Jeremiad
I started in radio back when every station had an Associated Press teletype clicking away in a newsroom.
Oh, yeah - I started in radio back when every station had a newsroom!
In that time, I saw a zillion forecasts, advisories, watches and warnings from the National Weather Service. They are dry, businesslike - "just the facts", if you will.
A commenter on Drezner's blog posted the National Weather Service's warning for Katrina:
WWUS74 KLIX 281550NPWLIXURGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005
DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED
HURRICANE KATRINAA MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969. MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. ATLEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL.PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED.
CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE. HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT. AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATEADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...
AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK. POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...
BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEWCROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BEKILLED.AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEARHURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE..
.ARECERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTUREOUTSIDE!LAZ038-040-050-056>070-282100-ASSUMPTION-LIVINGSTON-LOWER JEFFERSON-LOWER LAFOURCHE-LOWER PLAQUEMINES-LOWER ST. BERNARD-LOWER TERREBONNE-ORLEANS-ST. CHARLES-ST. JAMES-ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST-ST. TAMMANY-TANGIPAHOA-UPPER JEFFERSON-UPPER LAFOURCHE-UPPER PLAQUEMINES-UPPER ST. BERNARD-UPPER TERREBONNE-1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005"
Almost a biblical jeremiad. Jarring, if you're used to reading the government's regular weather communications.
So that was what the fuss was about...
Posted by Mitch at
August 30, 2005 10:28 AM
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The trajedy here is magnified by the fact that due to avoidable coastal erosion, there is nowhere for the water in the streets of New Orleans to go.
When we scream for limited government, it is a shame that mostly we mean, limited for others, but give me what I want. The issue with the Mississippi Delta plain has been brewing for 30 years, and as much as you all hate the 'tree huggers', the fact is, they are right about the impact to New Orleans if it is directly hit. Had Katrina happened 30 years ago, the risk of months long power outages and food shortages and pandemics would have been far far lower.
It's interesting that we created tax breaks to feed them to our gas pumps as an energy policy, and so the same goes here. Mississippi gets half it's revenue from cassinos, which just were devestated. Now Haley Barbour and his lot will have to try to balance the budget with actual tax revenues not paid by those adicted to gambling, and instead of giving big fat tax breaks to fish processing plants, maybe they'll actually put some money into infrastructure. What a concept that would be.. but what is more likely is we'll ignore the problem more, throw words at it cause well it's just a bunch o' poor folk, and we'll continue to create a government designed to shift tax revenues directly to major industry.
PB
Posted by: pb at August 30, 2005 02:39 PM.. but what is more likely is we'll ignore the problem more, throw words at it
Just like people ignored the 'Mandatory Evacuation' words and now are screaming for rescue.
No I don't mean the people who couldn't leave for various reasons, I mean those who wouldn't leave.
Posted by: Knee deep in the clean up at August 30, 2005 02:51 PMHave to agree with "knee deep..". I read one account where people said they didn't even have time to get their shoes on. There was a mandatory evacuation order days before. Why the hell are you sitting around the house with your shoes off? I try to picture what it would be like to not own a vehicle, etc. STILL, my family would be hot-footing it out of there some dang when we were told to.
I thought the same thing when we visited a famine village ruins in Ireland. Why did some of these people sit there and starve 2 years after others had left for America or England? Get up and move your sorry ass.
Posted by: Colleen at August 30, 2005 06:44 PMShame on you, PB.
In you quixotic crusade to show us just how smart you are, and how unintelligent everyone else is, you've managed to politicize a natural disaster of biblical proportions. The only thing you missed was blaming Bush (but you did get a zinger in for Gov. Barbour, so you get partial credit).
You wonder why no one takes you seriously. The rest of us don't.
Posted by: JWW at August 30, 2005 07:18 PMBush knew man. Bush knew and didn't care.
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Posted by: Dental at December 4, 2005 05:02 AM