Katrina Anniversary number three.
It is eerie to be on the anniversary of Katrina and getting the reports we are getting. Parishes throughout Louisiana are either evacuating or preparing to evacuate. All eyes are on Gustav and talk is of storm surge.
WARNING: the next few days (several days?) will make for a pretty emotional blog here at http://www.chasing4life.org/. We have been in contact with friends, family, connections, team members, law enforcement and others throughout the region about to feel the effects of Gustav.
Hurricane Gustav is expected to dramatically intensify as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico over the next three days, and now will arrive at the central Louisiana coast with strong Category 3 winds after briefly reaching Category 4 strength.
The rapid intensification is linked in part to the "loop current" just northwest of Cuba, a deep pool of warm water that has broken off from the Gulfstream and floated into the central Gulf. Warm surface temperatures across the rest of the Gulf will keep Gustav growing until it makes landfall at about 1 a.m. Tuesday south of Morgan City and Houma. (Martin, our prayers are with you.)
The forecast path is moved slightly west right at landfall, which will place both Morgan City and Houma in Gustav's northeastern quadrant, and subject to a growing threat of storm surge.
I was reading a report about early surge modeling by Louisiana State University indicating a chance of water 15 feet deep in the Houma area.
Some models still push the storm farther west toward Texas, while others move it farther east, but we are seeing a hit as predicted, and we will stay on this through it all.
We have added a great Hurricane Page Link to the website, so go to our home page and look in the left menu for the new Hurricane Season link from Alexandria, Louisiana!
Tonight we will pray for our family down south and tomorrow we will update you again...
