MIAMI -- With
sustained winds near 160 mph, a dangerous Category 5 Hurricane
Katrina is on a direct path for the Louisiana Gulf Coast -- and New
Orleans in particular.
According to the
National Hurricane Center (NHC), Hurricane Katrina is expected to make landfall as a Category 4 or 5
storm in intensity at around sunrise Aug. 29. Earlier in the day
Aug. 28, Katrinas wind speeds reached 175 mph. At landfall,
Hurricane-force winds are expected to extend outward up to 105
miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds extend outward
up to 230 miles.
A hurricane warning
is in effect for the north central Gulf Coast from Morgan City,
La., eastward to the Alabama/Florida border including the city of
New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. A tropical storm warning and a
hurricane watch are in effect from east of the Alabama/Florida
border to Destin, Fla., and from west of Morgan City to
Intracoastal City, La. A tropical storm warning is also in effect
from Destin eastward to Indian Pass, Fla., and from Intracoastal
City westward to Cameron, La.
With the arrival of
Hurricane Katrina, coastal storm surge flooding of 18 to 22 feet
above normal tide levels, locally as high as 28 feet, along with
large and dangerous battering waves can be expected near and to the
east of where the center makes landfall. Some levees in the Greater
New Orleans Area could be overtopped. Rainfall totals of five to 10
inches, with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches possible along
the path of Katrina across the Gulf Coast and the Tennessee Valley;
rainfall totals of four to eight inches are possible across the
Ohio Valley into the eastern Great Lakes region into the coming
week.
With the storm headed
straight for New Orleans, which is up to 10 feet below sea level in
some places and surrounded by water on three sides -- the Gulf of
Mexico, the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain -- the NHC was
calling Hurricane Katrina a potentially catastrophic
hurricane.
The Louisiana
Superdome, home of the National Football Leagues New Orleans
Saints, acted as one of 10 last-resort temporary shelters for as
many as 10,000 displaced New Orleans residents. The Superdome can
withstand winds up to 200 mph.
When Hurricane Katrina
made landfall Aug. 25 in South Florida, the storm was a Category 1
hurricane with sustained winds of 80 mph, leaving nine people dead
and streets flooded in its wake. After crossing the state, the
storm strengthened again over the warm waters of the Gulf of
Mexico.
Portions of the
Florida Panhandle, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, including
New Orleans, have been urged to evacuate in anticipation of
Hurricane Katrinas landfall.
In addition to the
property damage and possible loss of life, with several oil
refineries operating in the Gulf of Mexico the price of crude oil
hit a record $70 a barrel in early hours of the Asian market on
Aug. 29.
To contact
TravelWeekly.coms Managing Editor Kimberly Scholz, send e-mail to
[email protected].