- Note - CNN is replacing and revising articles on Katrina.
This first, original CNN article disappeared and was replaced by a edtied
version which you will see after the first...
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- New Orleans Orders Evacuation
- Hurricane Katrina's Winds Nearly 175 MPH
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- Sunday, August 28, 2005
- Posted: 11:23 a.m. EDT (15:23 GMT)
- http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/28/hurricane.katrina/
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- NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN)
-- New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared a state of emergency on Sunday
and ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city as Hurricane Katrina churned
toward the city with maximum sustained winds of nearly 175 mph.
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- All of Orleans Parish falls under the order except for
necessary personnel in government, emergency and some other public service
categories.
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- People who are unable to evacuate were told to immediately
report to a designated shelter.
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- "I wish I had better news for you, but we are facing
a storm that most of us have feared," Nagin said. "I do not want
to create panic, but I do want the citizens to understand that this is
very serious and it's of the highest nature."
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- Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that President Bush
had called and urged the state to order the evacuation.
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- About 485,000 people live in the city, and many began
evacuating before sunrise.
-
- Blanco said that westbound traffic was heavy and that
the state police was urging people to travel to the north or east.
-
- Shelters have been set up at 10 sites, including the
Superdome, for people who cannot leave the city for medical or other reasons,
but Nagin said they should be used only as a "last resort." (javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2005/08/28/meserve.orleans.evacuation.cnn');
- See video from New Orleans, where not all are ready to
leave)
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- He said people who must stay in the shelter should bring
enough food, water and supplies to last several days.
-
- The National Hurricane Center in Miami said low-lying
areas along the Gulf Coast could expect storm surges of up to 25 feet as
the Category 5 storm makes landfall early Monday.
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- Officials fear New Orleans is vulnerable because it sits
an average of 6 feet below sea level. (javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2005/08/27/hopkins.hurricane.latest.affl');
- Watch video of how New Orleans reacted to warning)
-
- Nagin said the storm surge would likely topple the levy
system that protects the city.
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- "It has the potential for a large loss of life,"
said Max Mayfield, director of the NHC. (javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2005/08/28/huffines.katrina.update.9am.cnn');
- Watch CNN meteorologist explain storm outlook)
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- Katrina is blamed for at least seven deaths in Florida,
where it made landfall Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane. As much as 18
inches of rain fell in some areas, flooding streets and homes. (
- (javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2005/08/27/mattingly.katrina.destruction.cnn/');
- See video of the damage floodwaters left in one family's
new house)
-
- At 10 a.m. ET, Katrina was centered about 225 miles south-southeast
of the mouth of the Mississippi River. It was moving to the west-northwest
at about 12 mph.
-
- NHC forecaster Ed Rappaport said Katrina's strength could
fluctuate before it reaches shore but noted the difference between a high
Category 4 and a low Category 5 was practically inconsequential.
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- "There will be extensive to potentially catastrophic
damage to many structures ... and inland," he said. "We'll have
a lot of trees that are going to come down, perhaps millions of trees.
But the first threat is going to be the storm surge. You must get away
from the coast now."
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- By 8:30 a.m. ET, the first bands of rain were falling
over southeastern Louisiana.
-
- CNN meteorologist Brad Huffines said the Katrina would
come ashore "sometime between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m." Monday.
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- "The news doesn't get good, unfortunately,"
he said. "These rain showers will slow down the evacuation process,
and that means you need to hit the road quickly, very quickly."
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- Worst-Case Scenario
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- In worst-case scenarios, most of New Orleans would end
up under 15 feet of water, without electricity, clean water and sewage
for months. Even pumping the water out could take as long as four months
to get started because the massive pumps that would do the job would be
underwater.
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- "People in New Orleans tend to think that the storm
we've always planned on would never come," Louisiana National Guard
Lt. Col. Pete Schneider said. "But people need to heed that warning."
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- Rappaport cautioned that New Orleans was not the only
area threatened -- the storm's hurricane winds spread out as far as 100
miles. As far east as Mobile, Alabama, forecasters warned of storm surges
reaching 8 to 10 feet.
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- Hurricane warnings were posted from Morgan City, Louisiana,
eastward to the Alabama-Florida state line, including New Orleans and Lake
Pontchartrain. A hurricane warning means hurricane conditions, including
winds of at least 74 mph, are expected in the warning area within the next
24 hours.
