This seems a little odd to me.  Citing the time it takes to implement contra-flow traffic as a problem, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell stated there is not enough time for the city of New Orleans to execute a mandatory evacuation.   Additionally, she is asking all residents who do not evacuate to shelter in place for Hurricane Ida.

Contra-flow traffic is the process of turning inbound lanes into outbound lanes and depending on the metropolitan area takes around 8 hrs for local and state DOT to get set up.   The mayor is asking for a voluntary evacuation saying “time is not on our side.” “The City can not issue a mandatory evacuation because we do not have time, Cantrell continued. WATCH:

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Yikes… and Biden’s team is running FEMA.

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Ida is currently a tropical storm headed into the Gulf of Mexico. However, the conditions are perfect for Ida to quickly become a major hurricane as it heads toward the Louisiana coastal region.  Everyone along the gulf coast from East Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and western Alabama should be making preparations right now.  Do not delay.

In the background several Civilian Emergency Response Teams (CERT) have been activated.  Due to the confluence of events, everyone is taking this storm very seriously. Any Treeper in the coastal area of Louisiana and Mississippi should be taking preparatory action today. Those in the forecast areas are strongly advised to pay close attention to local officials and heed all evacuation orders.  [National Hurricane Center]

Check your hurricane supplies of shelf-stable food, water, medicine and don’t forget pets.  Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.  Everything is replaceable, except you and your family.  We have a lot of Treepers in the path of this storm. If you need assistance, use the comments section of any ‘Ida Update thread’ to reach out, or use the email address in the upper right of the site.

Right now you are in control.  Have a solid plan, work that plan – stay busy, and don’t get caught up in the hysteria.  Try to avoid national media hype. Stay updated via your local news stations. Sunday morning looks like the key day impact zones will be identified.  Reach out to your neighbors; touch-base and check to see if they are okay or need anything.  Community restoration begins before the storm arrives. Look out for each-other.

Additionally, I hate to note this, but Joe Biden is in charge of FEMA… So plan accordingly.

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All residents in the Northeast coastal region, specifically Long Island and Southern New England, should pay close attention to local officials regarding precautions as Hurricane Henri begins tracking in that direction. The forward speed is 21 mph and the wind speed around the storm is 75 mph, a category-1 hurricane.

[National Hurricane Center] – At 1100 PM EDT (0300 UTC), the center of Hurricane Henri was located near latitude 38.6 North, longitude 71.0 West. Henri is moving toward the north near 21 mph (33 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue through tonight. A decrease in forward speed and a
turn toward the north-northwest is expected on Sunday. On the forecast track, Henri is expected to make landfall in southern New England or on Long Island on Sunday. After landfall, a turn to the north and a slower forward speed are expected as Henri moves over southern New England. (LINK)

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Tropical Storm Elsa is anticipated to make landfall along the western coastline of Florida later today. With Elsa moving through warm water in the southern Gulf of Mexico it is possible Elsa will gain hurricane strength prior to landfall. Residents along the Western coastal area of Florida should be prepared. As long-time readers are aware, depending on events later today, my CERT responsibilities will likely limit my posting (tool boxes loaded).

Elsa’s winds extend outward to 70 miles as it travels through the gulf coast area. However, this system is pushing a lot of water on the southeast quadrant. Moderate storm surge and flooding is an issue for the coastal areas due to the amount of rain predicted.  This is a very wet system.  Treepers in the Sarasota/Tampa Bay area northward to the bend should pay particular attention tonight.  Power outages will be more sporadic as they result from wind strength/duration.

National Hurricane Center – […] “At 1100 AM EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Elsa was located near latitude 24.9 North, longitude 82.8 West. Elsa is moving toward the north-northwest near 10 mph (17 km/h) and a generally northward motion is expected today and tonight. A turn toward the north-northeast is expected on Wednesday, followed by a faster northeastward by late Thursday.

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Florida officials held an extensive briefing today to update on the planned demolition of the unstable elements of the Surfside condominium building so that rescue and recovery work on the collapsed building can begin again.  Compounding the issues is the looming arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa; however, fortunately the storm appears to have taken a slightly more westward track and should be minimal for the Surfside, Florida, region.

According to local officials the demolition of the remaining structure will likely take place later today.  In the interim the search and recovery work has been paused as explosive experts prepare to bring down the unstable remnant of the 12-story building.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke at the beginning of the press conference emphasizing the arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa should be watched carefully.  Elsa now appears to be a west coast of Florida issue and will likely skirt up the western coastal area along the Gulf of Mexico.  The entire South-West coast of Florida will likely see varying effects from a very strong tropical storm Tuesday and Wednesday.

