of water. (Watch aerial video of New Orleans flooding) Blanco said there was no official death tally in Louisiana. But she told CNN she expected that to change. "We believe we've lost some lives," she said. "We're hearing isolated reports here and there." Many were feared dead in flooded neighborhoods still under as much as 20 feet of water. The storm's survivors face months of displacement. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is preparing to house "at least tens of thousands of victims ... for literally months on end," the agency's director, Michael Brown, said Monday night. Lakes and rivers were still spilling over levees late Monday, and "it's going to get worse before it gets better," Brown said. Veteran FEMA staffers who have surveyed the destruction are reporting some of the worst damage they have ever seen, he said. The American Red Cross said it is launching the largest relief operation in its history. (Read about the relief effort) More than 75,000 people are being housed in nearly 240 shelters across the region, and Red Cross President Marty Evans told CNN, "We expect that to grow" as people who can't return home seek somewhere to stay. More than 1.3 million homes and businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were without electricity, according to utility companies serving the region. Officials warned Louisiana evacuees to stay away for at least a week to avoid "a wilderness" without utilities that will be infested with poisonous snakes and fire ants. "We would really encourage people not to come back [to New Orleans] for at least a week," said Ivor van Heerden, director of the Center for the Study of Public Health Impacts of Hurricanes in Baton Rouge. "If your house is gone, it's gone," he said. "If you come back in a day or a week, it's not going to make any difference." (Full story) Blanco said she had ordered state police to block re-entry routes to all but emergency workers. She said preliminary reports indicate Katrina "devastated" parts of at least six parishes in Louisiana. In Mississippi, streets and homes were flooded as far as 6 miles inland, and the eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 between Gulfport and Biloxi were impassable because of storm debris. Hotel worker Suzanne Rodgers returned to her beachfront home near Biloxi but, she told CNN, "there is nothing there. There's debris hanging from trees." (Read Rodgers' harrowing account) Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour called Katrina's aftermath "catastrophic." Both states experienced looting. A crowd of about 50 to 75 people swarmed through a supermarket in New Orleans, taking out shopping carts full of goods before police arrived. Looting was reported by police in Gulfport, where the storm surge left downtown streets under 10 feet of water. (See video of Katrina gouging Mississippi) As of 5 a.m. ET Tuesday, Katrina was about 35 miles northeast of Tupelo, Mississippi, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm was headed north Monday night through Mississippi toward Tennessee and the Ohio River Valley. But even as a tropical storm, Katrina was still causing plenty of trouble. Katrina's outer bands spawned tornados in Georgia Monday evening. Three twisters were reported in Georgia, one in central Peach County and two in the northwest counties of Carroll and Paulding. One person in Carroll County was critically injured. After topping levees in New Orleans, Katrina inundated the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts with a 20-foot storm surge. In Mobile, Alabama, the storm pushed water from Mobile Bay into downtown, submerging large sections of the city, and officials imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew. An oil drilling platform broke away from its moorings and lodged under a bridge that carries U.S. Highway 98 over the Mobile River. The Alabama National Guard activated 450 troops to secure Mobile. Two other Alabama battalions, or about 800 troops, were activated to assist in Mississippi. The storm came ashore Monday morning just east of New Orleans, with 140 mph winds turning street signs, tree branches and roof debris into projectiles. (See video of near whiteout conditions and debris-filled winds) http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/30/katrina/index.html

Was just checking out Lucianne.com and saw 2 screaming headlines... OFFICIALS CONFIRM THREE BREECHES IN VITAL LEVEES HOLDING BACK LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN FROM NEW ORLEANS Story just breaking....link to follow Mayor: Major Breach Flooding and Destroying New Orleans Breaking news.....very scary So, I put on WWL (870 on A.M. dial) and no mention of it...then a mention that there was a few minor breaches, and water levels were rising....this story below almost looks like a cruel fake story, I really hope it is.. Author: Steve Sabludowsky | 8/30/2005 Home : Business Also By this Reporter: New Orleans Needs A Miracle Mayor: Major Breach Flooding and Destroying New Orleans Hurricane Katrina Refugees Want Information New Orleans And Louisiana Does Katrina Swamp House Energy Barton Writes Bush About Strategic Petroleum Reserve New Orleans, Louisiana Area: Katrina Caused Incredible Damage The City of New Orleans Is Devastated. Those were the words of Mayor C. Ray Nagin and based upon a major breach of a levee system, water is flowing into New Orleans flooding it beyond recognition and could very well destroy New Orleans, Jefferson and the surrounding areas. In a most frightening interview with WWL TV, Mayor C. Ray Nagin gave the worse-case scenario of events that anyone could possibly imagine. In the beginning of the interview, he stated that New Orleans is devastated. Of most importance is the breach of the levee between Jefferson and Orleans Parish. “We probably have 80 percent of our city under water with some sections of our city the water is as deep as 20 feet”. Both airports are underwater The twin spans are destroyed. The Yacht club is burned and destroyed. Mayor Nagin also stated he was not sure of the structural soundness of the highrise. He stated that it is possible that the highrise bridge in east New Orleans could be unstable. The Mayor also stated that all of Slidell (a city which he has no jurisdiction) is under water. Nagin also stated that there was no clear path in and out of New Orleans, that I-10 is underwater. Nagin stated that FEMA is coming into town tomorrow and that New Orleans will need to obtain major federal help to rebuild the city of New Orleans. As corroboration, a spokesperson from Tulane University said that they were about to move all of the patients from the hospital due to rising water at one inch every five minutes. She said white water was pouring down Canal Street (which would be from Lake Ponchatrain-related to the breach in the levee) from the canal separating the two parishes. New Orleans Needs A Miracle - Broken levee might be death knell http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=4864

