Jim, I'm almost to the Texas border, and it looks like
we'll be quite safe here, with maybe just a bit of
minor flooding (I live on a high spot in Lake Charles
in a house built on 1 1/2 foot concrete piers, a
relatively common construction here for older houses).
In thios old house (built about 1930), theworry
isn't high water or rain, but extreme wind which might
have the ability to blow the house off the piers. We
aren't going to get that, and they aren't even closing
any schools in Lake Charles. Lake Charles has bcome
one of the closer destinations for evacuees to the
east of us.
Lake Charles is about 200 miles west of New Orleans.
Unless the storm makes a major left turn, we should be
quite safe here. In 2002 my family left when it
looked like Lilly was going to hit. Lilly
inexplicably went from a cat 4 to cat 1 just before
landfall after traveling over warmer water. I wasn't
teaching that semester since I was recovering from a
sever illness, so we had no problems leaving early.
Even then the nearest hotel room we could find was in
Texarkana, AR. Evacuating New Orleans is a nioght
mare, really only 3 ways out and one leads to
Mississipi and Biloxi, AL wrong direction. They
estimate between 60,000 and 100,000 still left in New
Orleans area which is amazing that it is that few...
Tomorrow will tell the tale. Worst case scenario
according to FEMA studies will be that New Orleans
could be flooded for up to 6 months - that's the
result of a direct hit of a cat 5 on the city. If
you've never been to NO the city sits in a bowl
between Lake Ponchatrain and the Mississippi, and the
levels of both boides of water are higher than the
city and kept back by levies. Driving into NO on I-10
you go on a causeway skirting the south edge of
Ponchatrain, then you pass over the levee into the
city.
Mark Delaney
--- Jim Collins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Mark,
> The news reports and satellite photos make that
> whole section of the country
> look like it's about to really get nailed. You and
> Chuck are in our prayers.
>
> Jim Collins
>
>
>
>
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