My thoughts and prayers goes out to the families in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisanna.

Advisory #25 -10 PM CDT 28 August 2005:

000
WTNT32 KNHC 290250
TCPAT2
BULLETIN
HURRICANE KATRINA ADVISORY NUMBER 25
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
10 PM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

...POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC HURRICANE KATRINA CONTINUES TO APPROACH
THE NORTHERN GULF COAST...

A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTH CENTRAL GULF COAST
FROM MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA EASTWARD TO THE ALABAMA/FLORIDA
BORDER...INCLUDING THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS AND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN.
PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO
COMPLETION.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING AND A HURRICANE WATCH ARE IN EFFECT FROM
EAST OF THE ALABAMA/FLORIDA BORDER TO DESTIN FLORIDA...AND FROM
WEST OF MORGAN CITY TO INTRACOASTAL CITY LOUISIANA.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS ALSO IN EFFECT FROM DESTIN FLORIDA
EASTWARD TO INDIAN PASS FLORIDA...AND FROM INTRACOASTAL CITY
LOUISIANA WESTWARD TO CAMERON LOUISIANA.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AT 10 PM CDT...0300Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE KATRINA WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 27.6 NORTH...LONGITUDE 89.4 WEST OR ABOUT 105 MILES
SOUTH OF THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ABOUT 170 MILES
SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF NEW ORLEANS LOUISIANA.

KATRINA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST NEAR 10 MPH...AND A
TURN TO THE NORTH IS EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS. ON THE
FORECAST TRACK THE CENTER OF THE HURRICANE WILL BE VERY NEAR THE
NORTHERN GULF COAST MONDAY MORNING. HOWEVER...CONDITIONS ARE
ALREADY DETERIORATING ALONG PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL AND
NORTHEASTERN GULF COAST...AND WILL CONTINUE TO WORSEN THROUGH THE
NIGHT.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 160 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. KATRINA
IS A CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. SOME
FLUCTUATIONS IN STRENGTH ARE LIKELY PRIOR TO LANDFALL...AND KATRINA
IS EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL AT EITHER CATEGORY FOUR OR FIVE
INTENSITY. WINDS AFFECTING THE UPPER FLOORS OF HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS
WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY STRONGER THAN THOSE NEAR GROUND LEVEL.

KATRINA REMAINS A VERY LARGE HURRICANE. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND
OUTWARD UP TO 105 MILES FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE
WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 230 MILES. A WIND GUST TO 90 MPH WAS
RECENTLY REPORTED FROM SOUTHWEST PASS LOUISIANA.

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 904 MB...26.70 INCHES. AN
AIR FORCE RESERVE UNIT RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT WILL BE REACHING THE
CENTER OF KATRINA VERY SHORTLY.

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. SIGNIFICANT STORM SURGE FLOODING WILL OCCUR
ELSEWHERE ALONG THE CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO COAST.

RAINFALL TOTALS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF
15 INCHES...ARE POSSIBLE ALONG THE PATH OF KATRINA ACROSS THE GULF
COAST AND THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. RAINFALL TOTALS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES
ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY INTO THE EASTERN GREAT LAKES
REGION TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY.

ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING OVER SOUTHEASTERN
LOUISIANA...SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI...SOUTHERN ALABAMA...AND OVER THE
FLORIDA PANHANDLE TONIGHT.

REPEATING THE 10 PM CDT POSITION...27.6 N... 89.4 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...NORTH-NORTHWEST NEAR 10 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WINDS...160 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 904 MB.

INTERMEDIATE ADVISORIES WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL
HURRICANE CENTER AT MIDNIGHT CDT AND 2 AM CDT FOLLOWED
BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 4 AM CDT.

FORECASTER FRANKLIN


$$

Same here in Austin. I will be praying for 4 legged and 2 legged creatures tonight. I bet a lot of pets have been left behind and most livestock will likely be lost (though I doubt thee is much farmland in that region). It makes me very sad.

Hi everyone... FINALLY got my power back yesterday!!!!

Katrina hit miami as a category 1 hurricane and did ALOT of damage!!!!!

Trees in the roads EVERYWHERE, flooding, loss of power, structural damage, and parts of the 836 interstate collapsed.

My apartment had about 1 inch worth of water throughout the living room (im on the 1st floor) and we had a hairline leak in the ceiling dropping water into the apartment throughout the storm from the sliding glass doors to the front door. I had 23 buckets lined up to catch as much water as i can. We are still cleaning up...

My heart dropped when I was finally able to see the TV last night and see the picture of the hurricane now as a cat. 5. IT IS HUGE! and the eye is so well defined. My prayers and thoughts go out to alllll those people.

