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Hurricane Gustav Cat 4, Come and Gone
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by René | August 28, 2008 at 07:34 am
1441 views | 27 Recommendations | 23 comments
Videos
Photos
See South Louisiana photos during and after Gustav on Times-Picayune.
Hurricane Gustav Cat 4, his Cuba. See NowPublic Hurricane coverage, will be offline for a while after this evening.
Gun sales up in New Orleans area, as residents prepare to protect their property. Inspite of the police and National Guard. "They can't be everywhere," was one comment.
The right to bear arms became a flash point of controversy after Katrina, when police officers seized guns from civilians. The outcry from Second Amendment activists led more than a dozen states -- including Louisiana -- to pass laws restricting local officials from confiscating firearms during disasters.
On top of that were videos and rumors of police officers doing the looting themselves during and after Katrina.
"If the cops are looting, who's going to protect my ass?" one gun purchaser asked.After Katrina, some police officers were spotted taking basic supplies from stores, and, in isolated cases, items that didn't appear necessary for survival.
(I also heard some wild stories of violent confrontations after Katrina during the flood, before they began to let anyone who had evacuated back in to the city.)
(Think the weathermen also do the zig-zag. Swear one reported Gustav as a Cat 4 last night on Weather Channel.) Sat. 5:30 am.
Now a Hurricane, Gustav heading for Cayman Islands and Cuba.
Evacuation on the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts begin.
Gas prices jumped from $3.24 to $3.69 in a matter of hours on Thursday, (had to go to four stations to get gas).
Interstate 10 is backed up by early evacuees.
Predicted computer storm tracks keep moving further west, but are still all over the Gulf Coast from Florida Panhandle to the middle of the Texas coast.
Once Gustav passes Cuba, it will enter the 'Sweet Spot', the dreaded hot spot in the Gulf waters that feeds hurricane strength. This is the areas that made Hurricanes Katrina and Rita into Category 5 with winds over 150 mph. (Just added two graphics of the hot spots of the Gulf and Caribbean waters from 2005 and 2008. Please note that the hot spots are a lot less this year. from the WunderBlog)
Tomorrow we will know the dread news, where Gustav will hit the Gulf Coast. Friday, August 29, 2008
Hurricane updates from New Orleans Times-Picayune.
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Still a tropical storm stalled over eastern Jamaica.
Now there's Tropical Storm Hanna in the Atlantic heading west.
And another storm entering the Gulf from Mexico.
Satellite Services live view of the Gulf and Caribbean.
Other Storm stories on Now Public at Hurricane channel.
Gustav continues to confound, confuseby Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
Thursday August 28, 2008, 7:55 AM
There's a reason for experienced New Orleans area meteorologists to warn hurricane watchers not to put much stock in predictions of a storm's ultimate landfall until it gets into the Gulf of Mexico, and Gustav continues to prove them right.
This morning, the National Hurricane Center took the unusual step of issuing a special discussion message to update the one they'd issued only three hours earlier. Gustav had changed his mind again.
As it neared Jamaica, Gustav had decided to spin up quickly and was nearing hurricane strength at 6:30 a.m. And as the swirling package of thunderstorms kept changing shape overnight, predictions of where it would be five days later shifted again -- west towards the central Louisiana coast.
To top all this off the levees in New Orleans and on the Westbank are not finished!
The West Bank is in the thick of an unprecedented amount of levee and floodwall improvements, but it will continue to have some of the most vulnerable areas in the New Orleans area until the full system is complete.
More on the Area's Flood Shield Dangers, including the Industrial Canal.
Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal has declared a State of Emergency for Louisiana and is implementing call-up of the National Guard, evacuation measures, including transportation measures for those in need. More Storm Plans on the Times-Picayune.
All across the area are getting ready.
With the uncertainty of the projected path, even Texas is freaking. From Houston and from Dallas.
Other NowPublic Storm reports:
- Vinny's Tropical Storm Hanna heading to Florida? and Gustav Hurricane Warning Jamaica.
- Gh0s7's New Orleans may Evacuate. FYI, evacuation plans are progressing.
Contraflow evacuation map. But which way to go? Will you end up in the path?
Live storm tracking from the wunderweatherunderground.
Regular New Orleans Transit Service to be ended Friday, buses and streetcars to be moved to safe places:
Bus and streetcar service in New Orleans will be shut down indefinitely beginning Friday night to allow the Regional Transit Authority the time needed to move vehicles to safety before Hurricane Gustav makes landfall along the Gulf Coast.
