current weather - 7:30 CST Monday

Looks like I'm up for good now because it is no longer possible to sleep at all.

The wind gusts are heavy - to say the least.

It sounds like someone is standing outside both my door & all my windows & shaking them. Hard. And according to the news it is only winds at 20 miles per hour. Winds should peak around 60 miles per hour in about an hour & a half.

From my end though things are pretty good. The news just said that this it the "best" of the worst case senario.

11k people in the Baton Rouge metro area (very small amount) are without power now due to downed trees.

current weather - 4:45 CST Monday

I'm only posting because the wind woke me up & I still have power.

I am not about to go outside right now for a weather report, but I can tell you from the sounds coming from my window that it is very windy & raining. I can hear a light pelting of rain against the window. I can hear some very strong gusts in there as well.

Back to bed for now, but I'll be back to posting soon. Hopefully this post will keep my sister from calling me at 6 a.m. for a weather report.

more on current wind gusts

Average wind gust is 14 miles per hour (live according to a handheld device they are showing on the news) out by the Mississippi River front, which is not far from me. The device the reporter is using said that there was a gust at 45 MPH an hour ago & the biggest one we're getting now is around 30.

Again, they expect that to double soon.

It is still raining pretty hard.

There are apparently idiots walking down by the water front "sight seeing."
posted by ka

once in 2 lifetimes

On the local news they just read a stat from the Weather Channel that said a category 5 hurricane is likely to come to New Orleans only once every 185 years.

They named another nearby city (Lake Charles?) & said those chances were once every 208 years. Not being from Louisiana & only having lived here for a year I easily forget city names from the time the anchor says them to the time it takes for me to blog it.

hyatt moving people closer to ground

Verdell Stone from WGNO is doing a phoner with the local Baton Rouge news station WBRZ & just reported that the New Orleans Hyatt is moving people from the top floors of the hotel to the ballroom on the 3rd floor.

According to the news, the NOLA Hyatt is next to the SuperDome. Makes me wonder about the comments raised over on Josh's blog about the true safety of the SuperDome as a sturdy shelter.

It is easy to see how citizen journalism can work when you keep an eye on various source (local media, comments from readers, and other local bloggers).

changing of the guard

The news crew switched over to a new duo about 30 minutes & ago ... & it shows.

No audio. Complete confusion at the news desk. Promo'ing the wrong interviews. Not to mention all the stupid things they are saying.

A quick step on my balcony finds no change in weather conditions here at midnight.

With that, it is time to go to bed. I hope I'll have Internet access in the morning & will be able to post updates then.

sticking around for the hurricane

I live in Baton Rouge, La. - about 65 miles west of New Orleans - & am stuck here for Hurricane Katrina. As with any hurricane, that is all people are talking about. Rightfully so if this beast keeps the current size and force as it touches down.

So, while I'm not in the potential eye of the storm, I think I'm close enough to give you an idea of what things are like in Bayou during this storm.

If you want to know something in particular & I can get the info for you without endangering myself then leave a comment & I'll do what I can.