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This statement became a significant moment for the NWS during Katrina. The language helped reinforce the message from emergency management officials for residents in southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi to heed evacuation orders from local officials. The unprecedented, explicitly foreboding detail was also used by emergency managers, local officials, and the media to prepare the public for Katrina’s impact and aftermath (Best Practice). The template for this statement was developed by WFO Tampa in the 1990s.
FINDING 1: This statement was highly effective in reinforcing the message from emergency management for residents to rush preparations to completion and heed evacuation orders. Templates for these statements are available in an older software program (WWA) at NWS field offices but have not been transitioned to the current operational software program (GHG).
RECOMMENDATION 1: NWS Headquarters should ensure templates for these statements that emphasize potential impacts following major hurricane landfalls are available in operational software at appropriate NWS field offices. The templates should be pre-coordinated with local emergency managers.
At 11 a.m. on August 28, the Mayor of New Orleans declared a state of emergency and ordered the first-ever mandatory evacuation of the city. In addition, the mayor opened the Superdome as a shelter for those unable to evacuate the city. Meanwhile, WFO New Orleans/Baton Rouge continued to ramp up coordination activities with emergency managers and local officials.
Overnight on August 28, WFO New Orleans/Baton Rouge began issuing hourly short-term forecasts to provide information on the location of Katrina along with wind and rainfall information. At 5:27 a.m., August 29, WFO New Orleans/Baton Rouge issued its first Extreme Tropical Cyclone Destructive Wind Warning for Katrina. They issued three more such warnings over the next few hours as Katrina made its way north over southeast Louisiana, past New Orleans and towards southern Mississippi.
At 8:12 a.m., August 29, WFO New Orleans/Baton Rouge received a radio transmission from Bob Turner, Lake Borgne Levee District Manager, that the Industrial Canal levee was breached on the east side at Tennessee Street. The office promptly issued a Flash Flood Warning at 8:14 a.m. for the levee breach:
A LEVEE BREACH OCCURRED ALONG THE INDUSTRIAL CANAL AT TENNESSEE STREET. 3 TO 8 FEET OF WATER IS EXPECTED DUE TO THE BREA CH. LOCA TIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO ARABI AND 9TH WARD OF NEW ORLEANS. IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
At 9:04 a.m. August 29, as Katrina was bearing down on Slidell and coastal Mississippi, WTO New Orleans/Baton Rouge issued a short-term forecast that provided a gust forecast for the next few hours that was consistent with the Extreme Tropical Cyclone Destructive Wind Warning:
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