Katrina: Mixing the Worst of Camille and Betsy
Hurricane Betsy hit Louisiana in September, 1965, as a category 3 storm, with winds of 135 MPH, following a track similar to what we are seeing with Katrina. She caused 8.5 billion dollars of damage, in 2000 dollars. Four years later, on August 16th, 1969, Camille struck as a category 5 storm, with winds of 200 MPH. Forecasters believe that Katrina may rank along with these two powerful hurricanes in terms of effects and damage.
New Orleans is hunkering down. The city is being evacuated, and about 100,000 people are taking refuge in the Superdome. Katrina is presently located 150 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River. It’s a category 5 storm, with winds up to 165 MPH. If it remains a Category Five storm, it will be one four category 5 storms ever to make landfall in the United States. With expected storm surges of up to 25 feet, the city could be underwater by this time on Monday.
The image above was taken around 4 PM this afternoon, and shows the eye of the storm, and the bands of rain affecting Louisiana and Mississippi. This powerful storm has hurricane force winds extending out 100 miles in each direction from the center. The very first rain bands are beginning to affect central and north Georgia this afternoon.
The image to the right is the National Weather Service estimate of precipitation from 8 PM Sunday through 8 PM Tuesday. Atlanta could receive 3 to 4 inches of rain, along with the possibility of tornadoes.
Meanwhile, Tropical Depression 13 is now a reality. It is expected to become Tropical Storm Lee by sometime Tuesday afternoon. The projected path takes the storm northeast of the Dominican Republic by Friday afternoon, and could be affecting the east coast of the US by the day after Labor Day.
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