« July 2005 | Main | September 2005 »
August 30, 2005
The Whole Situation
This whole situation with the destruction that Hurricane Katrina left behind in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana it just soo unreal. I thought the damage that Ivan did last year was severe. Katrina makes Ivan look like nothing. I feel for all the people who have been forced out of their homes and for their losses. Let's keep all of them in our prayers.
Posted by Chris at 10:12 PM
Katrina is gone, but she is still affecting us.
Hurricane Katrina may be gone, but she has left in her wake rising gas prices and long lines as the gas stations. The pictures below were taken this afternoon. The picture on the left is the price at the local Shell station and at the same time the Cowboy's Station nearby had not rasied their price yet and people were lined up to the street getting gas (right). This is unreal.
Posted by Chris at 10:01 PM
August 28, 2005
One Million Homeless???
Take a look at this article that James Spann posted on the WeatherTalk Blog
From the Associated Press wire here at ABC 33/40...
When Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans on Monday, it could turn one of America's most charming cities into a vast cesspool tainted with toxic chemicals, human waste and even coffins released by floodwaters from the city's legendary cemeteries.
Experts have warned for years that the levees and pumps that usually keep New Orleans dry have no chance against a direct hit by a Category 5 storm.
That's exactly what Katrina was as it churned toward the city. With top winds of 165 mph and the power to lift sea level by as much as 28 feet above normal, the storm threatened an environmental disaster of biblical proportions, one that could leave more than 1 million people homeless.
"All indications are that this is absolutely worst-case scenario," Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, said Sunday afternoon.
The center's latest computer simulations indicate that by Tuesday, vast swaths of New Orleans could be under water up to 30 feet deep. In the French Quarter, the water could reach 20 feet, easily submerging the district's iconic cast-iron balconies and bars.
Estimates predict that 60 percent to 80 percent of the city's houses will be destroyed by wind. With the flood damage, most of the people who live in and around New Orleans could be homeless.
"We're talking about in essence having _ in the continental United States _ having a refugee camp of a million people," van Heerden said.
Aside from Hurricane Andrew, which struck Miami in 1992, forecasters have no experience with Category 5 hurricanes hitting densely populated areas.
"Hurricanes rarely sustain such extreme winds for much time. However we see no obvious large-scale effects to cause a substantial weakening the system and it is expected that the hurricane will be of Category 4 or 5 intensity when it reaches the coast," National Hurricane Center meteorologist Richard Pasch said.
As they raced to put meteorological instruments in Katrina's path Sunday, wind engineers had little idea what their equipment would record.
"We haven't seen something this big since we started the program," said Kurt Gurley, a University of Florida engineering professor. He works for the Florida Coastal Monitoring Program, which is in its seventh year of making detailed measurements of hurricane wind conditions using a set of mobile weather stations.
Experts have warned about New Orleans' vulnerability for years, chiefly because Louisiana has lost more than a million acres of coastal wetlands in the past seven decades. The vast patchwork of swamps and bayous south of the city serves as a buffer, partially absorbing the surge of water that a hurricane pushes ashore.
Experts have also warned that the ring of high levees around New Orleans, designed to protect the city from floodwaters coming down the Mississippi, will only make things worse in a powerful hurricane. Katrina is expected to push a 28-foot storm surge against the levees. Even if they hold, water will pour over their tops and begin filling the city as if it were a sinking canoe.
After the storm passes, the water will have nowhere to go.
In a few days, van Heerden predicts, emergency management officials are going to be wondering how to handle a giant stagnant pond contaminated with building debris, coffins, sewage and other hazardous materials.
"We're talking about an incredible environmental disaster," van Heerden said.
He puts much of the blame for New Orleans' dire situation on the very levee system that is designed to protect southern Louisiana from Mississippi River floods.
Before the levees were built, the river would top its banks during floods and wash through a maze of bayous and swamps, dropping fine- grained silt that nourished plants and kept the land just above sea level.
The levees "have literally starved our wetlands to death" by directing all of that precious silt out into the Gulf of Mexico, van Heerden said.
It has been 40 years since New Orleans faced a hurricane even comparable to Katrina. In 1965, Hurricane Betsy, a Category 3 storm, submerged some parts of the city to a depth of seven feet.
Since then, the Big Easy has had nothing but near misses. In 1998, Hurricane Georges headed straight for New Orleans, then swerved at the last minute to strike Mississippi and Alabama. Hurricane Lili blew herself out at the mouth of the Mississippi in 2002. And last year's Hurricane Ivan obligingly curved to the east as it came ashore, barely grazing a grateful city.
----------------
Posted by Chris at 09:36 PM
Gridlock on I-10
Posted by Chris at 09:05 PM
15 Costliest Hurricanes
15 Most Costliest Hurricanes in US History
these numbers are in 2004 dollars:
Hurricane, Year, Category, Damage
1. Andrew (South Florida, southeast Louisiana), 1992, 5, $43.67 billion
2. Charley (southwest and central Florida), 2004, 4, $15 billion
3. Ivan (Florida Panhandle and Alabama), 2004, 3, $14.2 billion
4. Hugo (South Carolina), 1989, 4, $12.25 billion
5. Agnes (Florida, Northeastern U.S.), 1972, 1, $11.29 billion
6. Betsy (South Florida, southeast Louisiana), 1965, 3, $10.8 billion
7. Frances (central Florida, Florida Panhandle) 2004, 2, $8.9 billion
8. Camille (Mississippi, southeast Louisiana, Virginia), 1969, 5, $8.89 billion
9. Diane (Northeastern United States), 1955, 1, $6.99 billion
10. Jeanne (central Florida), 2004, 3, $6.9 billion
11. Frederic (Alabama, Mississippi), 1979, 3, $6.29 billion
12. Unnamed, nicknamed "New England," (New York, Rhode Island), 1938, 3, $5.97 billion
13. Allison (Texas), 2001, $5.83 billion
14. Floyd (Mid-Atlantic & Northeastern U.S.), 1999, 2, $5.76 billion
15. Unnamed, nicknamed "Great Atlantic," (Northeastern U.S.), 1944, 3, $5.39 billion
Source: story at AL.com
Posted by Chris at 06:56 PM
Alabama Power Statement on Katrina
We are watching very closely the path that Hurricane Katrina takes. It is too early
to tell what the impact might be to the Alabama Power service territory, though
on the current path, it is certain that our customers would be impacted.