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- A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch were issued
from the Alabama-Florida state line eastward to Destin, Florida, and from
west of Morgan City to Intracoastal City, Louisiana. Another tropical storm
warning was issued Sunday from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, west to Cameron,
Louisiana, and from Destin, Florida, eastward to Indian Pass, Florida.
-
- A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions,
including winds of at least 39 mph, are expected within 24 hours. A hurricane
watch means hurricane conditions are possible, usually within 36 hours.
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- Governors of both Louisiana and Mississippi declared
emergencies Friday in anticipation of the strengthening storm.
-
- Robert Latham, director of the Mississippi Emergency
Management Agency, said the state was recommending evacuations along the
coast "and even several counties inland." Mandatory evacuations
could follow later, he said.
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- Category 5 is the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson
scale of hurricane intensity. Only three Category 5 hurricanes have made
landfall in the United States since records were kept. Those were the Labor
Day hurricane of 1935, 1969's Hurricane Camille and Hurricane Andrew, which
devastated the Miami area in 1992. Andrew remains the costliest U.S. hurricane
on record, with $26.5 billion in losses.
-
- Camille came ashore in Mississippi and killed 256 people.
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-
- Oil Rig Evacuations
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- Some oil platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico have
been evacuated.
-
- Six oil companies operating offshore facilities evacuated
a total of at least 150 people. Most of those employees were described
as "nonessential" to production, and rigs and platforms continued
to operate.
- javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2005/08/27/av.oilrig.cnn');
- (Watch the video of drilling crews securing rigs and
seeking safety.)
-
- Two companies -- Newfield Exploration and Murphy Exploration
-- said they may pull out production workers and shut down some facilities
Saturday, depending on the hurricane's path.
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- At least 12 platforms and nine oil rigs in the Gulf have
been evacuated, a small portion of the 953 manned rigs and platforms operating
there, according to the Interior Department's Mineral Management Service.
-
- CNN's David Mattingly, Susan Candiotti, Jacqui Jeras
and Rob Marciano contributed to this report.
-
- ============
-
- From John Ray
-
- This is the revised article with the same URL however,
the URL is dated 08/28 while the revised article is dated Monday, 08/29
at 12:10 am and no longer identifies the authors/reporters. I wonder how
many other articles are revised, or perhaps advised by the PTB to change
previously reported stories.
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- New Orleans Braces For Monster Hurricane
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- Crescent City Under Evacuation
- Storm May Overwhelm Levees
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- Monday, August 29, 2005
- Posted: 12:10 a.m. EDT (04:10 GMT)
- http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/28/hurricane.katrina/
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-
- NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- New Orleans braced for
a catastrophic blow from Hurricane Katrina overnight, as forecasters predicted
the Category 5 storm could drive a wall of water over the city's levees.
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- The huge storm, packing 160 mph winds, is expected to
hit the northern Gulf Coast in the next nine hours and make landfall as
a Category 4 or 5 hurricane Monday morning.
-
- The National Hurricane Center reports that conditions
are already deteriorating along the central and northeastern coast. (javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2005/08/28/zarrella.worst.case.cnn');
- Watch video to see the worst case scenario)
-
- New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared a state of emergency
Sunday and ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city. (javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2005/08/28/katrina.n.orleans.mayor.press.affl');
- Watch video of mayor's announcement)
-
- "This is a threat that we've never faced before,"
Nagin said. "If we galvanize and gather around each other, I'm sure
we will get through this."
-
- He exempted essential federal, state, and local personnel;
emergency and utility workers; transit workers; media; hotel workers; and
patrons from the evacuation order.
-
- About 1.3 million people live in New Orleans and its
suburbs, and many began evacuating before sunrise. (javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2005/08/28/zarrella.french.quarter.affl');
- Watch video to see who's staying and who's leaving)
-
- Nagin estimated that nearly 1 million people had fled
the city and its surrounding parishes by Sunday night. (javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2005/08/28/mass.exodus.neworleans.affl');
- Watch time lapse video of the evacuation)
-
- Between 20,000 and 25,000 others who remained in the
city lined up to take shelter in the Louisiana Superdome, lining up for
what authorities warned would be an unpleasant day and a half at minimum.
