*OFFICIAL* Hurricane Katrina thread

[Sponger15SB]

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I hope you rot in hell!

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Seriously man...people wishing harm to others is just crazy.

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you can go to hell too.

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Maybe a big [censored] tornado will come and tear your [censored] house down.

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One of these does not fit...

[Greg J]

I live on the LSU campus. It's not as bad -- not NEARLY as bad -- as Anderson Cooper in CNN would have you believe here. I was most worried about homeless people in New Orleans, but tentatively it looks like there won't be a huge humanitarian disater I was fearing. I hope I'm right!

I am lucky in that I still have electricity -- many in Baton Rouge don't I'm looking outside as I type this (noon central time) and there are gusts maybe around ~30 mph, and a couple of larger branches have fallen off of the many live oaks that are here, but it's really minor. I am on the west (now south west) end of the storm, which is good for me.

It's the people on the other side of New Orleans (Biloxi, Gulfport, Long Beach, Slidell, maybe Pascagoula/Moss Point) that have the most to worry about. Fortunately they don't have the potential for a massive humanitarian disaster that New Orleans does.

[blatz]

Yesterday I checked into a thread saying I was sticking it out. My friend lives above a neigborhood old mans bar in the 9th ward, a few blocks from the Mississippi, and we sealed the place, set up spots on the first and second floor, bottom for winds, top for floods, and sat back.

The three old guys, who'd been though Camille in the 1960's, were very drunk admitted they were scared, my ex-girlfriend, who I was staying with, was enjoying herself. I was pacing watching the news. It always weakens and turns at the last second...but this time it was stregnthening and staying true to the path. I couldn't swallow my beer. All my friends had already left, and I'd taken out the alternator of my car the other day.

At 10 PM, I had visions of the typhoons in Asia, and wrote a note and sealed it in my passport so my family and friends would know how I regretted not leaving town when my dead bloated corpse was found. I called my best friend, who offered me a ride out of town the night before, which I refused, telling him goodbye, I love you, I screwed up, I loved my life and my choices and had no regrets(till this last one).

I have never been so scared my entire life. Seriously. I was panicking. Amazingly, I found a friend still in town, also upset, and we took off, the last people in New Orleans to leave, at Midnight. The Highways were deserted. My ex-girlfriend wouldn't leave. She wasn't letting a hurricane chase her out of the home she loves. She could not be convinced. I left thinking she would die.

Overall the biggest night of my life...I felt like I been through a war. My current girlfriend's parents called me up, and told me their whole church in Georgia prayed for me. I have been anti religous my whole life, still am, but it was so touching I almost broke down. My girlfriend was in Australia, hysterical, because the last we talked, I told her, (she knows I'm stubborn) that like a true captain, I would go down with my ship. I love my city.

Plenty of rambling in this, but thought maybe this was interesting. Currently I'm at a public library in Lafayette, where we are homeless for now, as there are no hotel space anywhere. I think the city is not as bad as the worst reports. I put all my heart in wishing the best for those who remained, and I think all is well. The city is toast though, alot of people will not come back, I've been on the phone all day with friends, and that is a general vibe. I will return, and live there, as I looked at the map in the car and new there is no other city in the US for me. I was house shopping last week...I think I can get a better deal next week.

Yesterday, everyone I knew had jobs, possesions, money, houses, friends, hangouts...today nobody knows if they have anything. Really weird.

Anyway thanks for letting me unburden myself.

Jeff

(ps...in rereading this tears welled up in my eye thinking of the last 24 hours (I'm not a teary type)...I left so much out...I hope to never have another day like this in my life, and now I must fulfill the promises that I put in the note in my passport that were there in case I lived)

[Sponger15SB]

Thanks for sharing that story. Glad to hear you're ok.

[tbach24]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">En respuesta a:</font><hr />
Thanks for sharing that story. Glad to hear you're ok.

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[quoteThis storm is only going to get stronger so we should seriously pray for these people who are in harms way. Take care all and God be with you.

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[Ed Miller]

Thank God you left, blatz. I read your post yesterday shaking my head. I'm very glad you made it out.

My mom called me today from a hotel room in Baton Rouge. A local BR station is showing helicopter footage of New Orleans neighborhoods. She said that she clearly picked out her neighborhood, and the whole thing is under water up to the roof. My mom and dad (who lived a block and a half away) both lost their houses. Obviously it's a shock to me, but they are ok, and they'll find somewhere else to live.

My mom told me that one of her best friends decided to stick it out in his house on Independence Street in Bywater. For those that don't know NO, this is in or near a flood-prone area that had serious problems during Hurricane Betsy in 1965. I fear he is dead. I don't know at all.. hopefully he is fine. Mostly I just don't know.

Probably a hundred thousand people or more will be homeless. I fear hundreds are dead. Good luck to everyone, and I hope no one on our forum, at least, ended up staying.

[STLantny]

Blatz, have you heard from your ex?

[OtisTheMarsupial]

I read through this thread and saw some comments saying, "this is sad but what can we do except sit and watch?" Well, there ARE things you can do. You can donate money or blood or both. So go out and do it NOW!

Oh, and Blatz, thank god you're OK.

[tonypaladino]

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Which is more powerful, a Tsunami or a hurricane ?

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They are the same thing. Hurricanes are in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific. Tsunamis are in the Western Pacific. Tsunamis have a tendency to get stronger; in fact, Typhoon Tip has the lowest pressure ever record at 870mb.

Katrina, which is now at 902mb, is the strongest hurricane ever in the GOM.

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I didn't read the whole thread, so I don't know if anyone corrected this already:

A Tsunami is a tital wave, usually caused by an earthquake. A typhoon is a hurricane that happens in the Pacific.