Hurricane Katrina

[Anonymous]

When I lived in New Orleans ,I remember people saying that parts of the French Quarter are 13' below sea level.
With the wind hitting from the South east, it will drive massive amounts of water into Lake Ponchitrain. As I remember, the levees on the Lake Front are not more that 10' higher than the lake at normal water levels. It's not going to be pretty.

[Junctionfan]

Part of the Superdome's roof is peeling off. This started to happen at 80mph winds. I have know idea what will happen when the 130mph winds hit.

Mississippi is getting hit pretty good too. The river is starting really raise and the had reports of boats floating down I90 highway. Downtown Biloxi is starting to look a little bit like Venice. I have not heard to much about Alabama; any word on how folk there are coping?

[Anonymous]

Was watching as the big cantilevered crossing signals on Hwy 80 in Gulfport came down behing the CNN crew...

Flooding at 10' + in Gulfport....sailboats sailing themselves down Hwy 80...

Roofs flying...Superdome roof holed...

LC

[Anonymous]

My prayers are with all those in harm's way.

[nanaimo73]

The CSX (former L&N) line from New Orleans to Mobile is extremely vulnerable to these storms. It received a lot of damage from Emma on Sept. 19, 1947 and Betsy on Sept 9, 1965. Hopefully this is the last bad storm this year.
Here are some Google links to the most vulnerable parts. Click on Satellite or hybrid to see the images.
Rigolets, Louisiana
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=30.156779,-89.628954&spn=0.022350,0.039546
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi (the rail bridge is dark)
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=30.308208,-89.309235&spn=0.022315,0.039546
Biloxi Bay, Mississippi
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=30.409843,-88.850943&spn=0.011146,0.019773
Pascagoula Bay, Mississippi
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=30.372801,-88.595724&spn=0.022300,0.039546

[Anonymous]

KCS closed High Oak Yard in Jackson, MS at noon. All operations shut down. Track patrols are out. Winds already at 35+mph in Jackson with gusts as high as 50+mph...

LC

[Modelcar]

....Noting the storm center hit about 25 miles east of projected and hence "spared" downtown New Orleans of a direct hit...but still as noted above the outer skin started to peel from the Superdome roof....Wonder how bad of situation that might have developed into if a full hit would have happened....Blessing it didn't have to find out....

[CSXrules4eva]

Today at work I heard that Katrina shifted positions from hitting Louisiana pretty hard to it hitting Mississippi really hard. I forgot what the name of the town that was centered in the eye of Katrina but, it does start with a D. I don't know if this is true or not. Well were ever it hits I wi***he people all the best and I hope to goodness they have flood insurance.

[Junctionfan]

Some of thease places are really looking like Venice or Atlantis. I wi***hat storm could hurry up and pass so all those relief ships can leave the shores of Texas and get to the victims.

[Anonymous]

wooo... gas is gonna go thru the roof! today(monday) the woman in casey's here in north central, IL said it'll be up 20 cents tomorrow and who knows what after that. i don't know about you, but I can't wait![B)]

[cherokee woman]

According to our 6:00 local news, and the National news at 6:30, Mobile,
AL got hit pretty hard, also. My prayers are most definitely with all of those
in Katrina's path,

[Anonymous]

I'm on the outskirts of the storm in Columbus, Georgia, which is a division change point for NS east-west traffic from Florida and the Georgia shore to Birminghham, Alabama. We have had light rain and two tornado warnings... none sighted yet. I looked at the NS yard on my way to work and it looks like business as usual.

Erik

[vsmith]

Just heard a report that showed downtown Mobile Alabama under about 6 feet of water, havent heard anything about N.O. yet but it looks like Mobile might have got the worst of it.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

Just heard a report that showed downtown Mobile Alabama under about 6 feet of water, havent heard anything about N.O. yet but it looks like Mobile might have got the worst of it.

Not even close. New Orleans took a hit and the Mississippi Gulf Coast from Bay St. Louis east through Gulfport (27' storm surge) and Biloxi took the worst. Power is out in almost the entire states of MS and LA. Many people are trapped on their roofs by high water hoping to survive the night as they wait for one of a handful of rescue boats in the 9th Ward of N.O. They'll be needing to sweep the bayou and bring body bags in a lot of places...

