Digitaltopia

Hurricane Katrina is causing major problems in the Big Easy, and its not set to hit land until sometime on Monday. The city has ordered its 485,000 citizens to get out of Dodge. Mayor Ray Nagin is calling this a “Once in a lifetime event”. Others are calling it the worse case situation for New Orleans.

Not all people can afford or are able to simply leave the city. Some may not be able to afford or find a hotel. News reports have been indicating that pretty much every room in surrounding areas hotels are booked. Some people may have family or friends they can stay with, where others may not have the cash or even a car that would allow them to evacuate. To help those who are leaving officials made all lanes of Interstate 10 out bound on Saturday. For those who are forced to stay in the city and ride out Katrina's wrath the city has setup 10 emergency shelters. One of these is the Superdome Arena home of New Orleans NFL team the Saints. In a move that probably is not constitutional the Mayor has granted police and firefighters the right to seize any car, truck or building for 'shelter purposes'

If Katrina does hit the States as a Category 5, it will be only the fourth of that category to do so since records have been kept. Andrew was the most recent. It whacked Florida in 1992 killing nearly 50 people and doing over 30 billion dollars in damage. A Hurricane that reaches Category 5 is capable of producing winds in excess of 155 miles per hour.

There is some chance the Hurricane could loose strength or hit Mississippi, Florida, or Georgia instead of New Orleans, but most simulations indicate otherwise. If it does indeed hit New Orleans loss of life is expected along with damage in the many billions of dollars. It is also possible Katrina will drive up gas prices even more nation wide.