Back...From Gulfport

[vacanechaser]

Lucky your not dead. No one expected a 30ft surge. Both of my wifes cousins lost everything in Biloxi they are living at nephew house north of there.

See that statement is just false... I am sorry to say, but Max Mayfield was telling everyone along the coast there they could see 20+ feet of surge... That was on Sunday evening... Unfortunatley some people either did not get the message, or passed it off as hype I guess... Either way, I was hearing him talke about it Sunday...

Jesse V. Bass III
http://www.vastormphoto.com
Hurricane Intercept Research Team

A lot of people said "My house withstood Camille, so it'll survive this".

They didn't.

I saw that EXACT statement from a LOT of people though on TV.

But thats the point.. People always remember this or that, and try to compare storms to one another... This was much larger than Camille.. Its just to much of a risk with a Cat 5 off the coast no matter how big or small... I hate it for those people and my heart goes out to the ones who died or lost someone... But to say it was unexpected is just nor true..


Jesse V. Bass III
http://www.vastormphoto.com
Hurricane Intercept Research Team

[vacanechaser]

Here is ana examle of size and strength... We know Charley did not produce a huge surge last year... But when we saw Max compare his size to Frances' size at the same intensity Charley was at landfall, you had a huge surge problem with no increase or decrease in the winds. For some reason i can not find the phot I shot of the Slosh Model of the actual Charley surge, but here is a photo of Max puting in Frances with Charley's winds..



Bigger they are with those types of winds, the more likely we will see a massive surge problem even away from the center


Jesse V. Bass III
http://www.vastormphoto.com
Hurricane Intercept Research Team

[hiflyer]

cold water and Red Bull (I had never had that before...but boy did that wake me up).T

Mike, may I suggest vodka and red bull....not water and red bull...does a whole lot better...

[scorpdream]

Nothrup Grumman (Ingall's Shipyard still to most) got 22 feet of water. That is in Pascagoula. The waterline is close to the rafters.

[Rainband]

Jim was not 5-6 miles inland. He was right there in downtown Gulfport at the Best Western or certainly nearby. I saw him on Tuesday morning- he knows me from the Ivan work- and he was a changed man. I am going to leave it at that- but trust me when I tell you, he was NOT 5-6 miles away from the Gulf. He was right there when it all came rolling in. Jim Cantore almost died on August 29, 2005. Period.

And if Mike and I had gone to Waveland, there is no doubt that we would have nearly been killed too. I have the very last video ever taken of Waveland while it was in tact. We shot some video there in the last hours of the afternoon of the 28th. Now the video is a part of history. I have not watched it yet- still too soon. Too many emotions.

Glad you guys are safe. I have been watching the Pics on TV. I cannot imagine what it looks like Live. Question?? Did this storm change anything for you in terms of chasing. I know I feel different about the tropics now. I am even feeling a little bit guilty. We all want some action.. Sad truth is we can't pick the cat storm we get. Too many times I have said. It would be cool to go through a storm maybe a Cat one. NOT ANYMORE!! I will never have the same interest in the tropics again. Katrina Changed all of that.

[Rainband]

I actually was back at home...and safe...around 10PM Tuesday evening. What we saw in Gulfport is well beyond my ability to put into words. What makes this so hard to accept is the quality of the people we encountered in Waveland and Gulfport...everyone...and I mean everyone we spoke to bent over backwards to help us out...let us know the best places to set up...etc. Heck the manager of the Best Western (I think that's where we stayed) let us spread out the entire contents of Mark's Chevy Tahoe in the lobby Sunday Night/Monday morning as we reset the storm cases to be deployed...and even brought us duct tape (which we needed)...cold water and Red Bull (I had never had that before...but boy did that wake me up).

There is way too much to write in any one post about what happened...so I am keeping a blog updated as I go along...trying to put together a summary of everything that happened from the time we left Naples Saturday morning to the time I opened my fron door Tuesday night.

I sincerely hope that the good people from Mississippi do not get lost in the shuffle with everything going on in New Orleans. NO is suffering...sure enough. What has happened there is a disaster beyond description. But the good people of Mississippi have been absolutely devestated. Gulfport is gone. Biloxi is gone. Waveland has been wiped clean without a car running or a building standing before help arrived 2 days ago. So while NO is getting the national attention...please don't forget about the good folks in Mississippi and Alabama.

If you want...you are welcome to follow along as I update the blog from time to time here:

http://wxblog.com/main/index.php?blog=8 ... &tb=1&pb=1

This event has changed the way I think about hurricanes forever...no doubt about it.

Special thanks to Mark over at hurricanetrack.com for letting me ride along and contribute where I could...

MW

I agree and I have seen it on TV..I cannot imagine seeing it up close and personal. I am glad you guys are safe. I just feel sorry for you for having to see that kind of damage and suffering in person.

[MWatkins]

I agree and I have seen it on TV..I cannot imagine seeing it up close and personal. I am glad you guys are safe. I just feel sorry for you for having to see that kind of damage and suffering in person.