• On the current path, high winds could result in prolonged outages in and around the Mobile, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham areas.
• Personnel in the Alabama Power Storm Center continue to coordinate resources to address power restoration after Hurricane Katrina makes landfall.
• Alabama Power participates in a mutual assistance program with many other utilities which serves to provide crew support to utilities that have extraordinary needs.
• At this point, no Alabama Power crews have been released to assist other utilities.
• Like everyone else, we are monitoring the storm and watching with great interest the path that it takes. We have all company personnel on notice, many of whom are already active making preparations to respond, should it impact our service territory.
• The length of outages depends on the extent of the damage due to high winds and rain. Crews will be dispatched as soon as conditions are safe.
If you purchase a generator in anticipation of this storm PLEASE heed safety precautions
Generators can be deadly;
• Please read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully before using a generator
• To avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, operate generators outdoors in a well-ventilated, dry area that is away from air intakes to the home and protected from direct exposure to rain or snow. A good location is an open shed, under a canopy or a carport. Never use a portable generator indoors or in attached garages.
• Most small gasoline powered generators purchased at home improvement stores are designed for appliances to be plugged directly into them rather than plugging the generator into the home's wiring. Be sure to use heavy-duty, outdoor-rated cords with a wire gauge that is adequate for the appliance load. If you need to connect a generator directly to your home wiring, it should be done by a qualified electrical contractor, and a switch to disconnect your home wiring from the utility system should be installed and used before connecting the generator.
• Having a generator connected directly to household wiring without this switch can result in power from your generator feeding back into utility wires, creating a deadly threat to you, your neighbors and to repair crews.
As always, safety is the first priority in any storm restoration effort. Here are some important tips for customers to consider before, during and after the storm:
• Alabama Power gives priority to hospitals, water and sewer treatment facilities, police, fire and other critical customers for the overall safety and well-being of the community at large. Individuals with critical medical needs should consider making contingency plans in case of outages.
• SAFETY FIRST! Stay away from downed lines. Warn others to do the same. Beware of lines that are touching a vehicle. Stay away from the vehicle and the line. Do not drive over power lines lying on the road, and do not drive under low hanging lines. Keep children and pets away from downed lines. Always assume a downed power line is live. Do not attempt to remove tree limbs or anything else caught in power lines. Call Alabama Power at
800-888-APCO(2726) or a local law enforcement agency if downed lines are spotted.
• Do not connect portable generators to your household electrical wiring. This can cause serious injury to you and to Alabama Power employees working on the lines in your neighborhood. Connect only essential appliances – such as freezers and refrigerators – directly to the generator.
• If your power is off, make sure you turn off your appliances to avoid any potential safety hazards when the power is restored.
• Keep freezer doors closed and sealed. Well-filled freezers keep most foods frozen for two to three days if the door is kept closed.
• Charge cell phones, pagers and other electronic devices before the
storm hits.
• Alabama Power crews will work as fast as safety allows. Before neighborhood lines can be repaired, crews must first repair larger lines that bring power to the neighborhoods.
Posted by Chris at 04:07 PM
Katrina Info Center
I setup the main page of Chris-Place.com as an information center for Hurricane Katrinia.
Posted by Chris at 01:27 PM
Katrina is very scary
Been watching everything about Hurricane Katrina and this thing is very scary. They are saying it will be the second most powerful hurricane in US history. It is a worse-case scenario for New Orleans. I hope the best for them.
Posted by Chris at 01:26 PM
August 21, 2005
Call For Help is back
From ThisWeekInTech.com
Well it doesn't look like anyone else is going to announce it so I'll confirm what most of you have already guessed. If you check your Tivo or Yahoo! TV listings you'll notice that Call for Help is back on the schedule at G4.
G4 has purchased the show for air in the US. I will continue to fly to Toronto to produce it, and we're not changing a thing. In fact, as those of you who have been watching it know, it's really more like the Screen Savers of old than Call for Help used to be, especially now that Kevin Rose has agreed to appear on the show twice a week. We'll get Patrick up to Toronto, too, I promise.
continue reading the story here
Posted by Chris at 07:27 AM
August 19, 2005
Discovery going home
Try to figure out how much you are paying for this $1 million plane ride home for Discovery.
Posted by Chris at 09:26 PM
Hell has frozen over, again!
from Macworld
Apple Mighty Mouse
Useful, innovative design, but also begs the price question
“When is Apple going to come out with a two-button mouse?”
Mac users have been asking that question for so long that Apple’s introduction of the multi-button Mighty Mouse is almost an anticlimax. If users seriously pined for a right-button to access the Mac’s contextual menus (an ease-of-use amenity that Windows users have long enjoyed), they probably abandoned Apple’s stylish but less-functional one-button mouse a long time ago.
The Mighty Mouse is nice looking, it has some innovations (like an omnidirectional scroll ball), and it’s a good product overall. It just may not be worth $49 to many Mac users.
The first time "hell froze over" was when Apple released itunes on Windows.
Posted by Chris at 05:31 PM