DOCUMENTING SURGE SURVEYORS: STORM WATER TOPPED AT LEAST 28 FEET

[jobycom]

Sorry for the caps. I cut and pasted. That's how the site had it.

This is a very good article for those who want to understand how these numbers are arrived at, and how Katrina hit.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/12914861.htm

Every suspicion that the storm was as bad as any we've ever seen is being confirmed.

On Scenic Drive in Pass Christian, there's a water mark inside a house that's been measured at roughly 28 feet. Two others in the neighborhood confirm it.

At Interstate 10's Jourdan River bridge in Hancock County, there's a debris line on the east end that's about 28 feet. Another mark at the Turkey Creek bridge in Gulfport shows the same surge.

At the Beach Mini Mart near the east end of the U.S. 90 bridge over Biloxi Bay, an inside mark measures 20 feet.

Along Interstate 10's Pascagoula River bridge, it's about 13 feet.

"The flood elevations are extraordinarily high," FEMA's Todd Davison said. "Anybody who has studied storm surge, these are well in excess of 100-year flood numbers."

more..

[jobycom]

1. kicking my own thread--sue me, I think it's worth it.

[uppityperson]

2. kick for you, it's worth it

"aw, it wasn't so bad, NO is coming back because you can now get a late night drink, get over it and move on" people need to go look for themselves. And take a truck of building and household supplies and tools and help for a bit. nola.com has great current pictures, even if of NO and LA, still.

[SoCalDem]

3. Yep.. FQ is dry, bars open, casinos coming.. No Problem

Pretty soon the girls gone wild guys will show up with cameras, and the beads will be flung:(

[uppityperson]

4. I read something today about the stench after dining out

Something about people leaving the restaraunts and the stench.

[SoCalDem]

5. I would not want to eat at a restaurant that had been flooded

There is nasty stuff in that water.. Even in the FQ, the spoilage and the germs attendant to nearby flooding would creep me out :)

[uppityperson]

6. Nice relaxing dinner, glass of wine, exit to the st. Picture post surge

Maybe take a gas mask along? My sense of smell is still off, been 3 wks since being there. There is a lot of dried sludge around, you know it is blowing around as dust too. History reports in 40 yrs will be interesting about this time.

Picture of BayStLouis, MS. Cars floated and dropped by storm surge. Layer of debris in trees at least 15 ft up, water was deep.

[jobycom]

7. Some of the muck

A friend's house north of Waveland. She doesn't know where the chair came from. THe bottom of the house is about five foot above the water. The floor is twelve feet above the ground. The ceiling (not in the picture) is ten foot above the bottom of the floor. I tried to get into the house, but the smell and mold and debris kept me out. The water had flooded past the ceiling, causing the ceiling sheetrock to fall in.

Camille wasn't even that bad. I was four in Camille, in a house about two miles from this one. The water didn't reach it. This time the water was so high they found bodies on the roof of the K-mart across the street from that house.

[uppityperson]

8. Wild picture. The smell must be pretty mucky too

Do you live in this area also? Do you have other picts? I ended up at Camp Covington for a bit (after Camp Casey).

Bodies on the roof across from this house in Waveland. crap. Thanks for sharing.

[jobycom]

9. I grew up there. I live in Austin, but my parents and friends live there

That house belonged to the mother of a long-dead friend. Probably my first friend, in fact. He died when we were 20--I hadn't seen him in years by then. But his parents were friends with mine for a long time. His father died a couple years ago, so his mother lived there alone. I was there to help her bury a German Shepard, but instead we found two more of her dogs alive, and rescued them instead. They had been living in that area, in that mud, for six days. And yes, it stunk. The whole area did. The picture you have of the cars from Bay St. Louis was the same area. I saw a lot of cars in the water, boats in trees, and sheds all over the place.

BTW, I visited Camp Casey the day before Katrina struck, and a week later wound up in Mississippi. I drove through Covington, too. So we've been leapfrogging each other, sounds like.

The bodies weren't across from the house in the picture, they were across from my old house on Highway 90 and Nicholsan Avenue. It's a gas station now. When I was there 36 years ago it was a Gulf station with a house next door. Now there's a K-mart across 90 from it.

Some more pics:
From the same area


National Gaurd finally arriving on Saturday


Gas line


Rescued German Shepards that my parents are still trying to find a home for:

[uppityperson]

10. good pictures. Thanks for the highway ones

I didn't get any highway ones, trying to explain to people here (NW WA) that the deciduous trees looked like it was spring (leaves ripped off, tiny bits left) and the pines were broken/sprung to bits. That house on the road is quite something. Muck and destruction.

I've other pictures, if you'd like to look http://photobucket.com/albums/y233/jlaskey/ or link through my post-Katrina blog in my sig line.

Nice dogs. Being around that many military is something also. I hadn't been around vets much since college post VietNam until Crawford. Have never been around so many active military as in MS/LA.