-- Anonymous, September 20, 2002

Answers

you might have to click refresh/reload to get it to update.

-- Anonymous, September 20, 2002

Potential problem

Just how the storm will affect South Florida remains a guess.

For now, the weather service predicts the Keys and the southern portions of Miami-Dade and Monroe counties will see 3 to 5 inches of rain from the storm between today and Sunday.

The rest of South Florida also should see an increase in rain showers and thunderstorms over the weekend "as this thing becomes larger," said Pfost, of the National Weather Service.

A potential problem for Florida’s west coast: a low-pressure ridge descending down from the U.S. Midwest could push Isidore to the northeast.

The trough is forecast to bring Isidore almost to a halt once it’s north of Cuba later today. From that position, forecasting models are in disagreement about which way the storm will go. A five-day outlook says Isidore’s core could be anywhere from the Yucatan to Jacksonville.

"The bottom line is that when Isidore gets into the Gulf, steering currents will become very weak, and it will likely meander and cause much anxiety for several days," said hurricane specialist James Franklin.

The National Hurricane Center projects the system will proceed generally northwest for the next three days, putting it about 300 miles due west of Key West on Sunday morning.

Winds to increase

By Sunday afternoon, it is forecast to intensify into a major hurricane with sustained winds of 120 mph. Although the latest estimates take the storm toward southwest Louisiana or Texas, the entire Gulf coast remains on guard.

Isidore is the second hurricane of the 2002 Atlantic season, which has thus far seen 10 tropical storms overall. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had predicted seven to 10 named storms, including four to six hurricanes, this year.

[Clip from http://www.sun-sentinel. com/news/weather/hurricane/sfl-isidore(0,2780521).story?coll=sfla%2Dho me%2Dheadlines ]

-- Anonymous, September 20, 2002

Looks nasty.

Barefoot, and anyone else that is in the possible way of this storm, please keep a good eye on it. Hope you are safe!

-- Anonymous, September 20, 2002

I'm SOOOOO GLAD that I refused to leave the area. If I hadn't I'd be near Tampa right now, not scheduled to fly out until Monday.

Hey, y'all down there have one less Northerner to worry about . . .

-- Anonymous, September 20, 2002

I'm very glad my son moved across the lake from New Orleans. Of course, there would be problems in that area too from any hurricane but nowhere near the misery that NO will have to endure. Y'all recall that most of New Orleans is BELOW sea level. Therefore, a storm surge of anything, let alone the huge surge that a Cat 3 or 4 would generate would create devastation, plus the huge rainfall. Many moons ago I read a very good report by the NO Levee District on several scenarios. In the worst case back then, there would be 15 feet of water in the street at the lakefront "dwindling" to six feet in higher parts of town. Remember those tall levees keep out the lake and the Mississippi River in part because the city has sunk over the years (it's mostly drained swamp). They have been known to fail during hurricanes. Or, in one epic case, a levee was dynamited to spare the Faubourg Marigny area (just to the east of the French Quarter) but then deep flooding occurred on the West Bank of the River. Oops! Tough. There are only three basic interstate routes out of the city and the ones east and west would be scary, perhaps fatal, under threat from a Gulf hurricane, like Isidore.

Since I read that Levee Board report, the city has grown substantially and there has been heavy development to the east and west of the city, north too, but the east (especially) and the west are far more vulnerable. Those who sensibly moved out of the lower areas to the south after Hurricane Betsy have been replaced by younger family members who wanted the free-cheap land to build on. Worst case scenario as delineated by the Levee Board: a hurricane will travel the path of the Mississippi River, pushing the water before it and all that water will spill over the levees (and the new floodwalls and gates) and into the city. Almost as bad with a hurricane entering the area via Lake Pntchartrain. (If the floodwalls and gates were built by the same people who originally built I-10, you can guarantee that they will fail because of too much sugar in the cement or something.) Better hope New Orleans doesn't get hit; such a catastrophe will make Andrew look like a brisk breeze.

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2002

I hopeful that no one gets hit -- just rain where it's needed. Unfortunately, those incoming cells are shaping up to be the storm of the century, spread out in three whacks.

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2002

Sept. 23, 2002, 12:54AM

Isidore may aim at Texas

Powerful hurricane pounds Yucatan, could gain strength and move north within days

Staff and News Reports

RESOURCES

• National Hurricane Center: Tropical advisories and maps. (In Spanish)

• National Weather Service of Houston and Galveston: Southeast Texas information.

Powerful Hurricane Isidore, which forced tens of thousands to flee their homes Sunday as it raked the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, could grow stronger and veer north in two days, putting it on a possible course for the U.S. Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center said.

The Hurricane Center said Isidore's maximum sustained winds were down slightly to 105 mph and could weaken further until it re-emerges over water in the Gulf of Mexico early today. The Category 3 storm was then likely to gradually veer toward Texas or Louisiana, the hurricane center in Miami said but cautioned, "it is still to early to be more specific about the threat."

Late Sunday, Isidore was about 20 miles southeast of Merida, Mexico. It was heading southwest at about 5 mph.

Emergency managers along the Texas coast were monitoring Isidore, waiting to see how quickly it returns over water and which direction it begins moving in.

The National Weather Service office in League City issued a hazardous weather outlook Sunday afternoon, advising that the hurricane could threaten Southeast Texas this week.

