Stories tagged Hurricane Katrina
Satellite image of Hurricane Katrina
Courtesy NOAAI just got an email from Scientific American with a link to a really cool grouping of web resources on hurricanes. Check out the Scientific American Guide to Hurricanes here.
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Hurricane Gustav: The dangerous storm is expected to make landfall Monday morning.
Courtesy NOAAAs Hurricane Gustav is gaining strength barreling across the Gulf of Mexico and charging toward the US coastline, authorities have ordered mandatory evacuation of citizens in the Gulf Coast region.
New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin made a fear-laden plea that all citizens of the Big Easy take the order very seriously. The mayor stated that storm surges as high as 18-24 feet are possible from Gustav and warned that there would be no services or aid available to anyone who decides to ignore the evacuation order. Some parts of New Orleans are still recovering from devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina three years ago.
Gustav started as a tropical storm earlier this week (Aug. 25), was upgraded to a hurricane as it moved over Haiti. It hit Cuba on August 30 as a Category 4 hurricane. Last night Gustav’s designation was lowered back to a Category 3 hurricane but is expected to gain power as it crosses the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and makes landfall along the US coastline sometime tomorrow morning.
Despite being over 1000 miles away, Hurricane Gustav is having an effect on us here in the Twin Cities. The Republican National Convention starts tomorrow in St. Paul, and President Bush and Vice-president Cheney have canceled appearances there due to Gustav’s potential as a national emergency.
Gustav graphic loop from the NOAA
Video of Mayor Nagin orders evacuation
NOAA’s National Hurricane Center site
CNN report
The National Museum of American History is in the planning stages of building an exhibition displaying numerous Hurricane Katrina artifacts. The exhibit will be on display after the museum reopens in 2008.
As the weather cleared in New Orleans officials were able to move in and begin rescue operations. However, a hole in the levee holding back the salty waters of Lake pontchartrain has been widening throughout the day. This hole is causing flood waters to steadily rise, flooding areas that had originally escaped inundation.
New Orleans's Ray Nagin said, "We're not even dealing with dead bodies...They're just pushing them on the side." This is a very gruesome situation. Although the bacteria that start the decay process when a human body dies is not dangerous to other humans, many other toxic substances pollute that waters flooding New Orleans.
A huge category 4 hurricane (winds 131-155 mph) named Katrina struck the US gulf coast Monday morning, August 28th. Many of the major news outlets will have stories covering the hurricane. Science Buzz will strive to bring you a perspective on the science behind this awesome force of nature and its human effect.
Waters rise quickly
For a unique perspective on storm's surge, check out the live USGS stream-flow gauges in the New Orleans, LA area.
The stream-flow gauges measure the water levels at various places around the state and are updated by computer every 15-60 minutes. As Hurricane Katrina came inland it brought with it enormous surges in the water level. At several of these gauges around the area you can see the sharp rise in the water levels starting near the middle of the day on Sunday (28th).
Unique images of the storm
NASA's MODIS satellites captured this amazing high-res image of the storm on Sunday (28th) while the storm was still many miles out from the shore. This unique image allows you to see great detail in the clouds that swirl around the eye of the storm.
As the storm grew closer to the coast people started to feel the horrible effects of the energy wrapped up in this weather system. There are several sets of photos on the community photo sharing website, Flickr, that show what people in the area are experiencing.
Photos tagged: hurricane + katrina
Photos tagged: hurricane + louisiana
Have you ever been in a hurricane? Can you imagine what it might be like?
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