Thunderstorm Southern Style

[john in la]

This picture was taken from a high rise building in downtown New Orleans Thursday afternoon as a thunder storm passed by.
Kind of a ominous picture when you first look at it because you would think all the rebuilding going on is fixing to go to trash real fast.
But this is just a harmless water spout. Did catch a lot of attention though because this storm spit out about 3 or 4 of them.

 

[Anonymous-0]

John, when I was a kid, I rode to the store with mom and we seen 3 of them at the same time over lake Okeechobee. The year befor one nearly whiped Okeechobee off the map

 

[Anonymous-0]

And why are we rebuilding a city below sea level that is right on the shore? Sounds like our gov't at work again.

 

[Anonymous-0]

AMEN!!!

 

[Anonymous-0]

Storms like this used to be rare here in manitoba , I dont know if you saw the news about the twisters in elie ( Manitoba) .
3 weeks ago i was at a bluegrass festival when a storm hit and the band was from virginia and they ran for cover saying they had never seen winds like this . Jesus were in the north is this global warming ? We need a little warming but we're getting weather , 38 degrees tomorrow , no humidity " in manitoba " ?
We have only just recovered from 17 inches of rain in 2 months , What the hell is going on ?

 

[Anonymous-0]

Thats a pretty cool picture. It's still a tornado and dangerous. It's harmless while it's over water unless your out there in a boat, just like a tornado is harmless when it's in a field.

 

[john in la]

We have had them come on land before. They usually do very little damage and break up real fast.

Our local weather man says they are not made of the same dynamics as a real tornado but I will still stay clear of them if I can.

 

[john in la]

Since you do not know all the facts; only hear what is on TV; that question is not worth answering.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Since I was there after Katrina I'll put my 2 cents in. If all those newer ranch houses had been built on stilts like the houses in the Outer Banks, people would at least have a salvageable house to go back to. The local and state governments could have easily planned out evacuations so people would have gotten out. I saw a lot of buses sitting in the medians. Evidently no one in charge down there ever heard the Boy Scout motto; Be Prepared.

 

[john in la]

I would first like to thank you for coming in after Katrnia and helping us in our time of need.

I have a few questions because I truly what to understand your point of view.

You say all the houses that are in the protected area should be built on stilts like the unprotected area.
Well I am 48 and the only other hurricane that I can remember that did any flooding in the city was Betsy in 1965; and it was no where near as bad as Katrina. In fact these are the only floods in my parents life of 77 years also.

So do you also feel that the houses on the gulf coast and those in Miami should be built on stilts to protect them from storm surge.
I also assume that your house is built extra tough to withstand everything even the 100 yr storms.

Evacuate?????? Yea right. It took days after the storm to move everyone out. Should we evacuate everyone for every storm chance (sometimes 3 or 4 a year) to prevent the once in a 100 yr catastrophe. Should we move everyone inland for every storm that hits our US coast???

I feel that you are just stuck on the fact that the city is below sea level and using that as your catch all. Well that has been the case since this city was founded in the 1700's.

Now if you wanted to channel your effort to a good cause may I suggest that you write your congressman and tell him you do not want to pay for another case like this. Suggest to him that they get the Corps to bust open the levees on the Mississippi River so it can build our shoreline back and quit dumping tons of sediment off the continental shelf every day. This would give us the buffer zone we need to fight storms like this and prevent future flooding.

Like I said before. If you knew all the facts; and not just what you hear on TV you could make better comments.

Thanks
John

 

[Anonymous-0]

John I was there enough to see that most of the damage in N.O. was from high water, not wind or strong currents. While much of the utilities where damaged, many of the homes were damaged by less than 8' of water. And most structural damage was from strong currents where the levies broke. Totally different damage than that of Gulfport which was pretty much wiped out.

If the government down there had preplanned, they could have had trains evacuating people to say Shreveport or someplace relatively safe but close. There are many tourist railroads that they could have borrowed passenger cars from to evacuate BEFORE the storm. Yes, I know the rest of the story, and anyone who owns property within 100 miles of the coast should be aware of the risks. Myself if I had coastal property, it would have a concrete slab with utility hookups so I could park the RV there. I would'nt have more than a 10x10 shed for the lawnmower and patio furniture. There are ways for those who are sold on the N.O. way of life to live there and have a home that can withstand a reasonable amount of storm damage and still be cost effective.

By the way, my house (in Oh.) is built about 4' above the 500 year flood zone, and I have 2x6 studs in the walls. It's code that you cannot build a home or commercial structure in the 100 yr. flood zone either.

 

[john in la]

Thank you for your comments.......

I will agree that most of the damage was done by flooding water from when the levee broke. There was little damage from wind before this.
My parents house had only minor shingle damage from wind. They live in a area that the levee did NOT break; but get this.... The government found it necessary to evacuate all non accentual personal. They included the guys that run the pumping stations that pump water out as non accentual. So their house flooded from rain water. That is just crazy.

I also agree that they should NOT rebuild N.O. until the facts are faced and more is done to prevent flooding; mainly taking the levees off the Mississippi and allowing the surrounding land to build above sea level and used as a buffer zone.

As far as evacuating that is not cost feasible. Most people would not leave anyway. Many stay and just ride it out. All areas were under a mandatory evacuation but many choose not to leave.
Think of it this way.........
I give you a tractor but tell you not to use it in a certain way such as pulling out tree stumps. You do it any way and it turns over on you. Then you have the gall to try and sue me because I did not force you from NOT pulling stumps with this tractor.
Same difference here.........
We tell you to evacuate. You should have a plan of your own in advance to do so. Heck you live in a flood prone area. We set up the roads so they will handle the extra traffic better. You choose to stay and then have the gall to complain that we did not force you to leave. It is also not the governments place to pay for and provide evacuation no more than it is the governments place to give me money to rebuild my house after the damage.

See I think we both have common ideas; we just think the solution should come from different directions.

 

[Anonymous-0]

John, Agree pretty much with you, just one thing on the evacuation. It's much cheaper for the Gov. to provide buses and trains to evacuate than to use helicopters and rescue crews. Not everyone has a (reliable) vehicle to get out. But you still should have a plan.