New Orleans wird zwangsevakuiert

[pierremw]

Die vom Hurrikan 'Katrina' bedrohte Touristenmetropole New Orleans im US-Staat Louisiana wird zwangsevakuiert. Der Notstand wurde verhängt.

Alle Menschen der 500.000 Einwohner-Stadt müssen sich sofort ins Landesinnere begeben, so Bürgermeister Ray Nagin. Es sei zu befürchten, dass die Dämme, die die größtenteils unterhalb des Meeresspiegels liegende Stadt schützen, überflutet werden. In der Region sind 1,4 Millionen Menschen vom Hochwasser bedroht.
 

Quelle: ORF Teletext/S. 102/28.08.2005/19:15

[Andre]

Es sieht im Moment wirklich beaengstigend aus.
Katrina bringt Windgeschwindigkeiten von aktuell 184 mph mit sich und ist damit wohl der staerkste Hurrican seit Jahren.

Wir druecken den Bewohnern der betroffenen Regionen die Daumen, dass alles halbwegs glimpflich abgeht.

[Stefan M.]

Das ist schier unglaublich. Die Bilder, die derzeit über die Nachrichtenkanäle laufen, erinnern mich irgendwie an Filme wie "Deep Impact" - es wird tatsächlich eine ganze Großstadt zwangsgeräumt.

Bleibt zu hoffen, dass sich die Befürchtungen zumindest nicht in dem Ausmaß bestätigen und die Stadt nicht größtenteils zerstört wird. Von den schlimmen "Nebeneffekten" wie Plünderer mal ganz abgesehen...  

[Eckensteher]

HI,
hier noch ein eine funktion von google maps
http://hurricane.stormreportmap.com/
Dort kann man genau sehen wo der sturm langzieht.

EDIT:
Webcams
THE PORT OF NEW ORLEANS
http://www.portno.com/webcamnew_out.htm

Hier gibt es auh noch infos, videos und cams
http://www.hurricanecity.com/

Update:

Gulf Coast Awaits Potentially Catastrophic Katrina
Three Die During Evacuations

UPDATED: 5:18 am EDT August 29, 2005

NEW ORLEANS -- Rain was coming down in Louisiana and other parts of the Gulf Coast early Monday morning as powerful Hurricane Katrina made its way toward land with 155 mph sustained winds and a 28-foot storm surge.

The sustained winds are slightly less powerful than earlier, changing the storm to Category 4. Heavy rain was falling in much of the city by 4 a.m.

More than a foot of rain could fall, as well. The hurricane warning for the huge storm extends from Morgan City, La., to the Alabama-Florida border.

Thousands were fleeing New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast or making preparations to ride the storm out, and at least three people were killed while evacuating.

By early Monday morning, relief officials has meals, supplies and military personnel ready at nearby locations to prepare for recovery efforts. By 4 a.m., thousands of people who remained in New Orleans were reportedly without power.

Mandatory evacuations were issued Sunday morning for New Orleans -- much of which sits below sea level -- and parts of southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as Katrina churns toward the coast.

Experts said a direct hit on New Orleans by Katrina could result in a worst-case scenario they've warned about for years. One million people could lose their homes.

New Orleans, one of America's most charming cities, could be converted into a giant cesspool laced with toxic chemicals and raw sewage. Even coffins from the city's legendary cemeteries could be released by floodwaters.

With winds clocked at 155 mph, forecasters fear Katrina is the storm that the people of New Orleans long worried could hit.

Katrina could produce storm surge flooding of up to 28 feet, tornadoes and as much as 15 inches of rain. In light of that danger, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said he expected the city's levee system to fail, and also expected power to go down.

Computer simulations indicate vast sections of the city could be under water up to 30 feet deep. That would leave thousands -- perhaps 1 million -- homeless.

Experts have warned of New Orleans' vulnerability for years. Louisiana has lost more than 1 million acres of coastal wetlands in the last seven decades. The swamps and bayous had served as a storm buffer.

Storm's Vital Statistics

At 3 a.m. CDT, the center of Hurricane Katrina was located near latitude 28.5 north, longitude 89.6 west, or about 55 southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River and about 110 miles south-southeast of New Orleans.

Katrina has made a slight turn to the north and is moving at about 12 mph. The motion is expected to continue, with a possible acceleration.

Hurricane force winds extend 105 miles from the center of the hurricane, and tropical storm force winds extend outward 230 miles, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The weather in the Gulf of Mexico halted some oil production, pushing crude prices over $70 a barrel.

Relief, Security At Staging Areas

Relief teams are preparing for the worst.

The American Red Cross has moved 250,000 meals to Baton Rouge, ready to bring them into New Orleans and surrounding parishes once the storm passes.

Federal officials are stockpiling supplies in Selma, Ala.

They already have 290,000 bags of ice, more than 250,000 gallons of water, 652,000 meals ready to eat and 110,000 tarps.

More than 4,000 National Guardsmen are mobilizing in Memphis, Tenn, before heading to New Orleans to help police the streets.

'A Once-In-A-Lifetime Event'

Nagin, who issued a mandatory evacuation order Sunday morning, called the hurricane "a once-in-a-lifetime event."

