Beyond Katrina

Galveston Blogger removed from shelter

Galveston reporter was writing about her experience at the shelter

A reporter with The Galveston County Daily News who blogged as an embedded evacuee at Crockett High School was asked to leave the shelter by Austin school officials on Friday.Continue>>>

Pilots Sta E, SW Pass, LA, Pilottown, LA clocking 55 mph wind gusts - winds from the SE

The PT station recorded a 60 mph gust at around 2:00 am this morning...as of 5:00 am New Orleans Lake front is getting gusts near 50 mph...Wind gusts in the Baton Rouge metro area are about 20 mph not anything to write home about but it is nice and gusty out there this am - trees are getting another pruning...

Courtesy-- NOAA

Raining Hard in Baton Rouge

Ike is passing in front of Louisiana - heading toward Texas

Wow. The bottom just dropped out here in Baton Rouge. We're getting a hard rain. A transformer blew somewhere earlier this evening when we had a little light but gusty squall move through. This is the kind of socked in rain that causes flooding to low lying areas - and we've already had plenty of that from Gustav. This has been quite a cane season, to say the least - different from 2005 (they are all unique), yet busy in its own right...Friend Margie Kieper reminds me that peak season was yesterday. When I said "oh good", she told me she didn't mean that to be good news. I reminded her that Louisiana has never had a major cane cross over past October 1 - and...that there is nothing supposed to happen in the tropics for the next few weeks. Stone cold silence on her end. Well I spoke too soon, the rain continues but is a bit lighter now. What do they say? If you don't like the weather in south Louisiana just wait five minutes and it will change. That said, it occurs to me that weather conversations are supposed to be light fare - a way to avoid more meatier topics. You know, the  "stuff" you talk about with strangers, and when you are at a loss for words.... "well how's the weather today"? Well not so here. Weather talk long the gulf coast  is a big, serious, scary and complex conversation - bigger and badder than politics sometimes!

[VOIP-WXNET] VoIP Hurricane Net Situation Report #8: Hurricane Ike Support and Activation

Hello to all... We have received a number of inquiries on when the VoIP Hurricane Net will be reactivating for Hurricane Ike, which is now undergoing a potentially rapid intensification phase, and has now become a large hurricane which could affect a large portion of the Texas Gulf Coast. As of the 8 PM EDT/7 PM CDT Hurricane Ike Intermediate Advisory, a Hurricane Watch has been posted from Cameron Louisiana Westward to Port Mansfield Texas and a Tropical Storm Warning is in effect from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Cameron Louisiana. The VoIP Hurricane Net will do a roll-call from stations in the affected area of Hurricane Ike and stations that are not in the affected area of Hurricane Ike but have relays to other hams, hurricane chasers, friends, family or other contacts in the affected area of Hurricane Ike and can relay information back to our net. That roll call net will be Thursday Evening at 930 PM EDT/830 PM CDT. The VoIP Hurricane Net will likely begin formal activation some time Friday Morning and that activation could last through Saturday and into a portion of Sunday Morning. The start time of formal activation will be confirmed in an activation announcement posted some time on Thursday. The weekly VoIP Hurricane Prep Net for Saturday Evening will again be cancelled. Advisories on Hurricane Ike can be obtained via the VoIPWXNet web site by clicking Atlantic Tropical Products off the Main Menu of the web site. They can also be found at the National Hurricane Center web site at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team is preparing for a long duration activation for Hurricane Ike in the Friday through Sunday Morning timeframe. Another update will be posted on Thursday. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net! 73,Rob-KD1CY. Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net

Call up all US GUlf Coast Amateur Radio Stations

The VoIP Hurricane Net will be doing the following for net activation plans based on the 5 PM EDT/2100 UTC Sunday track of Major Hurricane Gustav:

1.) Call-Up Net of all Northern US Gulf Coast Stations that are available to assist the net at 8 PM ET/7 PM CT.

2.) Informal net monitoring from the time the call-up is over until 4 AM ET Monday.

3.) Net Activation to start formally at 4 AM ET Monday. The net activation will last until some point on Tuesday depending on the track and intensity of Gustav.

For the latest advisory information including watches and warnings, you can go to the VoIPWXNet web site and click Atlantic Tropical Products and click on the advisory information for Fay under the Atlantic Tropical Products section. You can also gather the advisory information from the National Hurricane Center web site at the following link:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

The reporting criteria and activation policy for our net during hurricane net activations can be found on our web site at http://www.voipwx.net

Listen Only IRLP/EchoLink capability include the following systems (Please note due to rapid activation status some listen-only nodes may not be up right at noon time):

IRLP:
Reflector 9508 Sydney Australia Reflector channel 8.
Reflector 9129 New England Reflector channel 9.

EchoLink:
*KC4QLP-C* Node: 290251
*VKEMCOMM* Node: 270177
*N5API* Node: 77433
*IRESC* Node: 278173
*N1TAI* Node: 269929

A streaming audio feed has been setup thanks to the assistance of David McAnally-WD5M. This is the first time he has setup a streaming audio server so please bear with any technical difficulties. The links are listed below:

http://wx5fwd.net:8000/voipwx.mp3
http://wx5fwd.net:8000/voipwx.ogg
http://live.wx5fwd.net/voipwx.mp3

Bob Carter-KC4QLP has also setup an online stream for up to 32 listeners at the following link:

http://kc4qlp.dyndns.org:8082

An EQSO listen-only feed is also available via KC4QLP-R.

Links to the WD5M streaming audio feeds have also been provided in the Main Menu of the VoIPWXNet web site.

WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center in Miami Florida, will be active beginning Monday Morning. Below is the typical information WX4NHC issues prior to activation of the WX4NHC Ham Station as provided by WX4NHC Coordinators, Julio Ripoll-WD4R and John McHugh-K4AG:

We request all land based stations as well as ships at sea in the areas affected to send us weather data (measured or estimated) and damage reports.

If you are in the affected area and normally monitor on a local Net on VHF, 40 or 80 meters, we would appreciate your checking into the HWN NET or EchoLink/IRLP Net once per Hour to receive the latest Hurricane Advisories and to report your local conditions.

Please do not venture outside during the hurricane to gather weather data.

Your safety is the first priority.

There are many constantly changing atmospheric variables that affect the storm's track and strength.

Please refer to the National Hurricane Center Advisories for official information. www.nhc.noaa.gov

WX4NHC will be monitoring the Hurricane Watch Net www.hwn.org on 14.325 MHz.

Secondary HF frequencies will be 7.268 MHz and 3.950 MHz +/- QRM, should we loose propagation on 20 meters.

EchoLink "WX-Talk" Conference Room and IRLP node 9219 will also be monitored. www.voipwx.net

WX4NHC will also monitor CWOP, APRS and MADIS/MESONET Automated weather stations in the affected area.

Surface Reports using our On-line Hurricane Report form will be monitored.

Amateur Weather Enthusiasts and ON-NHC Volunteers may report directly to WX4NHC on-line.

http://www.wx4nhc.org/WX-form1.html

ON-NHC Volunteers are both Ham Radio Operators and Non-Ham weather observers that use their own weather instruments to submit "Surface Reports" directly to NHC over the Internet via the WX4NHC on-line report form. These "Surface Reports" are very important as they give Hurricane Specialists at NHC a better idea of what is actually happening on the ground level during the storm.

The WX4NHC Group continues to expand its efforts to increase the quantity and quality of surface reports to include many different modes of reception and groups of people; including HF, VHF/UHF IRLP &
EchoLink, VHF & HF APRS, CWOP NOAA Program and ON-NHC Weather Observers Network.

(see our web site for more information on these programs): www.wx4nhc.org

WX4NHC is very proud to have maintained an active Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center for the past 28 years.

We appreciate all of the volunteers who help with our efforts.

OUR MISSION: TO HELP SAVE LIVES.

--

John Mc Hugh, K4AG
Coordinator for Amateur Radio
National Hurricane Center, WX4NHC
Home page:- http://www.wx4nhc.org

Thanks to all for their continued support for the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net

__._,_.___

LA. BLOGGER NEEDS HELP POSTING - GUSTAV

I NEED HELP POSTING INFO ABOUT HURRICANE GUSTAV AT BEYOND KATRINA, www.hurricane-katrina.org. IF YOU CAN HELP OUT SEND EMAIL to MARGARET SAIZAN,  beyondkatrina@gmail.com

5:00 am ET Update on Gus & Hanna

TS Hanna is overshadowed by bigger brother Gus - never-the-less to read a VERY interesting 5:00 am forecast discussion re Hanna by crafty veteran NHC forecaster Lixion Avila, click here.

and as of this am Gustav has formed a distinct sunny-side-up-and-lookin'- at- ya eyewall.

Hurricane Hunters are investigating Gustav as I write, and I'm trying to stay up for the data -  there is some speculation that they will find a major hurricane...

the tropical wave 100 miles off the Cape Verde coast has been upgraded to high probability that it will develop. The system out from the Leewards has a low potential for development

Time to leave New Orleans

From Dr. Jeff Master's (posted about an hour ago - 8/29/08 4:23 pm EDT)

Today is the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic hit on the Louisiana/Mississippi/Alabama coast. Unfortunately, I think that people living in New Orleans should mark the anniversary of Katrina by getting the heck out of the city. You live at the bottom of a bowl, ten or so feet below sea level. This is not natural. Nature wants to fill up this bowl with huge quantities of Gulf of Mexico sea water. There is a storm capable of doing that bearing down on you. If you live in New Orleans, I suggest you take a little Labor Day holiday--sooner, rather than later, to beat the rush--and get out of town. Gustav is going to come close to you, and there's no sense messing with a major hurricane capable of pushing a Category 3 storm surge to your doorstep. Don't test those Category 3 rated--but untested--levees. Conventional pre-Katrina wisdom suggested that the city needed 72 hours to evacuate. With the population about half of the pre-Katrina population, that lead time is about 60 hours. With Gustav likely to bring tropical storm force winds to the city by Monday afternoon, that means that tonight is a good time to start evacuating--Saturday morning at the latest. Voluntary evacuations have already begun, which is a good idea.

Read the full blog post here.

Atlantic Basin Satellite Images - 5 Systems to Watch

Whew! 5 spinning vortexes out in the Atlantic basin tonight - The Campaneche Bay system is over the yucatan peninsula, Gustav is in the center and a new disturbance to the right. Tropical Storm Hanna is above center right off Florida's east coast. A new wave just emerged off the coast of Cape Verde, Africa but isn't depicted here. Satellite image courtesy of NOAA.

Gustav is nearing hurricane strength - Visualization date: August 28, 2008  13:05:09, courtesy NOAA.

Hanna, the 8th Tropical Storm of the 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Visualization date: 8/28/08 13:12:20

Early Am Update on Gustav

I woke up early this am to check on the latest for Gustav - I wasn't too happy to see the spaghetti models pointing the system toward the Gulf of Mexico, and I particularly don't like the NHC's latest track forecast which has Gustav aiming straight for Louisiana.  Indeed this is all very tentative at this point but still...In the the 5:00 am discussion this morning forecasters Erick Blake and Lixion Avila state the upper level winds favor Gustav emerging as a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Gustav is currently stalled over Haiti.