To: LindyBill who wrote (264530 ) 9/1/2008 7:27:14 AM From: gamesmistress Respond to Southwest, actually. mapquest.com This morning, as Hurricane Gustav nears Louisiana, its eastern eyewall — normally the fiercest part of a hurricane — has vanished, along with much of the rest of the storm’s eastern and southern core. This is, again, the portion of the storm that will come closest to New Orleans. You can see this on radar here and here:Gustav is, in fact, weakening. The Hurricane Center’s 115 mph estimate is, as they say, “generous,” and frankly, although I’m generally reluctant to criticize the NHC, I’m not sure what purpose is served at this point by continuing to pretend Gustav is a major hurricane. This is a Category 2 hurricane, as it has been for most, if not all, of the last 24 hours. Maintaining its Cat. 3 status all day yesterday made some sense, as the possibility of restrengthening remained, and one didn’t want to sound a premature “all clear.” But now, calling Gustav a Cat. 3, when it’s really a Cat. 2 and isn’t going to get any stronger, simply risks creating more public cynicism, it seems to me. It’s not as if people will fail to notice when Gustav doesn’t cause major-hurricane-level damage or wind gusts.Gustav will still bring significant storm-surge flooding to the Houma area and environs along the east-central Louisiana coast. It may yet cause some flooding in New Orleans, particularly on the West Bank, depending on how the levees hold up. And it’s not like Category 2 winds are a pleasant day in the park. This will be a hellish morning and afternoon for folks in southeastern Louisiana. My thoughts and prayers are with the people there. pajamasmedia.com
