NOAA
ISSUES SERVICE ASSESSMENT REPORT ON HURRICANE KATRINA
Evaluation Highlights Agency Successes & Recommends Improvements
July
3, 2006 � The NOAA National Weather
Service released an internal evaluation of its operations during
Hurricane Katrina.
Service assessments are done routinely following major weather events
and include input from government agencies, emergency managers, media
and the public. (Click NOAA satellite image for larger view
of Hurricane Katrina taken at 12:15 p.m. EDT on Aug. 29, 2006, after
making landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Click
here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.)
The NOAA
National Hurricane Center consistently projected for more than two
days in advance that Katrina would strike southeast Louisiana as a "major"
hurricane and later issued hurricane watches and warnings with lead
times of 44 and 32 hours, respectively—an extra eight hours beyond
when such alerts are typically issued.
"The
accurate forecasts provided for extended warning times," said Brig.
Gen. David L. Johnson,
U.S. Air Force (Ret.), director of the NOAA National Weather Service.
"Our ability to identify where a major hurricane would hit the
Gulf Coast was among the actions that saved countless lives." (Click
NOAA satellite image for larger view of Hurricane Katrina showing the
NOAA National Weather Service five-day forecast (dark blue) issued Friday,
August 26, 2005, and the storm’s actual track (light blue). The
satellite image was taken at 11:45 a.m. EDT on Aug. 28, 2005. Click
here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.)
Katrina
first crossed the U.S. coast as a Category 1 hurricane near the border
of Broward and Miami-Dade counties in Florida on August 25. Katrina
was a Category 3 hurricane with top winds of 125 mph during its second
landfall in Buras, La., on August 29, and soon thereafter made its final
landfall near the border of Louisiana and Mississippi.
Service
assessments are a valuable contribution to the ongoing efforts to improve
the timeliness and effectiveness of NOAA National Weather Service products
and services. "The Hurricane Katrina assessment highlights the
best practices while recommending improvements that will allow the National
Weather Service to better serve the American public in effort to protect
life and property," added Johnson.
Thirteen
"best practices" were identified in the Katrina assessment,
among them:
- Max
Mayfield, director of the NOAA National Hurricane Center, contacting
the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi, the mayor of New Orleans
and the Alabama Emergency Management Agency to emphasize the severity
of Katrina.
- The
NOAA National Weather Service forecast office in Slidell, La., which
serves New Orleans, issuing vividly worded statements that explicitly
described the impending catastrophic damage expected from Katrina.
- Deploying
incident meteorologists to Louisiana in the aftermath of Katrina to
fill gaps in the weather observation network created by the hurricane.
Recommendations
also were cited in the assessment and are currently being addressed
by the NOAA National Weather Service. They include:
- Provide
all appropriate weather forecast offices with standard hurricane impact
statement templates, similar to those issued by the forecast office
in Slidell, La.
- Evaluate
current telecommunications networks for potential single points of
failure and developing alternate networks to better support field
office backup operations.
- Establish
alternative communications systems for field offices to communicate
with other NOAA National Weather Service offices and emergency officials.
The full
NOAA Hurricane Katrina
Assessment may be found online.
NOAA
National Weather Service office in Slidell, La., which serves
New Orleans, issued a statement that explicitly described the
impending catastrophic damage expected from Katrina. Here is the
original statement issued the day before Hurricane Katrina made
landfall. This is known as an “inland hurricane warning.” |
WWUS74
KLIX 281550
NPWLIX URGENT
- WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005
...DEVASTATING
DAMAGE EXPECTED...
.HURRICANE
KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH...RIVALING
THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.
MOST
OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER.
AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND
WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES
SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.
THE
MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL
TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED
LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK
LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME
WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.
HIGH
RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A
FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.
AIRBORNE
DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS
HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES
AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL
DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS
WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.
POWER
OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN
AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING
INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.
THE
VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY
THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED.
FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL
BE KILLED.
AN
INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR
HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE
CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.
ONCE
TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE
OUTSIDE! |
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Relevant Web Sites
NOAA Hurricane Katrina
Assessment
NOAA
Hurricane Katrina Satellite Images
NOAA
Hurricanes Portal
Media
Contact:
Chris Vaccaro, NOAA
National Weather Service, (301) 713-0622 ext 142
|