Only three Category 5 hurricanes have hit the United States since record-keeping began.

The last was 1992's Hurricane Andrew, which leveled parts of South Florida, killed 43 people and caused $31 billion in damage. The other two were the 1935 Labor Day hurricane that hit the Florida Keys and killed 600 people and Hurricane Camille, which devastated the Mississippi coast in 1969, killing 256.

Hotels are exempt from the New Orleans evacuation order. Acknowledging that large numbers of people -- many of them stranded tourists -- would be unable to leave, the city also set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the 77,000-seat Louisiana Superdome.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Interstate 10 leading away from the city was choked with traffic. She urged motorists to find alternative routes out of the city.

Blanco said President George W. Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.

The president has already declared states of emergency in Louisiana and Mississippi to accelerate the emergency response to the storm. He joined the Federal Emergency Management Agency in urging everyone to obey evacuation orders.

Officials in Washington are sending water, food and other supplies to staging centers in the Southeast. FEMA is coordinating efforts by other federal agencies, including the Coast Guard and the Transportation and Energy departments.

Mississippi Braces

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has declared a state of emergency and officials there have issued mandatory evacuations for low-lying areas.

Residents all along the Mississippi Gulf Coast are trying to evacuate as the National Weather Service warns that Mississippi could be hit by record flooding.

Major routes north from the coast and New Orleans are open, but some areas are clogged with bumper-to-bumper traffic, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

An official at the Mississippi Collesium, which is being used as a shelter, told Jackson, Miss., television station WAPT that the facility was full. Along with people, it had provided sanctuary for hundreds of pets.

Casinos along normally busy U.S. 90 are closed and workers are trying to move sensitive equipment to secure areas off the beach.

Schools will be closed Monday and Tuesday.

"The latest model based on the forecast track would have 60 mph winds as far north as Lexington, across to Kemper County, and over into almost the Arkansas border," said Jim Butch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson, Miss.

Butch said 60 mph winds have the potential to "blow down trees, power lines, damage mobile homes and damage roofs of houses."

He said conditions could be much worse on the coast.

In neighboring Alabama, Gov. Bob Riley has issued a state of emergency and ordered a mandatory evacuation for two coastal counties.

Texas Takes Refugees

Some of the thousands fleeing Katrina have gone west into Texas.

A Texas state official says Interstate 10 from the Louisiana line to Houston is a "river of headlights." He said traffic is moving 25 to 55 mph on a road where the speed limit is 70.

Shelters are open in southeast Texas for those who can't find accommodations elsewhere. In Orange, Texas, the local Red Cross chapter has put up over 90 people at a Baptist church.

Spokeswoman Janie Johnson said the people she has seen are "tired and they're worried." She says they've "been on the road all day, and they don't know what they're going home to."

In Beaumont, Texas, Red Cross volunteer John Bergeron said they'll keep their shelter open as long as needed.

3 Die While Fleeing Storm

An official with the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office said three residents of a New Orleans nursing home fleeing Hurricane Katrina aboard a school bus died Sunday during an evacuation to a Baton Rouge church.

The names, ages and sexes of the dead were not available.

Don Moreau, chief of operations, said the coroner's office responded to a call from emergency medical technicians to a Baptist church, which was the destination for the bus of nursing home patients. Once there, Moreau said one person was dead inside the church and another was found dead inside the bus.

He said the person in the bus appeared to have been dead for some time.

Moreau said the others on the bus, 21 people, were transported to Earl K. Long Hospital, where a third nursing home resident later died.

The coroner's office has not determined a cause of death for any of the three. However, Moreau said many people on the bus were suffering from dehydration.

It is not known how long the bus was on the road, but many other travelers reported drive times from the New Orleans area to Baton Rouge of several hours.

Battered Florida

Katrina first churned ashore in south Florida with 80 mph winds Thursday night before dumping 15 inches of rain or more as it crossed the peninsula. At least nine people were killed, and losses are estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Dozens of families in Miami-Dade County were flooded out of their homes. The hurricane center described it as a "significant heavy rainfall event."

Katrina then took an unexpected dive south after making landfall between Hallandale Beach and North Miami Beach as a Category 1 hurricane -- and it didn't weaken much.

"Normally, when a hurricane is on shore for five or six hours, the wind speed is cut in half. However, that has not happened with Katrina," a meteorologist said.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush asked for federal disaster assistance for Miami-Dade and Broward counties, where some residents said they were caught off-guard by the gathering storm.

He is also urging Panhandle residents to monitor the storm and make necessary preparations.

Katrina was the second hurricane to hit the state this year -- Dennis hit the Panhandle last month -- and the sixth since Aug. 13, 2004.

Tropical Storm Lee?

Tropical Depression 13 is forming in the Atlantic, about 965 miles east of the Lesser Antilles.

The depression, located at latitude 15.4 north, longitude 46.8 west, is moving toward the west-northwest at about 13 mph.

The system has sustained winds of near 30 mph.

If Tropical Depression 13 strengthens into a tropical storm, it will be called Lee.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

quelle:
http://www.local10.com/weather/4887230/detail.html?ontheside=picture