Forecasters said Ivan could hit land anywhere from the western Florida Panhandle to the southeastern Louisiana coast as a major hurricane early Thursday

Thursday, August 18, 2022

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In New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin said there was a 22 percent chance his city would take a direct hit from Ivan. Since most of the city lies below sea level, surrounded by levees along the Mississippi River, the result would be a catastrophe, he said. "If we get a storm like Ivan to hit us directly or to become really close to us, then we could have a situation where we have 12 to 18 feet of water throughout the city," Nagin said, informs CNN. According to the Tampa Tribune though the storm may weaken to a Category 3 as it hits land, many of Pensacola Beach's 3,000 year-round residents scrammed, even as waves from the Gulf of Mexico appeared benign Tuesday. Others dug in. With Ivan drifting west toward Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, Florida emergency officials warned Panhandle residents not to relax. "This is a very large storm, and we can expect significant impacts of hurricane-force winds, floods and tornadoes well away from that center of circulation," said Craig Fugate, director of the state Division of Emergency Management. Tropical-storm-force winds will stretch 260 miles from Ivan's eye, state meteorologist Ben Nelson said. That means Florida's Panhandle, from Pensacola to Fort Walton Beach, Destin and Panama City are almost certainly in for a bad beating. Hurricane Ivan moved to within 300 miles (480 kilometers) of the mouth of the Mississippi River as residents of Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana were ordered to evacuate coastal regions. Ivan, bringing winds nearing 140 miles per hour, has its center about 295 miles south-southeast of the Mississippi River, the National Hurricane Center said on its Web site. It is moving north-northwest at about 12 miles per hour and may reach land between Louisiana and Florida today. "Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion throughout the entire warning area," the Hurricane Centre said in its statement. The storm is a Category 4 on the five-tier Saffir-Simpson scale, capable of generating waves 12 feet higher than normal and blowing roofs from homes. Crude oil rose for a third day as producers in the Gulf of Mexico such as Royal Dutch Shell Group evacuated platforms, reports Bloomberg.

Print Forecasters said Ivan could hit land anywhere from the western Florida Panhandle to the southeastern Louisiana coast as a major hurricane early Thursday

Bookmark Forecasters said Ivan could hit land anywhere from the western Florida Panhandle to the southeastern Louisiana coast as a major hurricane early Thursday