at landfall, Katrina's eyewall flattened out, and it covered the entire coastline of Mississippi. the storm surge was 35 feet...it was 5 ft higher at my marina than when George hit a few years ago...and George was much closer.

Katrina maintained cat 5 strength for quite a while.....all along the coast....for the first 1500 yards....either nothing, or just slabs....a few toilets...etc...(Mississippi).....

I am hearing of report after report of people missing that elected to "ride it out"....an engineer here showed me a picture of a neighborhood miles inland....total devastation. he showed me his friends house....and then said...see that slab over there?.....they stayed....an middle aged nice couple who thought they were safe. never found.

that story could be repeated, I'm sure. impossible to determine the death toll. interesting that the government will NOT really talk about that...

anyone who does not get inland at least 5-6 miles...to avoid the storm surge...is risking their lives. period.

the surge was estimated at 35 ft. to get an idea...go look at a telephone pole...and imagine the water that high....(at landfall).....

Storms are getting stronger. global warming has risen the temperatures about .5 degrees world wide...(1/2 degree)...and some scientists are saying that is more than enough to cause these canes to be so much more destructive.

cat 5 storms are no long 100 year events....for now...they are monthly....