I’m feeling fairly secure, here in Katy. Rita has gone off to the NE of me, and our forecast looks less dangerous by the minute. My home (and those around me) can easily withstand the currently predicted gusts to 65 mph. Obviously, like everyone else, I’m still alert. It’s pretty unlikely at this point, though, that my location will be in severe danger.
My relief has given me the mental energy to go have a look at the predictions and expectations for New Orleans. Over on NOLA.com, I found a headline referring to âseepageâ? along the Lower Ninth Ward levee. What does that mean? Dunno â but it canât be good. This link shows several pictures, and accompanying text that includes mention of increasing water there. Iâm having some trouble understanding why this is the only place Iâve found mention of the seepage. Did I miss something the last few days?
While I was still thinking about seeping levees in New Orleans, I meandered over to WWLTV.com, and paid a visit to the weather forums. Meteorologist Brad Panovich has been posting, and his latest update (and ensuing thread) is here. He sees the storm coming ashore (most likely) at Lake Charles, with the possibility of a late turn further east.
Most of the predictions I’ve read this morning confirm this, but are also now suggesting 3-5 inches of rain for New Orleans (which is under a Tropical Storm warning).
Taken together, I donât like the sound of things there. Algiers, I believe, will come out just fine from this storm. However, the thought of a lot of rain combined with a seeping levee on the East Bank makes my head throb.
About the only good news, if something breaks there again, is pretty much everybody is already out of that area.
More than anything, though – I really hope the traffic situation didn’t crater as horribly over toward Rita’s main strike zone, and that those people are long gone.
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