LC

[Junctionfan]

National Guard and EMS crews have begun the horrible task of rescuing folk that may or may not have survived and fear that they may not have made it.

For so far 3 are dead according to CNN. Property damage is outrageous and likely will take weeks just to find and evacuate folk never mind cleaning up.

They have not mentioned anything about the railroads but I would think that alot of line would be washed out. NS and CSX will be effected and so likely the AGR in Alabama and any other shortline in the states effected.

Where does the Mississippi Export Railroad operate? I know there are a few shortlines in the area but can't remember which ones.

[Anonymous]

I saw the news this morning and the crossing gates and rails are find.

[Anonymous]

U.S. freight rails suspend New Orleans lines
(Reuters circulated the following article on August 29.)

BOSTON -- Hurricane Katrina has forced Union Pacific Corp. and other major rail operators to halt freight traffic in and out of New Orleans, delaying shipments of chemicals and coal, officials at those companies said on Monday.

Shares of railroad companies fell on concerns about the storm -- already estimated to be the most expensive hurricane ever to hit the United States -- with the Dow Jones Railroads index falling 0.5 percent by midday.

New Orleans is a large central connection city for the rails since manufacturers carry industrial supplies like chemicals and parts to factories in the southern United States as well as moving containers across the country.

Union Pacific, the largest U.S. railroad which runs 25 trains a day in and out of New Orleans, said it suspended traffic in and out of the city on Sunday when the flood gates were closed to brace for the storm.

The rail companies said they moved supplies -- such as power generators, chain saws and rail ties -- into the area to repair any damaged lines once the storm passes.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (BNI.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the No. 2 U.S. railroad operator, runs four trains a day in and out of New Orleans, while Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said it runs 10 to 12 trains a day in and out of the city.

Both have suspended service to and from New Orleans.

Katrina made landfall at 7:10 a.m. EDT (1110 GMT) in southern Plaquemines parish in Louisiana, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) south-southeast of New Orleans, as a Category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds at 140 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour), according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm is now a Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.

The rail companies, including CSX Corp. (CSX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), said they have been trying to detour some of the shipments through cities like Memphis, Tennessee, and Little Rock, Arkansas.

New Orleans, along with Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago and Salem, Illinois, is one of five cities that links the east coast railways systems with the west coast ones. A lot of freight going to Mississippi, Atlanta and Florida.

For now, most rail operators said all they can do is wait.

"Right now, we're waiting for everything to pass and we have a helicopter standing by and we'll go up in the air and see what the damage was," said Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband.


From blet site
Tuesday, August 30, 2005

[Anonymous]

One of our gaming members reported from the NO area that a levee broke in the night and there is floood waters rising.

[Anonymous]

Service Bulletin - Hurricane Katrina, Aug. 29
Released: Aug 29, 2005

Hurricane Katrina made landfall this morning, Monday, Aug. 29, just southeast of New Orleans. The Category 4 storm brought high winds and torrential rains all along the Gulf Coast, from points west of New Orleans, through the city and east through Biloxi and Gulfport, Miss., and along the bayfront of Pensacola, Fla. The affected areas continue to experience high winds, flooding and extensive commercial power outages.

CSXT has suspended rail service from Montgomery, Ala., south, and from Chattahoochee, Fla., west to New Orleans. By mid-morning, CSXT's Montgomery and Birmingham, Ala., locations remained unaffected by the storm and were handling rail traffic.

An embargo has been issued for all Merchandise traffic traveling to, from, or through the area between New Orleans and Mobile.

CSXT is continuing to reroute rail traffic toward more northerly locations to avoid the affected areas.

Ballast, generators and equipment have been staged outside the Gulf Coast to aid in restoration of rail service as the storm passes. CSXT will continue to monitor the storm and will revise its operating plans as needed to avoid areas being affected by Hurricane Katrina.

All precautions are being taken to ensure the safety of our employees, customers, and the public with minimum delay to shipments as we continue to monitor the progress of the storm.

