"Rita's Rain Begins Falling in New Orleans"

[GreenPartyVoter]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Outer bands of rain from Hurricane Rita began falling in New Orleans on Thursday, and forecasts of between 3 and 5 inches of rainfall in the coming days raised fears the patched levee system could fail and flood the city all over again.

A direct hit from Hurricane Rita was still unlikely, but the Category 5 storm veered on a more northerly course toward a Saturday landfall in Texas that put New Orleans on the eastern edge of tropical storm warning.

Rita's rains and a predicted 3- to-4-foot storm surge could bring New Orleans dangerously close to predictions that the fractured levees can only handle up to 6 inches of rain and a storm surge of 10 to 12 feet.

"Right now, it's a wait and see and hope for the best," said Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Mitch Frazier. He added that the new forecast brought renewed urgency to efforts to shore up levees with sandbags and bring in more portable pumps.

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20050922/D8CPDHNG1.htm...

[kentuck]

1. I think New Orleans is going to get hit hard again...

Perhaps with stronger winds than Katrina....

[mshasta]

4. that is what I am being looking at

Rita's trail...and -to me- looks like Louisiana again...not Texas. ..

[barbaraann]

2. "...wait and see and hope for the best."

I'm just speechless that Mr. Frazier could utter those words.

[cdsilv]

3. NO being on the east side of the storm will get SOUTH winds...

....this time, and storm surge. Here in P'cola we had Cat 1 winds from Katrina and some storm surge.

[Fla Dem]

5. It's a huge storm. I live in the NE corner of FL and we have been having

rain bands from Rita since Tuesday.

[KharmaTrain]

6. When Is High Tide?

Us "inlanders" don't keep track of such things too well.

The further east this storm tracks the greater a surge that could go into Lake Ponchetrain again.

I was listening to WWL late last night and they discussed that a 5 foot surge into the Lake could send enough pressure into the canals to undermine even more levees. The systems are weakend...and the pumps are at about 40% capacity and working hard.

My hopes are the areas on the other side of the 17th street canal remain safe.

[halobeam]

7. This forecast brought renewed urgency to shore up levees????

For God's sake it's hurricane season.... they shouldn't need "renewed" urgency... they should have had it since day one.

ugh.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Indeed. *sigh*