Cities on the path of Katrina hurricane are preparing for the worst right now (you might have seen the news that New Orleans is being evacuated - the city is below water level, just like Holland).

"So I tried to leave New Orleans today at 12:30 pm but after 4 hours of driving I had only made it 15 miles. "(ernie)

Already one million flee New Orleans area trying to escape this storm.

Katrina right now is categorized as Category 5 hurricane (there is no category 6). It has top speed of 160 miles an hour - that my friend is 256 kilometers an hour; a monster storm.

Hurricanes can still slow down or speed up when they touch the land.

The map shows the projected path of the hurricane for the next three days (from weather.com).

This storm will be the first category 5 storm to hit America this century. There were only 3 category 5 storm last century.

If you are wondering how they name a hurricane, read this article from BBC. This is wikipedia entry on Katrina.

It the next 24 hours we will witness in almost real time the devastation that this storm will bring; New Orleans might not be the same anymore :(

There are about 10,000 people sheltered in the famous New Orleans Superdome and questions are raised whether this stadium will be able to withstand the wind (hopefully it does; otherwise we will have an even worse disaster in our hand)