Oh man, what a great idea! No way can this backfire! You can use the f-word in class (but only five times) 09:58am 29th August 2005 A secondary school is to allow pupils to swear at teachers - as long as they don't do so more than five times in a lesson. A running tally of how many times the f-word has been used will be kept on the board. If a class goes over the limit, they will be 'spoken' to at the end of the lesson. The astonishing policy, which the school says will improve the behaviour of pupils, was condemned by parents' groups and MPs yesterday. They warned it would backfire. Parents were advised of the plan, which comes into effect when term starts next week, in a letter from the Weavers School in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. Look here too... Skip gossip links to more articles More news stories here Don't miss today News: German faces charges over towel rage Comment: The dubious drink law The Ashes: Follow the latest scores here Have your say Have GCSEs become worthless? Yes - they are too easy No - they still show a student's potential More polls » Hot debate Should children be removed from parents who are loving but 'not clever enough' to raise them? Have your say » Assistant headmaster Richard White said the policy was aimed at 15 and 16-year-olds in two classes which are considered troublesome. 'Tolerate but not condone' "Within each lesson the teacher will initially tolerate (although not condone) the use of the f-word (or derivatives) five times and these will be tallied on the board so all students can see the running score," he wrote in the letter "Over this number the class will be spoken to by the teacher at the end of the lesson." Parents called the rule 'wholly irresponsible and ludicrous'. "This appears to be a misguided attempt to speak to kids on their own level," said the father of one pupil. Should have do's and don'ts Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: "In these sort of situations teachers should be setting clear principles of 'do and don't'. "They should not be compromising in an apparent attempt to please the pupils. This will send out completely the wrong message. "Youngsters will play up to this and ensure they use their five goes, demeaning the authority of the teacher." Tory MP Ann Widdecombe said the policy was based on 'Alice in Wonderland reasoning'. "What next?" she asked. "Do we allow people to speed five times or burgle five times? You don't improve something by allowing it, you improve something by discouraging it." 'Praise postcards' The 1,130-pupil school, which was criticised as 'not effective' by Ofsted inspectors last November, also plans to send 'praise postcards' to the parents of children who do not swear and who turn up on time for lessons. Headmaster Alan Large said he had received no complaints about the policy. "The reality is that the fword is part of these young adults' everyday language," he said. "As a temporary policy we are giving them a bit of leeway, but want them to think about the way they talk and how they might do better." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...in_page_id=1770

Well, the media is reporting what the weather "experts" tell them.(To be fair they did track the storm just about perfectly) CNN is reporting a lot of damage in N.O. right now..ABC says the Superdome is leaking A LOT of water thru the roof, so this is still going to be a storm not soon forgotten....

Well, I am betting New Orleans might dodge the bullet, at least a shot thru the heart. The storm has winds at 5:30 E.S.T. are around 150, and it looks like the "perfect" storm is not perfectly shaped, the eastern side looks much weaker, and that the eye will be just a bit further east....where it does hit though....

I've Been flipping between CNN, FOX and the Weather channel.(Except for Fox, I am sure many are doing the same here! ) Shepard Smith of Fox is from Louisiana, and seems just dumbfounded at the stupidity of folks staying in town. They keep saying things like New Orleans can handle a Category 3, and he'll says yeah, but it is a 5, and they say, well the media overflows these stories, it'll weaken. Or they say they live in a safe place, and he says what place is safe in 175+ MPH winds and 20 foot storm surge. Well, they don't say much then, but they think the storm will weaken, and plus, look how old all the buildings are here! Read that a lot of tourists are stuck in N.O. since their flights were cancelled, and can't get a flight. They are the ones I really feel sorry for,(and of course those who don't have cars) those future Darwin award winners wanting to show how damn macho they are, they are really in for the shock of their lives. There is going to be terrible destruction 100's of miles inland from this storm, which the media does seem to overlook for the most part....the kind of devastation that will occur.... Urgent Weather Message from NWS New Orleans WWUS74 KLIX 281550NPWLIXURGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005 DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED HURRICANE KATRINAA 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. ATLEAST 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 CREATEADDITIONAL 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. FEWCROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BEKILLED.AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEARHURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE.. .ARECERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTUREOUTSIDE!LAZ038-040-050-056>070-282100-ASSUMPTION-LIVINGSTON-LOWER JEFFERSON-LOWER LAFOURCHE-LOWER PLAQUEMINES-LOWER ST. BERNARD-LOWER TERREBONNE-ORLEANS-ST. CHARLES-ST. JAMES-ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST-ST. TAMMANY-TANGIPAHOA-UPPER JEFFERSON-UPPER LAFOURCHE-UPPER PLAQUEMINES-UPPER ST. BERNARD-UPPER TERREBONNE-1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

Well, this storm just went from 115MPH, to 145 in a 3 hour period! Let's hope it overdoes it, gets real strong, then peters out somehow before landfall...a lot of people in New Orleans do not seem to be taking this seriously at all. Could be a horrible situation wherever it lands, but if it hits N.O. I can't even imagine how bad this storm would be.