"If this northwest track persists after Tuesday, it is possible that Isidore could threaten the upper Texas coast and Southeast Texas coast sometime between Wednesday and Friday," according to the bulletin.

Houston's forecast calls for a chance of showers starting Tuesday night and continuing through Saturday. Heavy winds and rain are likely Thursday and Friday.

The Texas Department of Emergency Management is holding conference calls with local officials to coordinate planning.

In Galveston County, authorities plan to meet this morning to evaluate conditions and begin making emergency plans for the week. Chris Noah, operations coordinator for the county's Office of Emergency Management, said the best thing residents can do now is prepare evacuation kits just in case.

"We want to make sure people understand if this storm moves north, it's not a tropical storm, it's a major hurricane," Noah said. "People get used to thinking, `It's just going to rain a lot and there will be some flooding.' We could have that plus heavy winds. This is a Hurricane Carla situation or even worse."

Carla hit the Texas coast on Sept. 10, 1961, causing the deaths of 42 people and billions of dollars in property damage.

Along the coast of the Yucatan, Isidore shredded trees, set roofs dancing in the air and prompted Petroleos Mexicanos, the state oil company, to evacuate 8,000 oil workers from drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Eight hundred others were left aboard pending developments.

Yucatan Gov. Patricio Padron said "the worst of scenarios" was happening as Isidore marched along the state's coast with 125-mph winds, then edged slightly inland toward the capital late Sunday.

With many areas cut off from telephones, the governor said he had no reports of deaths and no estimate of damage. Some local radio stations earlier reported deaths from traffic accidents, but details and their relation to the storm were unclear.

The governor said some coastal residents had rejected the appeals of troops trying to enforce his mandatory evacuation order aimed at 70,000 people. Officials canceled classes Monday for 480,000 students to free classrooms for use as shelters.

The storm blasted down power lines and forced authorities to cut powers in other areas because of the danger. Several television and radio stations were knocked off the air.

Winds howled over piles of branches in Merida's main plaza Sunday night as residents huddled in darkened homes, hotels and public buildings.

Heavy waves pounded the piers and washed onto coastal boulevards in Progreso, the peninsula's main port city, 20 miles to the north. Reporters saw light poles uprooted and hurled to the ground as their lamp fixtures continued to twirl in the winds.

Hundreds of fishermen had returned to shore and secured small boats as the storm neared Progreso, said Capt. Alberto Ordaz Galindo, in charge of navigation for the port captain's office.

Isidore dumped 12 to 20 inches of rain on the sparsely populated northern coastline and caused havoc with phone and power services.

Soldiers and police in all-terrain vehicles scoured muddy roads and streets along the coast while the navy used small vessels to cruise from village to village enforcing the mandatory evacuations.

In Merida, a city of 800,000, winds ripped metal roofing off of houses in poor neighborhoods and snapped branches from trees in the capital's main plaza.

Torrential rains associated with Isidore caused flooding that killed a 16-year-old boy and an 89-year-old man in Nicaragua and authorities there bused hundreds of families to higher ground.

Isidore hit western Cuba on Friday and Saturday with 100 mph winds and torrential rains. The amount of damage was unclear, but a tour of the affected region found heavy flooding across the western part of the island, where some communities were reachable only by helicopter.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2002

CNN has a hurricane special on right now (middle of the night) and the emergency services guy for Jefferson Parish (just outside NO) says the death toll in NO from a major hurricane could well be 20,000- 30,000 and he's not kidding.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2002

Louisiana Watches Isidore as Forecasters Predict Northward Turn

By Doug Simpson Associated Press Writer Published: Sep 22, 2002 NEW ORLEANS (AP) - People around south Louisiana kept a wary eye on Hurricane Isidore's progress on Sunday as emergency preparedness officials discussed the possibility the storm could hit the state Gulf coast. Officials with 12 south Louisiana parishes participated in a conference call with National Weather Service forecasters, looking for clues about where the storm would head next.

Residents checked in regularly with parish officials and watched broadcast reports as forecasters discussed the chance Isidore could move toward the Louisiana coast.

"People are monitoring it, they're concerned about it. But it's not the entire talk of the town," said Aaron Ertel, senior coordinator with the St. Charles Parish Department of Emergency Preparedness.

By nightfall, the Category 3 storm was over the northern Yucatan Peninsula, where it shredded trees, twirled streetlights and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes about 20 miles east of Merida, Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm had sustained winds of 120 mph, and a slow, west- southwestward motion is expected through late Monday; on that track, the storm's center would remain over the northwest Yucatan at least through early Monday, the Hurricane Center said.

Forecasters said the storm was expected to emerge into the Gulf. Within two days, it was likely to start veering toward the northwest or north, in the direction of Louisiana or Texas.

Some parish officials were startled to hear that forecasters are all but certain that Isidore will make a northward turn toward Louisiana.

"There was no if, and or but. They are definitely talking about the turn," said William Maestri, Jefferson Parish's emergency preparedness director.

Tim Coulon, Jefferson Parish president, stressed that the storm is still a long way off, and said residents should not panic. The forecasters told officials that the storm could hit anywhere from Brownsville, Texas, to Biloxi, Mississippi.

"We've gotten many phone calls. Nobody knows where it's going, so they're looking to us for instructions," said Christina Gallusser, a spokeswoman with the Calcasieu Parish emergency preparedness office.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2002

it'll probably turn around and head for Miami after we leave. LOL

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2002