# Katrina takes aim at the panhandle (maybe)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 26, 2005, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714 "2005-08-26T11:55:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 17\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/21 "2005-08-28T03:39:16Z")

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> [@Kythereia](#):
>
> Heh. We haven’t got anything forecast for Tuesday or Wednesday, but then the weather system sucks around here (for example, Hurricane Hazel was supposed to be a light shower of “rain tonight”).
> 
> How are you holding up down there?

Oh, we’re just fine. It’s the folks on the north Gulf Coast that need to worry now. We’re well past it. Of course some of the Miami fallout threw off other plans I had, but stuff happens.

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**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/22 "2005-08-28T04:43:15Z")

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I’m in Baton Rouge now after driving in from New Orleans this afternoon. LOTS of people were evacuating early (it’s nice that it was a Saturday morning and no one had to work so people could get an early start). The traffic was flowing pretty well beyond I-10, then they opened it up so both sides were going westbound. Everyone I know in New Orleans was planning on getting out (I would definitely be outta there)! One of my friends has a house (a townhouse-duplex type thing) about a quarter mile from the river in downtown NO. Yeesh! I feel pretty secure here in Baton Rouge, but I guess we’ll see about this one. Good luck to everyone who is brave enough to stay in the NO area! It looks like you’re going to need it!

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**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/23 "2005-08-28T12:03:33Z")

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Wow, people! Cat 5! This thing has just exploded! I’m very afraid for the city of New Orleans. I don’t think it will ever be the same. ☹ (in fact I’m getting pretty scared for Baton Rouge at this point)

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**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/24 "2005-08-28T12:17:17Z")

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oh goodness, i hope those who haven’t gotten away are doing so now.

she is at 908, camille was around 905-900. many people remember camille, or have heard the stories. believe them, and go west.

they were showing the water temp around the impact points, very high 80’s. 87-89.5. very good for hurricanes, very bad for humans.

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**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/25 "2005-08-28T12:32:53Z")

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Cat 5. I haven’t been watching it, and flipped on the telly this morning to see a huge glaring eye threatening New Orleans. I feel for you people.

On the upside, we really need the rain up here. _shrug_

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**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/26 "2005-08-28T12:35:34Z")

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This is getting to be a monster. [Only three Category 5 hurricanes](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml) have ever made landfall in the US since records began. This has the potential to be just as disastrous as Camille. Of course we now have much better warning of these storms so the death toll will be lower than Camille, providing people have the sense to get as far away as possible as quickly as possible. Still the destruction is going to be massive. The pressure of 908 mb is quite impressive. The Labor Day hurricane of 1935 struck the Keys with 892 mb, the lowest pressure ever observed in the US.

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**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/27 "2005-08-28T13:00:10Z")

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**LoganDear** , talk about your out of the frying pan and into the fire moments. Did Katrina do any damage to your place down in the Keys? Stay safe, we need to see you in October or sometime thereafter.

One of the things that really surprised me with last year’s storms was how evident the changes in atmospheric pressure were. Even though we never took a really direct strike it was very noticeable and my daughter complained all the while that her head hurt from the change.

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**Author:** ![Carm6773](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/28 "2005-08-28T13:19:28Z")

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We dodged a bullet with Katrina. My thoughts and prayers are with those in Louisiana.

The trucking company my husband drives for sends him to Alabama and Kentucky quite often. I just hope they don’t send him there anytime soon.

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**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/29 "2005-08-28T14:27:59Z")

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**Shibb** , I think they’re following me! ☹ I heard from my pops about the house in Marathon. Apparently it was much more severe down there this time than it was for Dennis. Does anyone know the country-yodel-folk singer guy Slim Whitman? He has a house at the end of our canal and his boat sank (again, actually. It sank for Dennis also). 😃 ← I know, it’s not really funny, but apparently the guy is kind of an asshole and the boat was in disrepair anyway. There really wasn’t much damage to our property though. Some limbs down and stuff. There was a tornado right across the street at the airport though! It destroyed about a dozen planes, from what I hear. Very scary! I don’t really know what to expect here in Baton Rouge. I’ve been through hurricanes, but none were very severe, and I might be closer to the center for this one than I have been to any of the others. They usually skip right around us in Tampa, so we’ve been lucky.

Poor New Orleans… I wish I’d taken more pictures! I will definitely be taking pictures here today, tomorrow (as best I can), and after the storm, so I might be putting those online in a couple of days for those interested. That’s assuming I have power.

Good luck everyone! (and what’s with the two Katrina threads?)

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**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/30 "2005-08-28T14:55:07Z")

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I was wondering about the two threads as well. Maybe a merge would be in order?

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**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/31 "2005-08-28T16:32:26Z")

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Perhaps, but I’ll let someone else take care of that since I’m practically a newbie here.

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**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/32 "2005-08-28T16:54:42Z")

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> [@whiterabbit](#):
>
> I was wondering about the two threads as well. Maybe a merge would be in order?

The other thread started in the Pit, but I guess wasn’t vitriolic enough and got moved here.

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**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/33 "2005-08-28T18:26:43Z")

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I can see the clouds coming in and moving pretty quickly toward the southwest. My apartment (sliding glass door) faces north. Something tells me that might not be a very good thing right now. Let’s hope this thing doesn’t shift west.

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**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/34 "2005-08-28T18:29:55Z")

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**LoganDear** , my little brother lives in Red Stick too. I am a little concerned for his safety because he is an LSU police officer and will probably have to work during the storm. I hope he calls me soon,

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**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/35 "2005-08-28T20:26:07Z")

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I’m at a bit of a loss as to how this storm doesn’t merit a Pitting.

That being said, I don’t know what else to say, except oh shit.

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**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/36 "2005-08-28T20:54:20Z")

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Oh shit is right! I’m going to post in the other thread from here on out (as long as I can, that is) since it seems to be getting more traffic.

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**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-takes-aim-at-the-panhandle-maybe/318714/37 "2005-08-28T20:56:26Z")

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Those two sentences were completely unrelated. I should’ve proofread that before I pressed submit. Maybe put a space in between sentences or something. Anyway…

Oh,[here](http://community.webshots.com/album/435902821EmqHES) are some pics of what’s going on, I’ll try to post them as long as I can. Hopefully that link works.

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