I hope I'm wrong, but this could be of Biblical proportions. Via Stromtrack.blogspot.com:

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED

HURRICANE KATRINA
A 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. AT
LEAST 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 CREATE
ADDITIONAL 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. FEW
CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE
KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR
HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE
CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.

ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE
OUTSIDE!

I don't know what to say except God bless and keep those in the path of this conflagration.

Yikes.

You've evacuated, right?

Paul:

Is there a chance that people that can't make it out can at least get to river barges along the Mississippi and ride out the storm there?

I live on the coast of Mississippi. Not like, ON the coast, but very close to. It's looking awful, and I'm near the MS-AL line. It's going to be bad here -- I can't imagine New Orleans. It's going to be a lake after this, and it will take weeks, maybe months, just to get the water out.

I've been through several hurricanes living on the NC coast. None even close to the size of this one. Even those were pretty scary. I pray for those who cannot evacuate. I wonder at those who have the ability to leave and choose not to. ???

Re the text posted by Barry, my wife works for the NWS (and formerly at the office serving New Orleans; she rode out Hurricane Andrew's second landfall at her apartment in Slidell) so I'm checking with her. The Stormtrack entry has no link and I couldn't find anything like it at the NWS website.

The language just strikes me as a little unusual for the NWS, is all. Local or state emergency services, I could believe, but...

Is there a chance that people that can't make it out can at least get to river barges along the Mississippi and ride out the storm there?

The last place I would want to be in a hurricane is on the water, even a river. The Mississippi is at least a mile wide at New Orleans so it's not what you could really call sheltered. And if the worst happens and the levee system fails, those river barges could become neighborhood barges.

Riding a flood through city streets would be less pleasant than riding out a hurricane on open water, I'm guessing.

Stay safe, Paul!

Okay, I still haven't found the message itself at the NWS website, but Rambling's Journal has the same text and a link to this page -- though if it was there it's scrolled off.

Be careful!

Gosh it sounds awful. I'm just curious, is the Superdome even safe?? Its right by the river and I wonder how well it can stand debris hitting it at 175mph.

I don't say prayers Paul, but Rightwingsparkle does. I asked her to put in a good word for you and New Orleans. Sorry I can't do more.

Okay, the message Barry posted has been renewed by the NWS at 4:13 pm CDT, so it must be legit. It can be found at the link I found on Ranbling's Journal, which is http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/iwszone?Sites=:laz062#t2

That verbiage is extraordinary. I'm 400 miles inland and almost 1,000 feet above sea level and it's got me wanting to head for higher ground.

McGehee:

I clicked on that second link and got NOAA's website, with an "Urgent Weather Message" worded almost exactly the same as in Barry Dauphin's post.

McGehee:

Thanks for confirming via NWS. More proof of the value of the blogs to fact check quickly. I'm originally from New Orleans and have family there (they evacuated earlier today), but I copied and linked quickly. I found the language unusual too, but I found the scenario very believeable given the various computer models and extensive study of this problem over the last several years.

>I'm just curious, is the Superdome even safe??

We don't know.

But about 60,000 souls are hoping.

Paul,

Good luck to you and yours.

I assume that you are somewhere other than NO at the moment?

I hope you have something to come home to

Well, I certainly have muy political differences with most of thepeople on this board, but belive me when I say I only wish the best for anyone who may be in the path of this nightmare.

Paul,

Hope you made it pretty far north. So many people are heading to Baton Rouge and the NWS is saying that Katrina will remain at hurricane strength until it approaches Tennessee.

Be safe. Update us when you can.

Oh man... ::: speechless :::

after surviving three hurricanes last year I would never wish that on anyone. This one is SO much more than those. Truly, what else can be said?

My prayers are with you.

My prayers are with the folks going through this ordeal. Today I stumbled across a website at www.SupportNewOrleans.com which supports the brave people facing Hurricane Katrina. Others have posted letters of support on the site as well.