For more information, customers can call the CSX Customer Service Center at 877 - SHIP CSX (877-744-7279)

[jeaton]

Looking at current reports, I would say it is going to be many more than a few days before rail service is restored to and through New Orleans. MSNBC is reporting major breaks in the levees built for Lake Ponchartrain and failures in the massive pumping system that pumps water out of the New Orleans bowl. The article mentions useing helicopters to drop 1500 lb sand bags to start to close the levee breaches.

It should be interesting to see what the railroads are able to do to get around New Orleans.

Jay

[Anonymous]

Latest word is that KCS, CSX and the M&B Railroad (G&W) will be running traffic across to use the Meridian Speedway as an alternate to the New Orleans area. Should be interesting as M&B doesn't have many crews to handle that kind of traffic load...

LC

[jeaton]

LC-Wonder if M&B could "pilot" enginemen from other carriers over their route?

Jay

[Junctionfan]

Which lines are still operational right now and who much damage is there to the effected infrastructure? Any specifics?

[Kozzie]

Passengerfan - thanks for your comment about Cyclone Tracy and the city of Darwin.
Tracy was very destructive - if I remember right, 80 percent of all buildings in Darwin were destroyed - it was a massive rebuilding program.

We've just heard down here this morning that although the levee banks in N.O. pretty much held firm against the initial storm surge, there are some recent breaches just from the sheer pressure of so much floodwater everywhere. We've heard that half of N.O. is now flooded - can any of you folk "up over" confirm the levee breaches and how much?


Dave

[conrailman]

On Fox News and CNN News they said people are taking Nike 100 Dollars Shoes from stores and SuperMakets all the foods in stores like meats, cans stuff, fruits, baby stuff, and alot more stuff too. The City wanted everyone out NOL Now don't come back to City for least 2 to 6 Months in time that was on FoxNews today about 3 P.M. It Pure H*** down there in the Big Easy. It is very Sad Story.[:(][:(]

[Modelcar]

Dave.....Reports I have seen earlier today...{Tuesday}, indicate the breaching of levees has happened since the intitial blast from the hurricane and streets that were without flooding water yesterday are now flooding and will continue to rise until the breach can be plugged. Understand it can be done in a few hours but the report said they didn't know when they could start to repair....Devastation is wide spread and 100's of lives possibly lost....in the tri-state area....It is massive destruction, misplaced people, wide spread flooded areas preventing help from getting to the needy, etc....Terrible situation...
We have received over an inch and a half now today so far from the remains of the hurricane as it passes our area up here in Indiana on it's way NNE. We will have rain all night and into Wednesday and then clearing....No problems here with any wind...but south of Indianapolis there may be some flooding. But the southern Delta region is devastated....! Bad, bad situation.

[Anonymous]

KCS' latest update, dated today.

************
MOW crews begin to assess effects of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina and the resulting storms continue to affect The
Kansas City Southern Railway Company's (KCSR) operation in the New
Orleans, La. and Gulfport, Miss. areas and on the eastern portion of
the Meridian Speedway between Meridian and Vicksburg, Miss. On August
29, KCSR embargoed Gulfport and Delisle, Miss., New Orleans, Norco,
Gramercy and Reserve, La. These areas and the Meridian Speedway
between Meridian and Vicksburg, Miss. remain closed.

This morning, maintenance of way crews are removing trees and
assessing water damage on the Meridian Speedway and from Baton Rouge
to Norco and from Reserve south until they meet water. It is too soon
to enter the Gulfport area. A flyover is planned for today and
tomorrow to get an early assessment of the overall damage.

In preparation for Hurricane Katrina, KCSR moved its locomotives and
customer shipments out of Gulfport and New Orleans over the weekend,
staging traffic on higher ground. Further operational updates will be
provided as they become available.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jeaton

LC-Wonder if M&B could "pilot" enginemen from other carriers over their route?

Jay

You still have to have a pilot crew.

LC

[Junctionfan]

Has the U.S asked for foreign aid, has anybody offered to help yet?

[Kozzie]

Quentin, thank you for the information, much appreciated - that does clear up a few things for me. Just getting help through to the affected areas is going to be a huge job in itself, let alone the actual massive rebuild.

Dave