lunkerhunter
Storm Tracker
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Posts: 248
Loc: Saint Augustine, FL
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WiscoWx,
Great link regarding Jim Cantore.
The guy is for real and does the best job he can.
To "others",
Today is not a great day to bash anyone as there are more important things to be thinking about.
DisasterMaster,
Thanks a million for posting the FEMA info and other stuff.
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OcalaKT
Weather Watcher
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Posts: 27
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Press conference happening right now. They have Coast Guard, National Guard, and Wildlife personnel going out in NO in response to 911 calls to try and rescue people trapped on roofs or in trouble. Saying they have lots of flooding in NO, and they want to check out bridges for structural safety before anyone returns.
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zmdz01
Weather Watcher
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Posts: 31
Loc: Simi Valley, CA
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Here's a news release from the Alabama Department of Transportation:
ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
MOBILE, August 29, 2005 – Officials with the Alabama Department of Transportation have closed the Cochrane-Africatown USA Bridge along U.S. 98 in Mobile County until they can conduct a structural assessment for possible damage that may have been caused when the bridge was struck by an oil drilling platform that had broken free in Mobile Bay.
ALDOT officials have no word on exactly where the oil drilling platform came from, but sometime shortly after 11 a.m. it apparently broke away from its moorings in Mobile Bay and drifted north until it became jammed under the west end of the bridge’s main span.
The bridge will remain closed until ALDOT engineers can conduct an inspection. There is no definitive word as of 1 p.m. whether the bridge has sustained damage, but crews will be en route to the bridge as soon as safe travel is possible.
The bridge is the route used for hazardous material to bypass the Wallace Tunnel on Interstate 10. Trucks carrying hazardous material are being detoured up Interstate 65 to Alabama 59 to bypass the closed bridge.
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Genesis
Weather Guru
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Posts: 125
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Quote:
try text messaging if you have it. sometimes it works when the call portion doesn't. that what we used during .
Yep. Very good advice.
Text messages will work where there is very intermittent service and extremely poor signal levels - too poor to support a voice call - in many cases. It will also go through where the switch is swamped and cannot set up a voice channel for a call ("all circuits are busy now" situations.)
However - be advised that Cingular service down here is totally screwed. A friend of mine with Cing service here can call out, but calls to their phone return "due to hurricane , we cannot complete your call at this time." This in Niceville, which never lost power, never saw hurricane-force winds, and where outbound calls from that same phone work just fine. Cingular has been spotty since last night with calls just "disappearing" to being routed to voicemail, even with the storm half a day away.
My cell service on T-Mobile has been rock solid - I've had the usual folks calling to see if we're ok, etc - nobody has said anything about having trouble getting through (our landline service is likewise working fine.)
In the high-impact areas towers are probably down (literally) and thus no service is available. Some carriers will open roaming (no charge) on anything that can get a signal during these events - T-Mobile did after , and left it open until they had their network back to normal. This DOES cost them money though, and not all carriers will do it for that reason.... Also, technology differences mean that interoperability between carriers depends on a common technology (TDMA .vs. CDMA .vs. GSM) But - all this depends on there being an antenna that is still standing, a transmitter that isn't under 20' of water, and a source of electricity to run it. Most of these sites have backup generators - but not all - however, if innudated with water they will still short out.
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RKS
Registered User
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Posts: 2
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Don't give up hope just because you can't reach your brother. Communications are breaking down everywhere. I am sitting in my office in Baton Rouge (one of largest corporations in the world) and apparently can not make a call ANYWHERE other than to local land lines. I get the dreaded "all circuits are busy" message. My Cingular cell phone has no recepotion either. I have good internet access and have tried sending text messages via Cingular's web site, but that does not appear to be working either.
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firestar_1
Weather Hobbyist
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Posts: 64
Loc: Port Charlotte, FL, 26.98N 82....
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Quote:
Larry thank you very much.
See I know they didn't make it because if they would have gotten to this other building he would have called again and said so.
I'll go ahead and bookmark that link, thanks again.
Margie,
Just like the others have said. It is way too early to give up yet. Even if the cell towers are standing, the antenna's do not handle the winds as well. Plus, emergency service will be getting priority on the open channels for some time now. My prayer's are with you and your family.
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Stay Aware...Stay Alert....Stay Alive.....
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zmdz01
Weather Watcher
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Posts: 31
Loc: Simi Valley, CA
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Here's a report from the blog on my local NBC site:
2:10 p.m.: 15-20 Feet Water Throughout St. Bernard Parish
WDSU reporter Heath Allen says he is stranded on the second floor of the St. Bernard Parish government building. He said officials are telling him the water is 15 to 20 feet deep on the streets throughout the parish. -- WDSU.com Web Staff
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brynna
Registered User
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Posts: 1
Loc: East Peoria, IL
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Quote:
Great link regarding Jim Cantore. The guy is for real and does the best job he can.
Last night Jim was interviewing the gentleman who runs the retirement home (didn't catch his name) and the man made it clear that the engineers were on record as stating that the home is at 27.5 feet above sea level, which corroborates with the link. That's where Cantore got his information from. Originally Jim and his crew were going to be in a shelter located at 15 feet above sea level but had the opportunity to move to the retirement home instead. Good call on his part.
Margie-I have been praying for your brother's safety. Blessings to you.
Linda, going back into lurk mode
Edited to remove stupidity on my part... should stick to lurking... 
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Watching from Illinois.
Edited by brynna (Mon Aug 29 2005 09:28 PM)
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native
Weather Guru
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Posts: 148
Loc: SE Florida
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I'm just noticing the 27B update on . Looks like she losing some steam wind wise and pick up foward speed. Surely that has be good...better....something. The faster she moves outta there, the better for those on the coast, no?
