 |
Classifieds: Cars |  |
| Jobs |  |
| Dating |  |
| USA TODAY |  |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
Still-powerful Hurricane Katrina moving inland From staff and wire reports
Hurricane Katrina began weakening Monday as it
pushed away from the Gulf Coast, leaving behind a multi-state swath of
destruction as storm surges battered their way inland.
Katrina, once a maximum-level Category 5 hurricane, weakened overnight to a Category 4 storm and hit land at 6:10 a.m. CT (7:10 a.m. ET) near the Louisiana bayou town of Buras. Sustained winds were measured at more than 140 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The storm since has declined to a still-very-powerful Category 2 hurricane, with sustained winds still hitting 105 mph. (Video: Katrina socks New Orleans) A last-minute eastern jog in the storm's anticipated path appears to have lessened its feared impact on New Orleans, but there still were widespread reports of flooding and damage there. But the storm unleashed more chaos as it moved into Mississippi, hurling boats into buildings and ripping billboards to shreds. The storm threatened to dump as much as 15 inches of rain on the Gulf Coast. Katrina recorded a gigantic 22-foot storm surge in Mississippi, where windows of a major hospital were blown out, utility poles dangled in the wind, and at least one casino was partially flooded. In Alabama, exploding transformers lit up the early morning sky as power outages spread. "It came in to Mississippi like a ton of bricks. It's a terrible storm," Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Monday. When asked about what news he had received from the affected area, Barbour replied, "That there are a lot of dead people down there." The Louisiana Superdome — a massive New Orleans football stadium being used as shelter for some 9,000 storm refugees— began to lose strips of its roof about 8 a.m. CT Monday. Wind peeled off pieces of metal on the gold-colored roof, leaving two holes that were visible from the floor. Photos from the scene also showed that a large portion of a thin white membrane that covers the roof had peeled away. (Video: Hurricane tears through roof) Building manager Doug Thornton said the larger hole was 15 to 20 feet long and four to five feet wide. Outside, one of the 10-foot, concrete clock pylons set up around the Superdome blew over. National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield warned that New Orleans would be pounded throughout the day and that Katrina's potential 15-foot storm surge, down from a feared 28 feet, was still substantial enough to cause extensive flooding. (Related graphic: Track Katrina and learn about hurricanes) There were reports of New Orleans homes being flooded to the ceiling. "I'm not doing too good right now," Chris Robinson said via cell phone from his home east of the city's downtown. "The water's rising pretty fast. I got a hammer and an ax and a crowbar, but I'm holding off on breaking through the roof until the last minute. Tell someone to come get me please. I want to live." On the south shore of Lake Ponchartrain, entire neighborhoods of one-story, shotgun-style homes were flooded up to the rooflines. The Interstate 10 off-ramps nearby looked like boat ramps amid the whitecapped waves. Garbage cans and tires bobbed in the water. Two people were stranded on the roof as murky water lapped at the gutters. "Get us a boat!" a man in a black slicker shouted over the howling winds. Massive damage also was reported along the Mississippi and Alabama coasts, which were being struck by the more powerful eastern side of the hurricane. Exploding transformers lit up the predawn sky in Mobile, Ala., while tree limbs littered roads and a blinding rain whipped up sand on the deserted beach of Gulfport, Miss.
In suburban Jefferson Parish, Sheriff Harry Lee said residents of a building on the west bank of the Mississippi River called 911 to say the building had collapsed and people might be trapped. He said deputies were not immediately able to check out the building because their vehicles were unable to reach the scene. Scores of windows were blown out at some of New Orleans' hotels. At the Windsor Court Hotel, guests were told to go into the interior hallways with blankets and pillows and to keep the doors closed to the rooms to avoid flying glass. "I want the folks there on the Gulf Coast to know that the federal government is prepared to help you when the storm passes," President Bush said Monday in Arizona, where he was giving an address on Medicare. "When the storm passes, the federal government has assets and resources that will be deployed to help you. In the meantime, America will pray." Bush was weighing a decision on whether to release some oil from the nation's petroleum reserves to help refiners hurt by the hurricane, administration officials said Monday. A decision was expected later in the day. Crude oil futures spiked to more than $70 a barrel in Singapore for the first time Monday. (Related: Oil surges to record) Mayfield said earlier Monday the worst flooding from storm surge was on the Mississippi coast, east of the eye, with the highest storm surge recorded so far at 22 feet in Bay St. Louis. Along U.S. 90 in Mississippi, the major coastal route that is home to the state's casinos, sailboats were washed onto the four-lane highway. "This is a devastating hit — we've got boats that have gone into buildings," Gulfport Fire Chief Pat Sullivan said as he maneuvered around downed trees in the city. "What you're looking at is Camille II." In Gulf Shores, Ala., which nearly a year ago was Ground Zero for Hurricane Ivan's destruction, waves crashed over the seawalls and street lights danced in the howling winds.
In New Orleans' French Quarter, water pooled in the streets from the driving rain, but the city appeared to have escaped the catastrophic flooding that forecasters had predicted. On historic Jackson Square, two massive oak trees outside the 278-year-old St. Louis Cathedral came out by the roots, ripping out a 30-foot section of ornamental iron fence and straddling a marble statue of Jesus Christ, snapping off only the thumb and forefinger of his outstretched hand. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said he believed 80% of the city's 480,000 residents had heeded an unprecedented mandatory evacuation order. The head of Jefferson Parish, which includes major suburbs and juts all the way to the storm-vulnerable coast, said some residents who stayed would be fortunate to survive. "I'm expecting that some people who are die-hards will die hard," said parish council President Aaron Broussard. Terry Ebbert, New Orleans director of homeland security, said more than 4,000 National Guardsmen were mobilizing in Memphis and will help police New Orleans streets. Katrina, which cut across Florida last week, had intensified into a colossal Category 5 over the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico before slowing slightly to a Category 4. It reached top winds of 175 mph before weakening slightly as it neared the coast. To longtime residents in Mississippi, Katrina evoked comparisons to Hurricane Camille. "The weather's just like it was when Camille hit," said Johnny Ladner, 58, who was a deputy with the Harrison County (Miss.) Sheriff's Department in 1969. "It was sunshine first thing in the morning, just like it is today. A pretty day. Later on, it just started raining. It just kept getting worse." The evacuation itself claimed lives. Three New Orleans nursing home residents died Sunday after being taken by bus to a Baton Rouge church. Don Moreau, of the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office, said the cause was likely dehydration. New Orleans has not taken a direct hit from a hurricane since Betsy in 1965, when an 8- to 10-foot storm surge submerged parts of the city in seven feet of water. Betsy, a Category 3 storm, was blamed for 74 deaths in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. Contributing: The Associated Press; USA TODAY's Tom Vanden Brook and Larry Copeland; USATODAY.com's Randy Lilleston. |
|||||||||||||||||||||
