Everyone'd better be out of Cameron

[SamSagnella]

Cameron, LA is about to get totally dominated by major hurricane force winds, and a catastrophic storm surge. As of 0535UTC, the northern eyewall of Hurricane Rita is moving on shore in Cameron Parish. Due to the shape of the coastline, areas just to the east of the city will be experiencing a significant surge, possibly over 20'. If my fears are confirmed, Lake Charles (the body of water) will be Charles Bay after all is said and done.

[FunkMasterB]

Wiped off the map along with Holly Beach.

[SamSagnella]

These pictures say it all....
0541UTC-------------------0547UTC-------------------0553UTC


WOWWWWW. Goodbye, Cameron.

[djtil]

this thread a little overly dramatic. a cat 3 isnt "wiping" anything off the map. damage yes.....catastrophic obliteration, permanent geographical changes.....thats sci fi.

[Pebbles]

um 2 words... storm surge

[jkt21787]

this thread a little overly dramatic. a cat 3 isnt "wiping" anything off the map. damage yes.....catastrophic obliteration, permanent geographical changes.....thats sci fi.

You said the same thing with Katrina, no towns would be wiped off the map. I would consider many MS coastal towns wiped off the map now.

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

Katrina wiped some area's off the map.

[SamSagnella]

this thread a little overly dramatic. a cat 3 isnt "wiping" anything off the map. damage yes.....catastrophic obliteration, permanent geographical changes.....thats sci fi.

Um. Ordinarily I would agree, but when we're talking about a 15-20' surge in an area that is less than 3' above sealevel and a city less than 1/2 mile from the coast. I think we'll be shocked by what we see come daylight and calmer winds.

[djtil]

which towns are wiped off the map? the coastal structures sure. and also....link me where i ever discussed this with katrina.


the 2 statements:

cameron will be wiped off the map
lake charles wont be a lake but a bay now.


are overly dramatic and outside bounds of reality.

[Pebbles]

which towns are wiped off the map? the coastal structures sure. and also....link me where i ever discussed this with katrina.


the 2 statements:

cameron will be wiped off the map
lake charles wont be a lake but a bay now.


are overly dramatic and outside bounds of reality.

I'll talk to you again tomorrow or probably more likely Sun as it will take time to actually get in there and see how much is gone... you are way underestimating the power of a Cat 3 storm with 15 to 20 foot storm surge impacting land that is way below that compared to sea level. and um.. they getting the NE eyewall.

Better yet why don't you wait till then and then do a big I TOLD YOU SO and everyone can eat crow if they are wrong... and if we are right I will definately enjoy making any dish you like from Pebbles Delectable Crow Catering

[djtil]

ill be here.

assuming every structure in cameron is leveled and lake charles has ceased to exist i will eat whatever you feed me.

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

Remember this was one of the most powerful hurricanes in recorded history. This is still going to have a higher then normal surge. The beast was let out of the bag when it became 175 mph/897 millibars.

[FunkMasterB]

djtil, "wiped off the map" is an expression. When I wake up tomorrow, I fully expect 'Cameron' will still be on my Rand McNally.

But the storm surge is pretty much going to level or ruin everything in that town. Everything will have to be rebuilt. That's not sci-fi or an exaggeration.

[SamSagnella]

djtil,
what do you expect the damage in cameron to be?

[sfgal]

So, djtil, have you finished all that crow dished to you as a result of your proclamations that the death toll from Katrina would not even be in the dozens? And from declaring that Katrina was not so bad for NO and other areas just hours after (and before) landfall? So --whether or not you're right this time (and you probably are) -- I would think you would delay your minimizing denigrations of others' suffering until actual assessments are made. Just sayin'.

[Pebbles]

P.S. here's a map of Cameron BTW... suggest you look where it's located

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?se ... A&zipcode=

[la tempesta]

I think Katrina is proof enough that once a huge storm goes to Cat 5 the surge doesn't go away because the winds die down. The wall of water is still being pushed. The surge is going to be horrible. I am dreading daylight.

[SamSagnella]

Louisiana has few barrier islands; therefore, the problem of overpopulation slowing down evacuation times, e.g. Florida, does not exist. New Orleans has high evacuation times due to a relative lack of major highways out of the city and dense population...I-10 is pretty much the only route of escape. But we do have our own unique problems. A lack of coastal irregularities and a general smooth Gulf of Mexico bottom make Cameron Parish ideal for maximum wave damage along its shores (Morgan). The land in lower sections of Southern Louisiana is slowly sinking and at the same time, quickly eroding away. In some places, the loss can be as much as a foot a year!

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/research/lahurclimo.htm

As Matt noted, Rita was below 900mb (!) at one point, and, because the amount of energy required to move large masses of water is far greater than the amount of energy required to move the air (wind), storm surge doesn't just magically decrease 10 feet when the NHC lowers the intensity by a category or two.

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

This thing was stronger then Katrina to. Remember Isabel 2003...It had some of the highest surge ever to hit the East coast. But was only a 100 mph. Katrina was only 140 mph but it now holds the record for any hurricane ot ever hit the United states. Beating Camilles by 7 feet!.

[djtil]

i expect anything along the beach to be destroyed....cameron proper ( a couple miles inland) will receive heavy wind damage.

it will not be wiped off the map....and if thats just an expression and is not what is meant than why say it.



and its been well documented, nola weathered the storm fairly well just hours after landfall.