The “eye” of former Hurricane “Harvey” has returned to the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the storm is once again STRENGTHENING. Sustained winds have now increased to 45 MPH with stronger gusts.  Surface water temperatures are 88-90 degrees which will provide intense energy for the storm to rapidly increase again.  

Lake Charles Louisiana is already flooding.  Baton Rouge is under flash flood warning and New Orleans is in grave danger from “catastrophic” flooding as nine inches of rain are projected to fall over the next 24 hours.  The flood pumps in New Orleans are OFFLINE. The city cannot handle this rain and will flood.  Residents are advised right now (by me) to begin evacuating the city.  The weather people were all wrong on rainfall totals for Houston. If they’re wrong again, New Orleans will be wrecked.  Residents should get out now, before highways around New Orleans become flooded like they did around Houston, making evacuation IMPOSSIBLE.

Below is a wind-image from the GEOS-5 weather satellite in space.  It shows the eye of Harvey considerably out over warm water where it can strengthen rapidly .Remember, Harvey went from a Category 2 hurricane, to a category 4 in a mere 24 hours while over this warm water approaching Texas.  That strengthening can happen AGAIN.

But even if wind speeds don’t become dangerous, FLOODING from the bands and bands of rainfall can do far worse to New Orleans than they did to Houston.

 New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu told reporters one of the city’s pumps broke just one week after being repaired, sparking worries about the rest of the city’s pumping system as Tropical Storm Harvey makes its way north.

The pump broke on Monday as Harvey brought rains to the city. New Orleans is expected to get between five and 10 inches of rain through Thursday, but flooding could be made worse if the city’s pumping system breaks down.

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Officials aren’t sure if they can fix the pump in time for Harvey. 

New Orleans’s pumping system wasn’t able to stop flooding in early August when a storm resulted in widespread flooding. Sewerage and Water Board director Cedric Grant blamed climate change for the floods, but it turned out the city’s antiquated pumping system was to blame.

Many of the city’s 120 pumps were offline or working at partial capacity due to fires and the fact some of them rely on an antiquated power system to keep the pumps going. Taxpayers have funneled billions of dollars into the pumping system.

The Obama administration gave New Orleans $2 billion in 2015 to upgrade its infrastructure, a portion of which was supposed to go towards the pump system. Experts say $9 billion is needed to fully upgrade the system, according to CNN.

Now, the city faces Harvey with diminished pumping capacity. Much of the city is below sea level.

Landrieu urged residents to stay home and wait out the storm. (Just like the Mayor of Houston told HIS City – and thousands became TRAPPED as floodwaters cut-off evacuation routes.)  Don’t make the same mistake that Houston made, you should EVACUATE NEW ORLEANS NOW.

Harvey is expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico before moving up the coast through Louisiana.

ATTENTION : The following message is for families…

The real question that you have to ask yourself is: would you be prepared?

The second most important question is: are you prepared right now to survive such a catastrophe?

Let’s take a look at this video and find out!