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Rasvar
Weather Master
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Posts: 571
Loc: Tallahassee, Fl
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It is normal for telephone and celluar systems to go into a restricted mode during storms. They will block a lot of incoming calls to an area and allow only outgoing to protect the service from overload. This weights the systems to a better emergency response.
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Jim
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OcalaKT
Weather Watcher
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Reporter in Baton Rouge indicating they are going to attempt to have choppers in the air in about an hour.
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Lysis
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Posts: 451
Loc: Hong Kong
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and had the expression of a man who wished he was anywhere but where he was at.
I highly doubt that. No doubt it was a frightening experience for him (as this is really his first such encounter with a storm of this intensity at such close proximity), but he knew to some degree what he was getting himself into. If these high surge estimates come to fruitrition, this kind of harkens back to my question a long time ago about the Saffir Simpson scale being somewhat flawed for such multifaceted disasters… especially in this day and age where it isn’t the wind that causes the most fatalities.
Cantore quote of the year:
“It’s what I do, man” 
EDIT: Yes, Margie… the best to your brother. What a guy. I duly pray that he is unharmed.
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cheers
Edited by Lysis (Mon Aug 29 2005 08:07 PM)
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bobbutts
Weather Hobbyist
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Posts: 71
Loc: New Hampshire
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Quote:
To "others",
Today is not a great day to bash anyone as there are more important things to be thinking about.
My bad for not fact checking on the report there was no possible way he could be at 27'. Over the years I've enjoyed watching Cantore and had nothing to say about him until he made the ludicris comments about Charlotte County. I'm attaching the video clip to let anyone who cares know that I'm not just blowing hot air.
The reason I felt the need to comment is that if his reports today are some of the best info we are getting on surge in the area if they are true. If they are false they have added to the fear and hype of this storm unnecessarily.
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ShanaTX
Storm Tracker
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Posts: 226
Loc: Texas
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Acorrding to WWLTV reports are coming out ... and it sounds much worse in parts of NO than I would have expected reading here. The eastern part of the city has at least 20 collapsed buildings some with people still inside, 200 people on rooftops, a school shelter w/ the roof blown off and reports of floating bodies (not from the school). And as bad as that is ...It sounds much much worse to the east - esp MS.
Margie ... I'm hoping and praying for your brother and the people he's with and for all the people we don't know about yet...
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Brad in Miami
Storm Tracker
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Accordingly to the Weather Channel, Jim Cantore, based on his observations, "estimates that storm surge may have reached an astounding 27 to 37 feet." (Note that this statement was qualified with a "may" and a 10-foot range was given; I think these facts suggest that the Weather Channel and Mr. Cantore recognize the limited use of one person's observation to estimate storm surge. Regardless of whether the surge was 20, 27, or 37 feet, it was incredibly high, and of course it may turn out to have been 27 or 37 feet.)
The Weather Channel reports that he and his producer "are safe, and floodwaters around the Armed Forces Retirement Home . . . have started to recede." (It appears that this was based on a call at or before 1 pm EDT.)
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Katie
Weather Guru
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Posts: 167
Loc: Winter Haven, FL
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Just FYI, from experience with , Jeanne and Francis, The choppers will be more so for Gov't officials to see the damage or for rescue crews. We won't get good images for a day or so. I think they don't really want arial views going public until after they have taken a look - or until it is close time for residence to go home. I don't remember why I remember hearing that but I do.
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Lysis
User
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Loc: Hong Kong
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Hmmm… I never thought of that.
While I obviously never saw the television footage, I remember media helicopters flying circles over my neighborhood early the next morning (charley). The storm landfalled late in the day, so it was getting dark by the time things calmed down, which obviously belied a comprehensive look at the area.
In the Northern Gulf they have about four/five hours before nightfall, so maybe.
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cheers
Edited by Lysis (Mon Aug 29 2005 08:40 PM)
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DebbiePSL
Weather Guru
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Posts: 151
Loc: Saint Marys Georgia
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Don't know if this is the wrong place for this post but if it is Mods will move it to appropriate forum. My thoughts right now are on our friends that post here on this site giving so much information to people like myself. I wish the best for Frank P, Danielw and many others that are having to deal with this storm. Hope they are safe and hopefully Mike, LIPhil , or some of the others will keep us updated.
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trinibaje
Weather Guru
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Posts: 136
Loc: MIAMI, FLORIDA
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Quote:
Don't know if this is the wrong place for this post but if it is Mods will move it to appropriate forum. My thoughts right now are on our friends that post here on this site giving so much information to people like myself. I wish the best for Frank P, Danielw and many others that are having to deal with this storm. Hope they are safe and hopefully Mike, LIPhil , or some of the others will keep us updated.
Great post, my thoughts are also with the people who post here that are affected by the storm. There is one poster, i think his name is Rick on the boat? I hope he is ok.
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-----------MY 2005 PREDICTION--------
15/10/5
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Margie
Senior Storm Chaser
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Posts: 1191
Loc: Twin Cities
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What does it mean to have four and a half lines on a wind flag? Would that be 45kts?
I just went to the sat image and sure enough the only place on the coast that still had winds of any consequence are Mobile County and the edge of the FL peninsula, and possibly Jackson Cty MS as well. They are still getting hammered with high onshore winds and rain after all this time.
Well now that I consider this is probably still true for the other 2 MS counties except it would be from the W instead of onshore.
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Katrina's Surge: http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/Katrinas_surge_contents.asp
Edited by Margie (Mon Aug 29 2005 09:01 PM)
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