Hurricane Katrina Hits Gulf Coast, Flooding Many Roads
urricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in southeastern Louisiana early Monday as a Category 4 hurricane, bringing high winds to the region and flooding many roads, including Interstate 10, news services reported.
President Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana on Saturday because of the storm's approach, and federal officials urged residents on the Gulf Coast to heed authorities' advice to evacuate, the Associated Press reported.
Katrina, which late Sunday had been a Category 5 hurricane — the strongest of five levels, with winds above 155 mph — weakened slightly just before making landfall into a Category 4 with winds between 131 and 155 mph, AP reported.
News services reported that southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama experienced high-force winds and surging tides as Katrina blew ashore. The U.S. Coast Guard closed all ports from New Orleans to the Florida Panhandle ahead of the arrival of the massive hurricane.
Freight railroad Norfolk Southern said it had embargoed all shipments to New Orleans and Mobile, Ala.. to avoid further congestion in the area expected to be impacted by Katrina. NS said its customers with traffic in areas impacted by Katrina should anticipate delays.
Katrina’s eye took a turn overnight slightly to the eastern side of New Orleans, which could spare that city an overwhelming tidal surge, because the east side of a hurricane’s eye gets the strongest storm surges when they make landfall.
ut the slow-moving storm still held the potential to leave storm surge of 18 to 28 feet that could top New Orleans’ hurricane levees and dump as much as 15 inches, AP said.
Airports in the region, including in New Orleans, Biloxi, Miss., Mobile, Ala., and Fort Walton Beach, Fla., all were closed Monday, USA Today reported.
The storm’s projected path could affect a big part of the country as it heads on a northeasterly track toward the Ohio River Valley.
Meteorologists warned that hurricane-force winds of at least 74 mph could reach as far inland as Tennessee, and that tropical storm-strength winds of at least 39 mph could extend into the Midwest, USA Today reported.
Katrina left at least nine people dead in Florida, which it crossed Friday as a Category 1 hurricane, drenching the southern part of the state with rain and knocking out power to thousands.
The storm could cost insurers as much as $30 billion, Reuters reported.
The hurricane also was cited as a factor in crude oil prices spiking sharply to more than $70 a barrel for the first time before the market opened Monday, Bloomberg reported. (Click here for related coverage.)
