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Hurricane Katrina slams Louisiana coast

Posted on: Monday, 29 August 2005, 08:31 CDT

By Rick Wilking

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Louisiana coast on Monday with 140 mile per hour (224 kph) winds as the powerful storm came ashore from the Gulf of Mexico and took aim at low-lying New Orleans.

The coast, much of it lightly populated swamps, was being pounded with high winds and heavy rains while New Orleans, 55 miles northeast, braced for the worst of Katrina.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm, now Category 4 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, was not quite the monster it had been in the open Gulf, but still packed a powerful punch. It had been a Category 5 with 175 mile per hour (280 kph) winds.

In New Orleans, wind gusts had already topped 85 miles per hour (135 kph), well above hurricane force, and the powerful center of the storm was still two to three hours away, the center said.

Even into early Monday, Louisiana highways were thick with traffic as residents sought safety as far away as Texas, 265 miles to the west.

"The only thing I was worried about was the water. We don't worry about no wind," said Cray Bruce as he stopped for gas in Crowley, Louisiana, 160 miles west of New Orleans.

The winds shook street signs, whipped trees about and knocked out electricity in some areas, but streets were largely abandoned after officials said at least 1 million people fled the storm.

Weather forecasters said Katrina may veer just east of New Orleans and head toward neighboring Mississippi, where strong winds were already building.

In Baton Rouge, officials said three people from a New Orleans nursing home had died during their evacuation to a Baton Rouge church. They said they were among nearly two dozen people from the home who were on a bus stuck in traffic for hours during the 80 mile trip.

NEW ORLEANS IN DANGER

Weather experts had warned of a possible storm surge as high as 28 feet, enough to damage or destroy thousands of homes and leave 1 million people homeless.

New Orleans is nearly surrounded by water, including Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi, and about 70 percent of it lies below sea level, protected only by a series of levees.

Mayor Ray Nagin, who ordered a mandatory evacuation, warned the predicted storm surge could push water over the levees and flood the city, including its historic French Quarter.

Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said 26,000 people had taken shelter in the Superdome, a giant, enclosed stadium near the French Quarter.

"Please Pray for New Orleans" read a giant hand-painted sign, appearing to sum up the fears that had seized the city known as the Big Easy for its relaxed life and party atmosphere.

New Orleans has not been hit directly by a hurricane since 1965 when Hurricane Betsy blew in, flooding the city. The storm killed about 75 people overall.

Katrina was making its second U.S. landfall after striking southern Florida last week, where it caused widespread flooding and seven deaths.

As Katrina plowed through the Gulf of Mexico, oil companies shut down production from many of the offshore platforms that provide a quarter of U.S. oil and gas production.

At least 42 percent of daily Gulf oil production, 20 percent of daily Gulf natural gas output and 8.5 percent of national refining capacity was shut on Sunday, producers and refiners said.

U.S. oil futures jumped nearly $5 a barrel in opening trade to touch a peak of $70.80. The rise in oil prices fed through to other financial markets, hurting stocks and the dollar on fears that economic growth might be curtailed but boosting safe havens such as government bonds and gold.

Source: REUTERS

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