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A decision has been reached to demolish the remaining unstable part of the collapsed condominium building in Surfside, Florida, as Tropical Storm Elsa flirts in/out of hurricane status [NHC Update] while moving through the Caribbean.

Elsa is anticipated to impact south Florida on Tuesday.  During a press conference today Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the controlled demolition will take place prior to Elsa’s arrival in order to protect rescue and recovery workers.

“Demolition of the unsafe portion of the building is the fastest way to continue rescue operations”, DeSantis announced.  Officials on the ground are fearful that high winds connected to the arriving storm will make the remaining structure too unstable for any rescue operations to continue if they do not take the unstable portion down. Details of the operation to execute a controlled demolition will be released soon.

In the interim all residents in South Florida have been instructed to keep an eye on Elsa as she wobbles across Haiti and Cuba in the next 48 hours.  Most counties in South Florida have been put under a proactive state of emergency status. Slight shifts in the storm, to the east or west, will determine how much of the south Florida area are impacted. The current track puts Elsa on the west side of the state in the Gulf of Mexico late Monday and early Tuesday.

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There are numerous laser guided measuring devices located in and around the remaining structure of the collapsed condominiums in Surfside, Florida.  Overnight those devices detected significant movement in the remaining building as well as large cracks developing in the underground garage area.

As a result rescue and recovery workers were pulled from the building as engineers contemplate how to move forward.

(Herald) […] Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky confirmed the development during a press briefing on Thursday morning. The agonizing decision, he said, was made just after 2 a.m. Cominsky described the threat of a large concrete column hanging over a subterranean parking area, which has moved six to 12 inches. He added that crews were also alerted to widening cracks and “slight movement” in a concrete slab on the southern side of the building.

High-tech monitors aimed at the tenuous pile of debris were responsible for making rescue workers aware of the dangerous shifts. Moments later, they were forced to lower cranes and pull back crews under the darkness of the early morning. (link)

Before the efforts were suspended the recovery workers had pulled more bodies from the rubble. 18 bodies have now been recovered and 145 people remain missing. These unfortunate developments occur as the installed occupant of the White House arrived to thank first-responders and rescue workers for their efforts.

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The mumbling White House occupant visited FEMA headquarters to review preparations for this year’s upcoming Hurricane season.

Lord, hear our prayers….

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Bottom-line folks, with the mass exodus of competence in logistics, supply chain organization and priority relief delivery experts, in favor of politically correct non-gender specific diversity operatives, don’t look for any help from the Feds.

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Forty percent of Austin residents are without power, and up to a total of four million Texas residents are suffering under extreme cold conditions as the state power grid is overwhelmed.   Making matters worse, a shortage of natural gas combined with failures of most wind turbines due to ice and freezing temperatures have dropped power generation.

TEXAS – Nearly 200,000 Austin Energy customers woke up without power Monday and were not expected to get it back until Tuesday — possibly late in the day — because of a so-called rotating power outage that didn’t rotate, leaving parts of the city in the cold and dark.

The outages began in the middle of the night, leaving swaths of neighborhoods without electricity, as already freezing temperatures dropped into single digits during an extraordinary winter storm that has raised questions about the city of Austin’s and the state’s ability to handle such an event. (read more)

The Houston Chronicle reports: […] “Natural gas supplies for electric generation are already strained in the winter, the peak season for gas used for heating, adding pressure to supplies used to generate electricity.”

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Fast moving Hurricane Zeta is approaching the southeastern gulf region of Louisiana. Currently traveling over 20mph and expected to increase in forward speed Zeta is carrying winds near 100mph and pushing a dangerous storm surge along the coastline. Residents in the southeast Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coastal areas should be prepared.

[Hurricane Center] the center of Hurricane Zeta was located near latitude 27.9 North, longitude 91.1 West. Zeta is moving toward the north-northeast near 20 mph (35 km/h). A faster north-northeastward motion is expected through tonight followed by an even faster northeastward motion on Thursday and an east-northeastward motion early Friday.

On the forecast track, the center of Zeta will make landfall in southeastern Louisiana this afternoon. Zeta will then move close to the Mississippi coast this evening, and move across the southeastern and eastern United States on Thursday.

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