Thanks for the note...I had to think about that one for a second. The fact that we saw what we did was our own fault...no one asked us to drive into the projected landfall area and wait for the hurricane to come in. Of course as I add to this thing I will go into detail on my reaction to what we saw...and what I believe has changed for me personally.

I have always been very very lucky with hurricanes. Andrew missed my friends and family to the south...heck we actually had power at my work in Miami Lakes so I slept there for a week.

A couple of years before that...an f-5 tornado went right around my home town...sparing everyone I know but devestating Heston and other cities in KS.

There are about 500 examples of our luck not running out in SE FL...

And this storm...believe it or not was no different...we were EXCEEDINGLY lucky in many respects. It's just measured on a different scale. Obviously I'll get into that detail down the road.

But this is the first time I have seen anything like happen live (andrew was at night and we couldn't see anything) and even when we reached the surge line it didn't seem to be that bad...until we looked down the street.

Anyway...I am still having a hard time mentally adjusting to the scale and scope of what has happened. Seeing it firsthand just makes it more real than seeing it on TV...and what we saw doesn't even come close to what the National Guard, stranded residents and especially the New Orleans police have had to deal with in the last week. I cannot even begin to think what those scenes must be like. I don't feel sorry or bad for me...at all. I do...however...feel absolutely horrible for the people of MS and New Orleans. I still get to have my home...power...AC...food...water...cold beer...and most importantly to hang out with my 2 sons all weekend.

Some residents will not have the most important things from that list for a long long time...and in countless cases...never again.

MW

[seflcane]

Mike, do you think this was a cat4 hurricane based on being in it and seeing it close up? The video I've seen on MSNBC from the ground was well as TWC it's just amazing!!

[MWatkins]

Mike, do you think this was a cat4 hurricane based on being in it and seeing it close up? The video I've seen on MSNBC from the ground was well as TWC it's just amazing!!

I don't have any knowledge of SE LA for the first landfall...but as far as MS...I don't think there was Cat 4 wind damage. There were several metal frame buildings outside of the surge zone that were completely destroyed...but there were also many that withstood the winds.

This is where it gets tricky though.

The surge was Category 5 surge...no question about it. The vast majority of the catastrophic destruction you have probably seen is from surge. All of Waveland was overrun by surge...Biloxi and Gulfport as well. While the hurricane weakened before landfall...the surge probably did not have time to abate...and in fact probably spread out with the windfield some.

The pressure at landfall...918MB...would make a Category 5 storm. However...the problem with the Saffir Simpson scale and this hurricane is the scale is a wind scale first.

The 1 minute average at 10 meters in an unobstructed area is what defines the category of this and all other Atlantic hurricanes...and by that standard I believe MS experienced no greater than high-end cat 3 winds.

However...the surge was well above the minimum expected from a Cat 5 and the pressure was in the range too.

So technically...this was a Cat 3. On any other scale...the damage caused by this storm was the worst ever sustained by our nation...which is why I think we need a better way to classify hurricanes than the the Saffir Simpson scale.

MW

[dawgpound]

Quote from Long Beach, MS resident who went through Camille: " I'll never talk about Camille again. This was the big one!"

[seflcane]

Quote from Long Beach, MS resident who went through Camille: " I'll never talk about Camille again. This was the big one!"

True. I dont think any storm unless it's cat5 should be mentioned in the same sentence as camille. A Hurricane like camille with 180-190 mph winds today would be just total carnage. Not from storm surge but just the wind alone.

[mikey mike]

none of you want to see it and none of you want to be here.believe me.we lucked up and got poiwer last night.i am at a friends house.i can't live in my home.just about everything along the beachfront is gone.everything!! it is hell down here and all the media wants to talk about is new orleans

[seflcane]

No offense to Joe Bastardi of accuweather, but why every major storm he has it going into New Orleans? Gabby 2001 he was saying would go into New Orleans as a major hurricane, instead it hit SW Florida. Isidore 2002 he had doomsday, Ivan last year he went bonkers with. It seems every Gulf storm he says New Orleans and major hurricane.

[frederic79]

Mike,
This is the first time since Katrina I've been online. My home was flooded and I lost my car as well, but my family is safe and healthy - I am blessed. I appreciate your comments regarding Mississippi. My house is approx. 60 miles east of where the east eyewall came ashore near Waveland. I never dreamed it would cause a surge this big when the winds were said to be 125-135 range sustained. However, a report in The Mississippi Press said a local anometer clocked winds of 137 mph before failing. I assume this was a gust and not sustained. I agree that prior to landfall the windfield spread out and the surge had no time to abate. At one time on my way to Jackson, I heard a report from recon of 902 mb and 185 mph sustain from dropsonde measurements. Katrina was about 15 hours from landfall then. Here in Pascagoula I'm seeing catastrophic devistation mainly near the waterfront, but wind damage is spotty. I suspect there were many small tornadoes, F1 or F2 that did most of the extreme wind damage. But as you said, Biloxi, Gulfport, Waveland, Bay St. Louis are history. This is unbelievable. I keep waking up hoping it was a bad dream. To you, Mike, and others here at Storm2K, I appreciate your thoughts and compassion for the MS coast. Glad to be back.