I saw what it has done to my area as only a cat. 1.
My car was actually MOVED in my parking lot, and was practically side by side with the car next to me. Trees came crashing into rear windows in my complex as well.

This hurricane caught most people in my area completely by surprise. they didnt let us leave work until 5pm on thursday and by the time it hit, it was too late to get anything like water, gas, ice, board up etc.
we waited on friday night in a line for gas for 2 hours, a line that wrapped all the way around the street...

it was unbelievable...

i just hope that people took the warnings and prepared as best as they could.. i know here we are still a mess, and i can only imagine what that area will look like tommorow...

hurricanes and tropical storms are to be taken very seriously....

Glad to hear you're safe!

My parents and sister and family cat are with my here in Oxford. We know my parents' house does not have power in Pass Christian, MS.

The weather here in Oxford is starting to get rainy and windy. We are suppose to get some winds as strong as 35-40mph tonight.

Not that this storm is at all funny, but has anyone else seen this reporter Steve Harrigan on Fox News?? He has been reporting live from Gulfport, MS all morning. It is possibly the most hilarious reporting I have ever seen. We have all seen the typical weather reporting with someone out in the rain, soaked, but this guy has set a whole new level. He keeps shouting "whoaaaaaaaa - I'm getting out of here! Ahhhhhhhh! " He is out of control.

I hope everyone is safe and sound.

thanks! :)

I hope the same can be said for the many people dealing with Katrina now.

I have vacation plans there for Halloween as well!!! We shall see...

Hope everyone who is in the path of the storm stays safe!!!

One of my pledge sisters just moved to NO for law school at Tulane, she hadn't even been living there for 2 weeks before she came back home to Missouri to seek shelter. I feel so bad for her and everyone else that is suffering from this storm. :(

NO is under water - some pumps have stopped working
 

Some people are trapped on there roofs (those that made it). And the predom. poor area was hit hard. Part of the Superdome's roof is gone (people inside can see the sky) - and all this is just NO. Please pray for them.

Katrina pounds Louisiana, Gulf Coast
New Orleans pumps fail; Mississippi coast like 'hell on earth'

Monday, August 29, 2005; Posted: 1:59 p.m. EDT (17:59 GMT)

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Hurricane Katrina weakened slightly as it pummeled the Gulf Coast Monday, but the powerful storm still had plenty of punch as it swept through Mississippi with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

The weather service reported that "extensive and life-threatening storm surge flooding" was occurring along the Louisiana and Mississippi coast.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour told reporters that Katrina "came in on Mississippi like a ton of bricks."

When asked what was his greatest fear, Barbour replied grimly "that there are a lot of dead people down there."


Read the rest here

Its a category 2 now.

Stay safe and dry, everyone.

My best goes out to all the folks down there...

Hopefully you are not still down there...

Nearly my boyfriend's whole family lives in southern Louisiana... as well as my brother (Tulane, he left Saturday night for Memphis). :( :( :(

My teacher was talking about the storm in class today. He says New Orleans is shaped like a bowl... pray that their levies don't break, because if they do, they are predicted to be underwater for literally six months.

Ole Miss opens shelter for Katrina
 

Tad Smith Coliseum Open as Overflow Emergency Shelter
08/29/2005


OXFORD, Miss. - University of Mississippi officials have opened Tad Smith Coliseum as an overflow shelter for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Physical Plant workers began covering the facility's basketball court Monday morning, said Buddy Kahler, associate director of the UM Physical Plant Department. All restrooms have been stocked, trash receptacles are available and restricted areas have been cordoned off, he said.

Both First Baptist Church on Van Buren Avenue and Calvary Baptist Church on Highway 30 have opened shelters in coordination with the American Red Cross, which is routing people to appropriate locations. The university is offering the coliseum as an overflow site, Kahler said. The coliseum also is available as a primary shelter for students in case of any problems with residence halls or other student housing.

Anyone needing shelter for the night can come to the coliseum, located on Coliseum Drive near Highway 6. People using the shelter should park in legal parking spaces surrounding the coliseum and use one of the front entrances.

"There are no accommodations for sleeping, so anyone who comes needs to bring their own comfort items: sleeping bags or bedding, toiletry items or whatever they need," Kahler said. Due to health and safety concerns, no pets are allowed in the coliseum. Also, only battery-operated electrical devices should be used to avoid overloading the building's circuits. University personnel are on hand for security and to answer questions, he said.

For more information or assistance, call UM's Physical Plant Department at 662-915-7051 or 662-915-7003.

by staff
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsdesk Story #4628

ETA: The weather has gotten worse since 8am this morning. The winds are blowing harder and the rain is coming down . Classes are cancelled at Ole Miss until 1pm tomorrow.