One For The Books..
Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana, Mississippi, and parts of Alabama today. Our area felt a direct hit, with widespread power outages across east Mississippi and west Alabama. The damage has been catastrophic. As of 9 PM, there are 1.2 million people without power in the three state area.We know the damage was bad. Exactly how bad remains to be seen - I fear that first light tomorrow will reveal a significant loss of life both in coastal and inland areas. New Orleans was flooded, and the damage along the Mississippi Gulf Coast was devastating.
Gulfport Fire Chief Pat Sullivan estimates 75 percent of the buildings in the city have major roof damage, if they have a roof left at all. WLOX (ABC) in Biloxi lost the roof on their newsroom. The Alabama and Florida Gulf Coasts also felt some serious storm surge and coastal erosion.
Major kudos to the National Hurricane Center. Their 4pm Friday update was only 15 miles from the eventual track.
At this point, only 3 fatalities have been reported in Mississippi. This number is almost certain to rise tomorrow, even in our area. The three fatalities we know of at this point were in Leake County, Hinds County, and Warren County. One person was killed in a car, and another in a mobile home.
2 more people lost their lives in Alabama in Washington County - due to hydroplaning.
We will do a barebones newscast tonight at the conclusion of Monday Night Football. Power remains out at WTOK, we are in the dark.
Time for some sincere words of thanks...
Thanks to Baron Services for their help with our radar problem. We have a serious, serious problem here with a lack of good radar data - and that problem was especially evident today.
Jason Kelley and Renny Vandewege did a fantastic job on coverage - and special thanks to Carlos Torres and the satellite truck warriors from Dothan. Those guys put in some long, long hours and really were a tremendous help.
The entire News Department was a huge help - their work certainly saved lives today. And, special thanks to our engineering staff for helping us get back on the air in some really difficult circumstances.
Our General Manager, Tim Walker, worked tirelessly to help us prepare for today. We certainly appreciate his help.
Will post again sometime tomorrow...What a sobering day.
posted by WTOK Weather Staff @ 8:51 PM
3 Comments:
Kudos to you, Renny, Jason, and the entire WTOK team. All of you surely helped save many lives today with your timely weather information, even in the face of difficult circumstances. It makes me proud to have once been a part of the team.. but forever a member of the WTOK family!
Derek Kinkade
WMGT Morning Meteorologist
Macon, GA
Thanks to my generator, I still have internet....WTOK has done an outstanding job and hopefully will get power back on early. The facts that so many NWS radar sites stop working is a big concern...what cause so many to go out at one time???
Hats off to Tim Walker and WTOK for bringing in additional support for the major storm.
And WTOK weather team was outstanding...
Great job covering Katrina! I have roots there and was grateful for the internet feed.
Thanks and hello to Tim Walker and the staff there at WTOK!
Saran Grant Adcock
Winston, GA
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