she said it was too late for a mandatory evacuation order. as we look at the after action of what happens here, how important do you think that decision will or won t be? again, we had a variety of circumstances. the majority of cities inside of the levee protection system, ordering the evacuations outsds outside of the area. as emergency managers we have to make sure our plans adopt to the threat. if we re going to see more well have less time to get ready for the storms. we ll have to plan for that and not hope that we have the time to make the storms fit our existing threats. is that a fine line for the climate change? it has been if you look at all of the signals. heavy rainfall is two signals they have been clearly identified in all of these
west, north south, 250 miles. it has rapidly intensified. to give you a sense of this, rapid intensification is within 24 hours you see the winds go 35 miles per hour. this thing went from 18 miles per hour at 5 am yesterday, to 5 am today, 145 miles per hour. that is a massive jam for a storm to take in 24 hours. and unfortunately is what we are seeing more and more. here in lake pontchartrain, the sea is obviously very angry. the winds are picking up. we are worried about storm surge. storm storm surge assess poaching 17 feet or more. we re talking about rainfall. some places could pick up about 20 inches of rain. and it s not about there s a soft cone of uncertainty stretching from most of the central coast of louisiana. as the system takes its way
people that are down there. cynthia, you said yesterday the storm surge you are expecting is unsurvivable. even called out forks who are inside the levee protection system to evac to wait. are people listening to you? yes, i think a lot of people have left the lower line areas and i think many people have left within our hurricane predicts should system. where i am now is in the greater new orleans area. i will tell you, for the people in louisiana, this is just such an eerie time because of the anniversary of katrina. but right now, if i look outside the window, it s a very calm. and we know it s not going to be that way for very long. so, it is a strange surreal time that the moment that we are in right now. we are people of faith and we re praying. but we know we have a really rough 24 hours ahead of us. mayor hunter, you guys can t catch a break either. lake charles still recovering from back-to-back hurricanes last year, which caused major destruction.
you have towns in jefferson parish that are outside of the levee protection system. are under mandatory evacuation orders. and you have called on everyone who can leave, warning that you re expecting a storm surge that is unsurvivable. that s a quote. what is your message to any of those people listening tonight? well, you know, that s where my concern is. in jefferson parish, we re a very unique parish in that we have dense living in urban areas. but a couple hours away from us is also part of our parish is our most vulnerable communities in grand isle um that road has been closed. the people that are there are stuck there but i know we have a couple dozen people down there. so that is truly our concern right now because that storm surge is gonna be so strong for such a long period of time, that it will be unsurvivable. that s what we believe. i mean, you are warning them. i hope they are heeding these
concerned about. we have really been concerned about rapid intensification. this system has rapidly intensified several times. and it may not be done yet. the problem is, the gulf waters are way above average, into the upper eighties. 3 to 5 degrees above average. something new? something happened? hold on, just a second okay, storm surge 16 feet to flood in forecasts for life-threatening storm surge across coastal mississippi. due to hurricane. i d just in from the national weather service in new orleans. erin, our senior producer here. as i was saying, joe. this is a big problem. rapidly intensifying hurricane. normally we get up welling. as the system brings up cooler water from beneath the lower levels of the ocean. this really warm water, hot water really, goes way down