Almost exactly a year since Hurricane Katrina, Tropical Storm Ernesto, is entering the same warm waters and will soon be 2006’s first Gulf of Mexico Hurricane.
The track certainly places New Orleans in the cone and while the exact path is obviously unknown - the irony is palpable. According to hurricane center meteorologist Robbie Berg,
“We don’t see a lot of outside influences that would cause the system to turn sharply or speed up or slow down.”
As Ernesto threatens - there is also a convention going on in New Orleans this weekend for people who want to learn more and do more to assist New Orleans’ recovery from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The Rising Tide conference will serve to dispel myths, promote facts, share personal testimonies, highlight progress and regress, discuss recovery ideas, and promote sound policies at all levels.
The organizers aim to be a “real life” demonstration of internet activism as the nation prepares to observe the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The conference will specifically look to address what they describe as the manmade disaster of the levee and floodwall collapses, and the incompetence of government on all levels.
According to an article from Nola.com today:
The head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conceded Saturday that despite aggressive efforts to repair the levee system in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, it was unclear whether the system would hold up to a sizable hurricane this year.
Lt. General Carl Strock, the commander of the Corps, said the agency was carefully tracking Tropical Storm Ernesto, which was spinning in the Caribbean and projected to reach hurricane strength by Monday. It was on track to head into the Gulf of Mexico, though it was unclear whether Ernesto would strike the southern United States.
Strock was confident the Corps had done all it could to repair and reinforce 220 miles of levee walls, but he said many variables would determine whether the levees could withstand Ernesto if it reached Category 3 status and struck near New Orleans, as Katrina did Aug. 29, 2005.
The latest advisory has Ernesto at or near hurricane strength by the time it is over Jamaica on Sunday afternoon.