Storms 411

60 Unflooded Buses Found, Yet Another Evacuation Horror Story

Wizbang found 60+ UNFLOODED buses in New Orleans that could have been used to evacuate people who stayed behind when Katrina hit. This picture was taken the Wednesday AFTER Katrina struck the city:

Day 29 – 9/19/05, Energy Companies Start Evacuating Gulf Again; Oil Prices Leap in 'One of Largest Moves'

Energy companies – still struggling to restore oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Katrina – have begun shutting down operations and evacuating personnel in advance of Tropical Storm Rita.

Crude oil prices jumped 7 percent and natural gas prices closed 14 percent higher Monday in anticipation of further pinched oil and gas supplies.

Oil companies began bringing construction workers and project crews ashore Sunday in the first wave of personnel clearing from platforms and drilling rigs in the Gulf. Major oil companies with operations in the deep water Gulf launched the earliest evacuation.

Rita is expected to race through the heart of the Gulf, where energy operations ravaged by Katrina three weeks ago have not been restored to full operation. The damage affected all aspects of the energy supply chain from drilling rigs to gas processing plants and oil refineries which produce gasoline. [Read more - NOLA]

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FEMA Knew Storm's Potential, Mayfield says

Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, said
Sunday that officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA Director Mike Brown and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, listened in on electronic briefings given by his staff in advance of Hurricane Katrina slamming Louisiana and Mississippi and were advised of the storm’s potential deadly effects.

Mayfield said the strength of the storm and the potential disaster it could bring were made clear during both the briefings and in formal advisories, which warned of a storm surge capable of overtopping levees in New Orleans and winds strong enough to blow out windows of high-rise buildings. He said the briefings included information on expected wind speed, storm surge, rainfall and the potential for tornados to accompany the storm as it came ashore.

“We were briefing them way before landfall,” Mayfield said. “It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped.

“I keep looking back to see if there was anything else we could have done, and I just don’t know what it would be,” he said. [Read more - NOLA]

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Day 6 - 8/28/05, Hurricane Katrina Stops Railroad Operations

Norfolk Southern

In preparation for Hurricane Katrina, Norfolk Southern has pulled rolling equipment on its lines near coastal areas and low lying areas in southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama inland to higher ground. Operations south of Meridian, Miss., to New Orleans, La., and South of Selma, Ala., to Mobile, Ala., were discontinued early Sunday afternoon. Operations south of Birmingham have been curtailed and will be discontinued later today. Traffic normally moving though these areas for interchange is generally being rerouted in cooperation with other carriers.

Norfolk Southern embargoed all shipments to New Orleans and Mobile.

This action was taken to avoid further complication of operations due to congestion in the area expected to be impacted by the Category 5 storm.

Customers with traffic to, from, or normally moving through the areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina should anticipate delays.

For questions on specific shipments, please contact our Customer Service Operations Center at (800) 635-5768.

For questions regarding potential impact on local service in this area, please contact our Central Yard Operations Center at (800) 898-4296.

CSX

Hurricane Katrina is now a Category 5 storm, and it continues to move WNW in the Gulf of Mexico. Predications are that the storm will make landfall near New Orleans, La., mid-day Monday, Aug. 29. Flood gates in New Orleans were closed at 6 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28, and rail traffic in the area is suspended.

CSXT is monitoring the path of Hurricane Katrina and has activated its hurricane preparedness plan for the Gulf Coast. Some traffic scheduled for interchange with other railroads at New Orleans is being rerouted through different gateways. Weather conditions permitting, rail traffic will continue to run as usual today from Mobile east through the Florida Panhandle.

As a result of the initial impact of Katrina in south Florida on Friday, freight and passenger service on CSXT's network is being restored incrementally as subdivisions are inspected and deemed safe for operations. Tri-Rail service is scheduled to resume Monday, Aug. 29.

All precautions are being taken to ensure the safety of our employees, customers, and the public with minimum delay to shipments as we continue to monitor the progress of the storm.

For more information, customers can call their local CSX representatives or the CSX Customer Service Center at 1-877-SHIP CSX (1-877-744-7279).

Day 7 - 8/29/05, Katrina Weakens to a Category 4 Hurricane, Louisiana Still Braces for Potentially Deadly Storm

Powerful winds and rain lashed the Gulf Coast early Monday as a slightly weakened Hurricane Katrina charged toward this low-lying city with 155-mph winds and the threat of a catastrophic storm surge.

The sheer force of Katrina, which was downgraded from a Category 5 storm to a strong Category 4 as it approached land, had earlier prompted residents to flee in bumper-to-bumper traffic or huddle in the Superdome for safety.

Mayor Ray Nagin said he believed 80 percent of the city's 480,000 residents had heeded an unprecedented mandatory evacuation as Katrina threatened to become the most powerful storm ever to slam the city. [read more]

Day 7 - 8/29/05, New Orleans Braces for Katrina’s First Punch

Dajonay Redett, 3, sleeps Sunday while her family waits to enter the New Orleans Superdome, which is being used as an emergency shelter before the arrival of Hurricane Katrina. A federal state of emergency has been declared for Louisiana.