[Lori]

Glad to hear you are ok. Sorry about your house.
May God bless you, comfort you, and give you peace.

[MWatkins]

Mike,
This is the first time since Katrina I've been online. My home was flooded and I lost my car as well, but my family is safe and healthy - I am blessed. I appreciate your comments regarding Mississippi. My house is approx. 60 miles east of where the east eyewall came ashore near Waveland. I never dreamed it would cause a surge this big when the winds were said to be 125-135 range sustained. However, a report in The Mississippi Press said a local anometer clocked winds of 137 mph before failing. I assume this was a gust and not sustained. I agree that prior to landfall the windfield spread out and the surge had no time to abate. At one time on my way to Jackson, I heard a report from recon of 902 mb and 185 mph sustain from dropsonde measurements. Katrina was about 15 hours from landfall then. Here in Pascagoula I'm seeing catastrophic devistation mainly near the waterfront, but wind damage is spotty. I suspect there were many small tornadoes, F1 or F2 that did most of the extreme wind damage. But as you said, Biloxi, Gulfport, Waveland, Bay St. Louis are history. This is unbelievable. I keep waking up hoping it was a bad dream. To you, Mike, and others here at Storm2K, I appreciate your thoughts and compassion for the MS coast. Glad to be back.

Frederic,

Glad to hear you are safe. I haven't had a night since last Monday where I didn't wake up thinking the same thing...kind of hoping this didn't happen. Then I wander out into the living room...and there's the Waveland Fire and Rescue hat...given to us by the fire chief there...as a reminder that all of this did happen.

I can tell you we saw both things...we saw a little tornado right off our hotel balcony during a violent burst of winds...and we (well...Mark's RM Young anomometer on the Tahoe) recorded a gust of 137 about 3.5 miles from the coast. We had a couple of gusts near 120 as we made our way back to the coast...and Gulfport was absolutely decimated...and as we made our way back east Monday night the surge up in Biloxi and Pascagoula was beyond description.

New Orleans is bad...sure...but Mississippi was completely devistated within 1/2 mile of the coast....and in some places...well beyond that.

Take care...and stay safe. And please keep checking in.

MW

[seflcane]

Mike,
This is the first time since Katrina I've been online. My home was flooded and I lost my car as well, but my family is safe and healthy - I am blessed. I appreciate your comments regarding Mississippi. My house is approx. 60 miles east of where the east eyewall came ashore near Waveland. I never dreamed it would cause a surge this big when the winds were said to be 125-135 range sustained. However, a report in The Mississippi Press said a local anometer clocked winds of 137 mph before failing. I assume this was a gust and not sustained. I agree that prior to landfall the windfield spread out and the surge had no time to abate. At one time on my way to Jackson, I heard a report from recon of 902 mb and 185 mph sustain from dropsonde measurements. Katrina was about 15 hours from landfall then. Here in Pascagoula I'm seeing catastrophic devistation mainly near the waterfront, but wind damage is spotty. I suspect there were many small tornadoes, F1 or F2 that did most of the extreme wind damage. But as you said, Biloxi, Gulfport, Waveland, Bay St. Louis are history. This is unbelievable. I keep waking up hoping it was a bad dream. To you, Mike, and others here at Storm2K, I appreciate your thoughts and compassion for the MS coast. Glad to be back.

Frederic,

Glad to hear you are safe. I haven't had a night since last Monday where I didn't wake up thinking the same thing...kind of hoping this didn't happen. Then I wander out into the living room...and there's the Waveland Fire and Rescue hat...given to us by the fire chief there...as a reminder that all of this did happen.

I can tell you we saw both things...we saw a little tornado right off our hotel balcony during a violent burst of winds...and we (well...Mark's RM Young anomometer on the Tahoe) recorded a gust of 137 about 3.5 miles from the coast. We had a couple of gusts near 120 as we made our way back to the coast...and Gulfport was absolutely decimated...and as we made our way back east Monday night the surge up in Biloxi and Pascagoula was beyond description.

New Orleans is bad...sure...but Mississippi was completely devistated within 1/2 mile of the coast....and in some places...well beyond that.

Take care...and stay safe. And please keep checking in.

MW

So that 137 wasnt at the peak of the storm then? Also prob a few miles west had the peak winds then. the video i've seen on MSNBC from Jeff Petrowski "sp' was amazing. Some of that wind looked severe like one notch below Charley. IMO this was a cat4 I think at it's final landfall.

[AdvAutoBob]

Mike,
Glad you and Mark are safe... One question not touched on here, did you recover the missing storm cases? I hope that at least some of the footage can help in future analysis of storm surge as opposed to wind (relating to revising the SS scale) and it would be a shame if it's lost forever.