Absolutely bloody terrifying: a PSA

[vulgarweed]

As I'm sure most of you in the US have heard, Hurricane Katrina is a Category 5. It looks like this.
It is in the Top Three of all-time recorded US hurricanes for its size and intensity.

It has sustained winds of 175 mph, and gusts up to 215. It might bring up to 30-foot storm surges. That will overwhelm the levees and sea walls built to protect places that are at or below sea level. There's no pumping system that can handle that. It is not being alarmist to say that the destruction of New Orleans, by most accepted definitions of that word, is a very real possibility.

There are an estimated 100,000 people in New Orleans who do not own cars and have no way to evacuate.

Those of you on the flist who are religious, magical, and/or spiritual in any way, please take some time out for this today. Everybody: clear a little space in the budget for the Red Cross if possible.

Comments

[hjbender.livejournal.com]

Good Lord. Katrina was little more than a tropical depression when I last saw her, and now she's a bloody monster. And it happened so quickly.

I will keep New Orleans and her people in my thoughts and prayers.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

It happened literally overnight - I was watching some of the weather blogs late last night when it shot up to Category 4, and it was a 5 when I woke up this morning.

They say it's because the water temperatures in the Gulf are in the 90s. "Like kerosene on a fire."