Hurricane Laura

[ReformedApologist]

Prayers for those effected.

[DesertBerean]

Ok....it looks like the double hurricane event didn't happen as expected.

I saw something saying there was a petition to have Laura's name changed to Polo.

[Cow Poke]

I remember ya mentioning that. Have you ever seen 15 inches of rain in 5 hours? Or the aftermath?

Yes - was that Rita, or.... downtown Houston flooded, hospitals were put out of commission because all their backup generators and switchgear were in the parking garages below the water.

Every vehicle was underwater except my motorcycle, and that was on a dry patch because three of us shoved it up to high ground through the flood waters after the rain stopped. The whole world contracted to the block or two that was visible from the rooftop.

It was two weeks before I could make it to the US 1, and to reconnoiter I had to siphon gas for it out of the truck because the nearby gas stations had gas, but no electricity to pump it. About a week later I managed to get down the road to the Naranja branch of the Miami Public Library, and found out about the number she did on New Orleans.

I'm near certain the worst hit areas on the Louisiana coast can't even get word out yet.

Agreed.

[Juvenal]

We were hit by Hurricane Ike - giant oak tree landed on my roof, many tree limbs down, and without power for 14 days, but that's pretty much my extent of "being in a hurricane".

I was actually in Patterson Louisiana the day before Hurricane Katrina came ashore, and I remember our pilot coming into the field office saying, "we need to be wheels up in 20 minutes - there's a big storm headed for us".

Wow - what an understatement!!!

I remember ya mentioning that. Have you ever seen 15 inches of rain in 5 hours? Or the aftermath? Every vehicle was underwater except my motorcycle, and that was on a dry patch because three of us shoved it up to high ground through the flood waters after the rain stopped. The whole world contracted to the block or two that was visible from the rooftop.

It was two weeks before I could make it to the US 1, and to reconnoiter I had to siphon gas for it out of the truck because the nearby gas stations had gas, but no electricity to pump it. About a week later I managed to get down the road to the Naranja branch of the Miami Public Library, and found out about the number she did on New Orleans.

I'm near certain the worst hit areas on the Louisiana coast can't even get word out yet.

[DesertBerean]

Last storm I remember that held together passing over us was Wilma, which came in as a high Cat3 and blasted across the state in a couple of hours, not enough time to drop it to a TS, but too fast to dump much water, thankfully. We didn't even flood out, but every billboard within 50 miles of the track was blown down.

I remember you remarked on that.

[Juvenal]

Last storm I remember that held together passing over us was Wilma, which came in as a high Cat3 and blasted across the state in a couple of hours, not enough time to drop it to a TS, but too fast to dump much water, thankfully. We didn't even flood out, but every billboard within 50 miles of the track was blown down.

[Christianbookworm]

But what about the people on the islands??? Who decided to live on barrier islands centuries ago in the first place? Or at sea level. Except there isn't anywhere in the USA that's completely natural disaster free.

[Juvenal]

This isn't a storm that should be minimized. Any storm that's still a hurricane an hour after landfall is just wicked.

Laura made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, around 0600 UTC (1 am
CDT) with maximum sustained winds of 130 kt, which is near the high
end of category 4 status.

It's still a hurricane 9 hours after landfall. I have no words. There's gonna be bodies washing up on the shoreline for weeks.

[Cow Poke]

I've been through about a dozen of these now, watching the NHC updates as they came out with understandably personal interest. This is normal. Every time I see a storm coming toward me, I'm praying it'll sideswipe Cuba or some other island on the way in. Any kind of landfall tears them up. If they have to cross mountains on those islands, all the better.

We were hit by Hurricane Ike - giant oak tree landed on my roof, many tree limbs down, and without power for 14 days, but that's pretty much my extent of "being in a hurricane".

I was actually in Patterson Louisiana the day before Hurricane Katrina came ashore, and I remember our pilot coming into the field office saying, "we need to be wheels up in 20 minutes - there's a big storm headed for us".

Wow - what an understatement!!!

[Juvenal]

10 am CDT advisory

Laura will continue to rapidly weaken today while it moves farther
inland. The cyclone will become a tropical storm this afternoon and
is expected to weaken to a tropical depression tonight or early
Friday. Although Laura is weakening, strong wind gusts are likely
to spread over northern Louisiana and Arkansas into this evening.
The UKMET and ECMWF models continue show the extratropical remnants
of Laura strengthening somewhat over the western Atlantic, and the
NHC forecast continues to depict the system as a gale-force low at
days 3-5. An alternate scenario is for the system to be absorbed
by a frontal boundary over the western Atlantic before the end of
the forecast period. The extratropical portion of the forecast is
based on guidance from the NOAA Ocean Prediction Center.

[Juvenal]

You don't think it dropped faster than normal?

I've been through about a dozen of these now, watching the NHC updates as they came out with understandably personal interest. This is normal. Every time I see a storm coming toward me, I'm praying it'll sideswipe Cuba or some other island on the way in. Any kind of landfall tears them up. If they have to cross mountains on those islands, all the better.

[Cow Poke]

As predicted by the Weather Channel, maybe, which is exactly why they're such a menace. It's still well within the predictions from the NHC, and on the high end at that, because it was still strengthening right up to the time it made landfall.

Well, quite honestly, you're WAY more into this than I am, so I'll defer to your assessment.

Maybe I'm comparing it to all the hype, rather than, as you stressed, the info should come from the Hurricane Center, not the local news.

[Juvenal]

It is not normal. Some friends of mine in the "Cajun Navy" in Louisiana are amazed at the storm damage compared to the hype. Doesn't look near as damaging as had been predicted.

As predicted by the Weather Channel, maybe, which is exactly why they're such a menace. It's still well within the predictions from the NHC, and on the high end at that, because it was still strengthening right up to the time it made landfall.

[Cow Poke]

Yes, that's normal. The intensity drops fast after landfall. The fact that it's still Cat hours after landfall says volumes. This is bad.

You don't think it dropped faster than normal?

[Juvenal]

I'm hearing that Laura is now Cat 2. I don't think I've thought about this...is it normal to see a storm downgraded so quickly?

Yes, that's normal. The intensity drops fast after landfall. The fact that it's still Cat hours after landfall says volumes. This is bad.