Monday, July 28, 2008

Two Down...Two & a Half to go...

As I stated last Thursday, the Tropics are taking a snooze. We have made it through June & July without a hurricane threat. Since November has never seen a hurricane cross the Louisiana coast & by mid October cold fronts have cooled down the Gulf waters...that leaves the next 8-10 weeks to endure the threat of storms. We are about to enter the most active time historically, so you should make sure you have enough canned food, bottled water, batteries & other necessities to get you thru 3-5 days without power and the ability to go to the store or pharmacy. If a major hurricane threatens, most of you will still have to leave just because we don't know how strong the rebuilt levees really are. The exceptions would be those who have the following...1) a 2 or more story home...2) Didn't flood during Katrina...3) Taken the personal responsibility to have all necessary supplies for 10-14 days...4) have installed a generator to power their house...5) have installed all the hurricane straps plus window protection to keep their home intact. IF you have done all that, then I would feel OK with having you stay. Just remember, after the storm, you will most likely be confined to your property as the police will not want people on the streets with downed poles & power lines. Hopefully this current quiet spell lasts until the cold fronts start coming.

4 comments:

Caveman said...

Not sure I would follow the recommendation that if you did not flood during Katrina then you are ok to stay for another big storm, that is like saying if you did not flood during past storms then don't buy flood insurance...

Bob Breck said...

Not so Caveman. Katrina produced the greatest storm surge in the Gulf (28-31 ft.) on record easily smashing Camille's (24.2'). Statistically, it is highly unlikely that we will see that kind of surge again in our lifetime here. I am comfortable in saying what I said. If you didn't flood with Katrina, your chances of staying dry are not just good, but excellent if another Katrina type storm comes. Using your analogy...I have no need for a personal hand gun since the police will protect me. I believe in personal responsibility. I won't depend on government all the time. Appreciate your comments.

Caveman said...

Katrina let New Orleans off easy, by not making landfall to the west of New Orleans. If landfall would have happened to the west of New Orleans the storm surge smack'n new New Orleans would have been much worse and more damaging than before. The Big Easy was on the west side of the eyewall not the east such as Waveland, MS areas and look what it did to them! Statistically, it was unlikey that New Orleans would have seen another Camille storm, which was correct, we saw Katrina instead.

Bob Breck said...

Caveman you are partly correct. If Katrina had passed farther to our west (Houma-Hammond), the Westbank would have gotten much more water...But remember what caused the water on the Eastbank of Orleans & Jefferson. As Katrina moved just east of the city, the SSE winds which drove water into Lake P. turned to the north driving all that water back to the Southshore. That was the surge that took out much of the north side of the twin spans to Slidell and forced the water into the outfall canals which then failed flooding the city. A big storm moving farther to the west would drive the water into the Lake and increase flooding on the Northshore and bring water up Barataria Bay flooding much of the Westbank. Those that stayed dry during Katrina(the exception being the Westbank), will stay dry if another Katrina type storm comes. Why? Remember the Corps has closed off the outfall canals plus they have rebuilt levees much stronger than they were before. Good point Caveman. thanks