|
The National Weather Service bulletin for the New Orleans region of 10:11 a.m., August 28, 2005 was a vividly worded release issued by the local Weather Forecast Office in Slidell, Louisiana, warning of the devastation that the Gulf Coast of the United States could experience as a result of Hurricane Katrina. An NWS assessment of its Hurricane Katrina activity found that because of "the unprecedented detail and foreboding nature of the language used, the statement helped reinforce the actions of emergency management officials as they coordinated one of the largest evacuations in U.S. history."〔(Service Assessment: Hurricane Katrina, August 23-31, 2005 ).〕 The bulletin "helped reinforce the message from emergency management officials for residents in southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi to heed evacuation orders from local officials."〔 ==Background== On the evening of August 25, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near the Miami-Dade–Broward county line in southern Florida and weakened into a tropical storm as a result. The next morning, after passing over the state, Tropical Storm Katrina moved into the Gulf of Mexico, reintensified back to hurricane strength, and due to the warm waters of the Loop Current, began undergoing rapid deepening.〔Knabb, Richard D.; Rhome, Jamie R. "(Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Katrina )." ''National Hurricane Center.'' December 20, 2005.〕 At 11:00 p.m. EDT August 26, approximately 56 hours before Katrina's landfall near Buras, Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center had predicted that the Greater New Orleans area could face a direct hit by the storm. As New Orleans is located on the Mississippi River Delta and parts of the city are below sea level, a strong hurricane could have a devastating effect on the city. Previous warnings, such as the one made by the Houston Chronicle in 2001, told of a disaster that "would strand 250,000 people or more, and probably kill one of 10 left behind as the city drowned under 20 feet of water" following a severe hurricane making landfall on the city.〔Berger, Eric. "(Keeping its head above water: New Orleans faces doomsday scenario )." ''Houston Chronicle.'' December 1, 2001.〕 The National Hurricane Center's director, Max Mayfield, indicated that the Mississippi/Louisiana area has "the greatest potential for nightmare scenarios," and that this has been known for at least the three decades he has worked at the NHC. Other publications, such as ''Popular Mechanics'', ''Scientific American'', and The Times-Picayune gave doomsday scenarios in which a sinking city would drown and its residents would be left homeless.〔Wilson, Jim. "(New Orleans is Sinking )." ''Popular Mechanics.'' September 11, 2001.〕〔Fischetti, Mark. "(Drowning New Orleans )." ''Scientific American.'' October, 2001.〕〔McQuaid, John; Schleifstein, Mark. "(Washing Away )." ''The Times-Picayune.'' June 23-June 27, 2002.〕 In 1965, Hurricane Betsy made landfall just south of New Orleans, causing widespread flooding in the city. As a result, a system of levees was authorized by Congress to handle future storm events. However, the protection given by this system was limited to hurricanes up to Category 3 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.〔Westerink, J.J.; Luettich, R.A. "(The Creeping Storm )." ''Civil Engineering Magazine.'' June, 2003.〕 Three days before Katrina's second and third landfalls, the National Hurricane Center began predicting that the storm would make landfall as a major hurricane.〔 By the next morning, on August 27, the NHC issued a hurricane watch that included the New Orleans metro area, which was upgraded to a hurricane warning by 10:00 p.m. CDT that same evening. At this point, Katrina was a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph (185 km/h) winds and about 335 miles (540 km) to the south-southeast of the Mississippi River's mouth.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「National Weather Service bulletin for Hurricane Katrina」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|