Category: Hurricane Katrina

Katrina Comes Calling

I woke up and turned on the computer. The Miami radar showed Katrina closer than I expected. I think people in Florida are surprised it’s this close this soon. A friend in South Florida says the Hurricane Center’s personnel are on TV ‘tap dancing’.

I called my folks. “Put down the hurricane shutters,” I said. Hours later, the shutters were still up.

None of the neighbors had theirs down, my mom told me.

The shutters are down now. The wind is beginning to blow. The heaviest rain and wind are still to come.

Most likely they will not need the shutters, just as most likely I won’t need my seat belt on the drive home tonight.

They are currently with phone service but without electricity. The no electricity thing is the part they didn’t want to go through again.

Katrina On Radar

I have been looking at the Miami NWS Nexrad‘s image of Katrina&#185. Very interesting.

It doesn’t have distinct hurricane features yet. There’s no eye, as such. Still, I am seeing what looks like a center of circulation. It is becoming circular after its previous blob shape.

I think of all the observational tools, radar is best at this point. Satellites are interesting, but radar is so much closer to real time and rapidly updated.

&#185 – Right now, that’s just whatever’s on the Miami radar. It was Katrina when this entry was originally posted.

Katrina Heads West

When I called my folks yesterday to give them their “Katrina heads-up,” I immediately heard the discomfort in my mom’s voice. It’s not that she didn’t feel they could weather a hurricane. It’s that she already has.

Even if it creates no significant damage, a hurricane is a major inconvenience. My mom and dad remember the days without power, phone and air conditioning. Who wants to repeat that?

She said they were prepared in the things you’re supposed to have: lanterns, water, food, batteries.

I wish I could say they were off the hook. The definitely are not. The predicted track brings Katrina perilously close to Boynton Beach early Friday morning.

A hurricane is bad enough during the day. In the dark of night, it’s worse.

The only good news is the hope Katrina will stay a minimal hurricane. Much of South Florida is built to easily survive a category one storm.

This isn’t my last post on this storm.

Almost Katrina

The Hurricane Center has just christened a tropical depression. Though it hasn’t yet graduated to tropical storm or hurricane status, “we’ve already picked out a name” – Katrina.

I am concerned by Katrina because it is likely to head toward South Florida, a densely populated area and where my parents live!

It doesn’t look like Katrina will be a major hurricane… but a minimal hurricane is enough for me.

You’ll be reading a lot more about this storm on this site over the next few days.