-
- City officials told stranded tourists to stay on third-floor
levels or higher and away from windows. (javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2005/08/28/meserve.orleans.evacuation.cnn');
- See video from New Orleans, a city below sea level)
-
- Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that New Orleans
could expect a complete loss of electricity and water services as well
as intense flooding.
-
- "We know we're going to have property damage,"
she told CNN's "Larry King Live." "We know we're going to
have high wind damage. We're hoping we're not going to lose a lot of lives."
-
- About 70 percent of New Orleans is below sea level, and
is protected from the Mississippi River by a series of levees. (Full
story)
-
- Forecasters predicted the storm surge could reach 28
feet; the highest levees around New Orleans are 18 feet high.
-
- Hurricane-force winds extend 105 miles from the center
of the mammoth storm and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to
230 miles. It is the most powerful storm to menace the central Gulf Coast
in decades.
-
- Isolated tornadoes are also possible Sunday across southern
portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle,
forecasters said.
-
- Federal Emergency Management Agency teams and other emergency
teams were in place to move in as soon as the storm was over, FEMA Undersecretary
Michael Brown said.
-
- Katrina is blamed for at least seven deaths in Florida,
where it made landfall Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane. As much as 18
inches of rain fell in some areas, flooding streets and homes. (javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2005/08/27/mattingly.katrina.destruction.cnn/');
- See video of the damage floodwaters left in one family's
new house)
-
- At midnight ET, Katrina was centered about 90 miles south
of the mouth of the Mississippi River. It was moving to the northwest at
about 10 mph.
-
- National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield said:
"There's certainly a chance it can weaken a bit before it gets to
the coast, but unfortunately this is so large and so powerful that it's
a little bit like the difference between being run over by an 18-wheeler
or a freight train. Neither prospect is good." (javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2005/08/28/intv.mayfield.hurricane.cnn');
- Watch Mayfield's assessment of Katrina)
-
- Bush issues disaster declarations
-
- President Bush announced Sunday that he had issued disaster
declarations for Louisiana, Mississippi and parts of southern Florida.
The declaration for Miami-Dade and Broward counties in Florida will allow
residents there to apply for federal disaster aid.
-
- "We'll do everything in our power to help the people
and communities affected by this storm," he said.
-
- The president urged anyone in the storm's path "to
put their own safety and the safety of their families first by moving to
safe ground."
-
- Jesse St. Amant, the emergency management chief for Louisiana's
southernmost Plaquemines Parish, said nearly 95 percent of the parish's
27,000-plus residents had fled by Sunday afternoon. Those who remained
were being told that they are "gambling with their own lives."
-
- "I think they just don't believe something of this
nature can ever happen in their lifespan, and I think they're going to
be wrong," he said.
-
- As far east as Mobile, Alabama, 118 miles away from New
Orleans, authorities warned of storm surges approaching 20 feet.
-
- "I'm afraid most people look at the map and say,
'It's going to New Orleans, we're all right,'" said Mobile Mayor Mike
Deal. "We're in harm's way with the current path of this storm."
-
- Hurricane warnings are posted from Morgan City, Louisiana,
eastward to the Alabama-Florida state line, including New Orleans and Lake
Pontchartrain. This means winds of at least 74 mph are expected in the
warning area within the next 24 hours.
-
- A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch are in
effect from the Alabama-Florida state line eastward to Destin, Florida,
and from west of Morgan City to Intracoastal City, Louisiana. A tropical
storm warning is also in effect from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, west
to Cameron, Louisiana, and from Destin, Florida, eastward to Indian Pass,
Florida.
-
- A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions,
including winds of at least 39 mph, are expected within 24 hours. A hurricane
watch means hurricane conditions are possible, usually within 36 hours.
-
- Category 5 is the most intense on the Saffir-Simpson
scale. Only three Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall in the United
States since records were kept. Those were the Labor Day hurricane of 1935,
1969's Hurricane Camille and Hurricane Andrew, which devastated the Miami
area in 1992. Andrew remains the costliest U.S. hurricane on record, with
$26.5 billion in losses.
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- Camille came ashore in Mississippi and killed 256 people.
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