Ten years ago today ...

The following bulletin was published by Robert Ricks, a NOAA National Weather Service meteorologist in Slidell, Louisiana. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I call it one of the greatest works in journalism history.

I know we've all been beaten over the head by #Katrina10 coverage in the last few days (and as a Mississippian, I'm continually irritated that the focus is almost entirely on New Orleans — again), but I thought this truly incredible piece of writing was one thing worth commemorating:

 

That is still jarring to read.

 

That was written when it was a Cat 5. It unexpectedly weakened to a Cat 3 shortly before landfall.

 

And yet, many people either didn't get the message, didn't pay attention, ignored it, or thought they could beat or outlast it.

 

Kind of suspicious that the blowing of the levees by GWB wasn't mentioned in the dispatch. Would have been nice to get some warning on that.

 

You know those really tall poles with fast food or gasoline signs on top? The kind you can see from interstates?

I saw one of those that had been knocked completely over and uprooted in Pascagoula. I know the sign had some cross sectional area to it and could act as a sail, but damn, it was impressive to see it uprooted and how much was torn out of the ground for it to topple.

I will always remember that sign, all the blue tarps on roofs, and the damage to the shipyard.

And what was that idiot's name, Nagan? Play Russian roulette with a city and lose. Real smart hoping it would miss.

 

Ray Nagin. Also known as Inmate #167-56671

Ray Nagin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

It did miss New Orleans.

The storm surge overwhelmed the pumping system, then the levees crumbled and New Orleans flooded.

The main thrust of the storm hit to the east and wiped out Mississippi's gulf coast.

What gobsmacked New Orleans was Hurricane Rita hitting about a month after Katrina.

I tend to doubt that will get much national attention.

 

Rita hit southwestern Louisiana. Didn't do much at all to New Orleans (other than straining the state's already stretched resources) from what I can recall.

 

I was talking more about storm surge and heavy rains just adding to the general misery.

I voted for Obama, twice, but he needs to get his motherfucking ass to Biloxi. Apologies if he already has.

 

noaa.gov

 

I drove through New Orleans at night the Thanksgiving after Katrina. There were still boats sitting against the wall of the median. A few places which had power and lights, which only emphasized how much of the city was dark. I remember driving through and looking to the sides of the expressway and seeing denuded trees in profile against the night sky. It was eerie. I had never before seen a city so devastated.