RTA officials said Thursday that they will have 40 buses on standby to participate in a possible evacuation of residents who have no means of transportation out of the city. The agency also plans to use eight vans to evacuate disabled riders with special needs.
Ctiy officials, who continue to monitor the storm's movement toward the Gulf of Mexico, have not yet made a decision on whether to order an evacuation.
As part of a disaster plan developed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the RTA buses will pick up residents at 17 designated sites across the city and bring them to the Union Passenger Terminal downtown. From there, the plan calls for people to be evacuated by chartered buses and possibly by train to shelters in northern Louisiana and other states.
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Crowd Power
René
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Emilio Lizardo
Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (23)
at 07:46 on August 28th, 2008
René, I like this story. It's good stuff. I heard Hanna was the next one on the way. You take care down there Rene', if you need somewhere to go come here, you can stay with me.
at 08:30 on August 28th, 2008
René, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 08:37 on August 28th, 2008
René, I like this story. It's good stuff.
Take care René and be safe!
at 08:51 on August 28th, 2008
René, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 09:27 on August 28th, 2008
Don't know which way to run yet. Thanks for flags and offer.
at 23:59 on August 28th, 2008
René, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 16:01 on August 29th, 2008
René, I like this story. It's good stuff.
Great continuing coverage!
at 16:58 on August 29th, 2008
Take care Rene. We're just up the road. Let me know if we can help.
at 17:59 on August 29th, 2008
You gotta see the stuff on the 'Sweet Spots' that feed hurricanes that I just added.
at 18:00 on August 29th, 2008
Not that far, nuke. How did McComb fare during Katrina? You had to be close the the track.
at 18:42 on August 29th, 2008
Lots of trees down. Damage mostly from wind and falling trees. Power was out for a week or so.
Not so bad. It started getting much worse the farther east (and south) you went.
at 18:55 on August 29th, 2008
Two families on my block relocated here from NO after Katrina. In the last two months, both families decided to move back home, so they put their houses on the market and went back. Their homes haven't sold yet. At least they will have somewhere to go.
Contraflow is supposed to start sometime tomorrow evening. During the Katrina evac, I couldn;t help but be moved to see bumper-to-bumper traffic in all lanes of the Interstate headed north. Estimates were that close to a million people passed through in a 48 hour period.
Truly surreal.
at 03:01 on August 30th, 2008
at 06:33 on August 30th, 2008
This thing gets out over the open water for a day or so, and don't be suprised to see it go catagory 5 ... it's already looking pretty bad !
Source: news.yahoo.com
at 05:37 on August 30th, 2008
Thanks for the updates Rene, stay safe and take care!
at 07:53 on August 30th, 2008
Oh, it's spinning up fast and getting bigger, up to 300 miles + across. and here comes Hannah from the East Wing!
at 13:27 on August 30th, 2008
Remember what I said and if you need me I'm here for you. I'm really worried about you.
at 14:24 on August 30th, 2008
Did you get out yet?
at 20:12 on August 30th, 2008
René, I like this story. It's good stuff. Wishing you safety
at 21:09 on August 30th, 2008
Rene has left NO and moved north to Covington to be with her sister and friends, and of course, Tinker, the Louisiana Swamp Cat.
They may decide to continue moving northward to McComb to crash with Mrs. Nuke and me. Rene said they will decide tomorrow (Sunday).
Will keep y'all posted as this develops.
at 03:02 on September 6th, 2008
We stayed with a whole slew of people. lost electric and cable right in the middle of the storm, but had two generators. so could keep track kinda on radio. No internet there. cell-phones stopped working.
tornados whipping through up into Mississippi, near Nuke's place. hope he's alright, with his family.
Baton Rouge got hit hardest, knocking out 14 transmission stations, that fed electric to all of South Louisiana.
Safe home now.
at 04:27 on September 6th, 2008
Glad to hear you are safely home Rene, you need to keep an eye on Hurricane Ike as it's current path shows it could head your way.
at 04:43 on September 6th, 2008
Yeah, we know. Wondering if we should unpack our vehicles. and many wondering if they should even come home. but they are flooding in, regardless, even without electricity in many areas. and problems with sewage. Just before cable went out we were waatching with horror the overtopping of the Industrial Canal. fortunately the wind shifted and the losse ships and barge in the canal were pushed against a dock, where they were able to secure them. Nagin said there weren't supposed to be any vessels in the canal.