Katrina: Fears of catastrophe rising

2005-08-29 17:00

New Orleans - Hurricane Katrina ploughed into this below-sea-level city on Monday with howling, 233km/h winds and blinding rain that flooded some homes to the ceilings and ripped away part of the roof of the Superdome, where thousands of people had taken shelter.

Katrina weakened overnight to a Category 4 storm and turned slightly eastward before hitting land about 06:10 CDT (11:10 GMT) east of Grand Isle near the bayou town of Buras, providing some hope that this vulnerable city would be spared the storm's full fury.

But national hurricane centre director Max Mayfield warned that New Orleans would be pounded throughout the day and that Katrina's potential 4.5m storm surge, down from a feared 8.4m, was still substantial enough to cause extensive flooding.

"I'm not doing too good right now," Chris Robinson said via cellphone from his home east of the city's downtown.

"The water's rising pretty fast.

'I want to live'

"I got a hammer and an axe and a crowbar, but I'm holding off on breaking through the roof until the last minute. Tell someone to come get me please.

"I want to live."

Along the Gulf Coast, the storm hurled boats onto land in Mississippi, lashed street lamps and flooded roads in Alabama, and swamped highway bridges and knocked out power to 28 000 people in the Florida Panhandle.

New Orleans, which was in particular peril because it is so low-lying, was ordered evacuated over the weekend, and an estimated 80% of its 480 000 residents complied.

Superdome roof leaking

At the Superdome, home to 9 000 storm refugees, wind peeled pieces of metal from the golden roof, leaving two holes that let water drip in.

People inside were moved out of the way.

Others stayed and watched as sheets of metal flapped and rumbled loudly.

From the floor, looking up more than 19 storeys, it appeared to be openings of about 2m long.

Outside, one of the 3m concrete clock pylons set up around the Superdome, blew over. governor Kathleen Blanco said.

Scores of windows were blown out at some of New Orleans' hotels.

The storms winds dropped to 217km/h as it pushed inland, threatening the Gulf Coast and the Tennessee Valley with as much as 38cm of rain over the next couple of days and up to 20cm in the drought-stricken Ohio Valley and eastern Great Lakes.

Katrina was a terrifying, 282km/h Category 5 behemoth - the most powerful category on the scale - before weakening.

Along US 90 in Mississippi - the major coastal route that is home to the state's casinos - sailboats were washed onto the four-lane highway.

'Devastating hit'

"This is a devastating hit - we've got boats that have gone into buildings," Gulfport fire chief Pat Sullivan said as he manoeuvred around downed trees in the city.

In Gulf Shores, Alabama, which nearly a year ago was Ground Zero for Hurricane Ivan's destruction, waves crashed over the seawalls and street lights danced in the howling winds.

In New Orleans' French Quarter hotel residents huddled inside in the midmorning darkness as winds howled, a horizontal rain pinged against the windows, and slate roof tiles tore off.

For years, forecasters have warned of the nightmare scenario a big storm could bring to New Orleans, a bowl of a city that is up to 3m below sea level in spots and relies on a network of levees, canals and pumps to keep dry from the Mississippi River on one side, Lake Pontchartrain on the other.

The fear was that flooding could overrun the levees and turn New Orleans into a toxic lake filled with chemicals and petroleum from refineries, as well as waste from ruined septic systems.

National guard

Terry Ebbert, New Orleans director of homeland security, said more than 4 000 national guardsmen were mobilising in Memphis and would help police New Orleans streets.

The head of Jefferson Parish, which includes major suburbs and juts all the way to the storm-vulnerable coast, said some residents who stayed would be fortunate to survive.

"I'm expecting that some people who are die-hards will die hard," parish council President Aaron Broussard said.

The evacuation itself claimed lives.

Three New Orleans nursing home residents died on Sunday after being taken by bus to a Baton Rouge church - probably as a result of dehydration.

- AP