(no subject)

[cactuswatcher]

TV news as usual is next to worthless. They still were talking about a storm surge possible in New Orleans of up to 15 feet. Do these people not have a single meterologist who can read a map? In the direction of travel from gulf, New Orleans is a good 30 miles inland. You can't have a significant storm surge from the south in New Orleans proper ever. You can't have a significant storm surge from the river ever. Not enough water. You can't have a huge storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain unless the storm were coming from the north, which would be physically impossible for a hurricane. A flood from the Lake side would be possible, but not really a storm surge.

Now the news people are all breathing a big sigh of relief, thinking its over, when the biggest question is yet to be answered. How much rain is falling between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and how high will the river get before this all passes? That's where flooding in New Orleans would come from.

Comments

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

I might add that the communities on the North shore of Lake Pontchartrain and eastward along the gulf are very vulnerable to storm surges from storms like this one. Only a highly unlucky strike from the east could send a storm surge directly into New Orleans from the more open waters of Lake Borgne.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Why do we get so much discussion of the water rising in Lake Ponchartrain and breaking those levees? And I'm definitely hearing that there is flooding in New Orleans--is that all just from rain?

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. If you watched NBC this morning they were showing a picture of the twin causeway cross the lake. There was no flooding. But, take a bowl shaped city, lower than the surrounding river and lakes and dump a foot of rain water in it, and you will have a lot of flooding in the lowest areas. As I said, though, it's the river level that I still worry about.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

The latest news I've seen is that a 22 foot storm surge hit Bay St. Louis, MS . The back wash in Lake Pontchartrain from such a surge hitting the north shore would have done massive flooding damage to New Orleans, as happened with Hurricane Betsy in 1965. It's more evidence The Big Easy was very lucky this time.

There are reports of a levee break on the canal between The Mississippi and the Intercoastal Waterway, on the east side of N.O. I hope it doesn't spread to more of the levees.