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Story and All Images Copyright Terry Pallister
Hurricane Georges originated as a disturbed weather area that moved off the African coast on September 13th. It became a tropical depression in the eastern tropical Atlantic on September 15th, a tropical storm on September 16th, and a hurricane late on September 17th. It moved WNW and reached Category 4 intensity (sustained winds 131 to 155 mph) late on September 19th. It began weakening late on the 20th as it began making the first of 7 landfalls on the Lesser Antilles. The eye moved over Antigua, St. Kitts, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, eastern Cuba, Key West, and final landfall at Biloxi, Mississippi.
As Georges neared the Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans officials began advising residents to voluntarily evacuate the city since the possibility of a direct hit was fairly high. TV weather people were in disagreement throughout the final days of Georges' approach. Many people did evacuate and the city quickly learned just how difficult it is to evacuate a city of this size. Cars were at a standstill for miles and for many hours on the limited number of escape routes. Had the hurricane hit the city many would have been trapped on the highways and at the mercy of nature's fury.
As it turned out, almost all of the city saw very little from Georges. But, thanks to a recently installed floodgate in New Orleans east right by the Lakefront Airport, a big problem occurred. City officials require all floodgates to be closed when a treat comes close enough. The gate by the Lakefront Airport was closed on Sunday night, September 27th. The airport itself is on the unprotected side of the gate. Before this gate was installed, the Lakefront Airport was an official hurricane shelter, but not any more. There had never been any flooding before. I had stayed at the office where I work in the airport a number of times in the past when hurricanes threatened the city. I chose to do so again this time. I arrived about 7 pm with my two dogs, Lilli and Tika. A number of airport people's family members decided to stay in the building overnight too. Winds were picking up to 30 to 40 mph with higher gusts, and a little light rain fell at times.
One of the airport people suggested I park my car in a different place underneath the overpass where the ground is higher. I agreed. As he was driving me back a large old oak tree split in gusts to about 50 mph, and fell right where I had been parked not 5 minutes before. Wow! What a lucky break that was!
The evening was spent watching the coverage on TV. It became apparent that the center of the hurricane would pass east of the city and that the city would be spared the worst. I went to sleep about 1 am with my two dogs who wondering what we were doing in this strange place. I thought we would awake in the morning and simply go home after the storm finished passing.
I slept awkwardly on a cot. I was totally unaware that by 2 am things were not going well. Waves had been crashing on the seawall across the airfield as they always do when strong N and NW winds blow across Lake Pontchartrain. Water had been collecting on the airfield and began spreading past the building and into the parking lot in front. Soon the water reached the floodgate where it was blocked. This led to water accumulating throughout the night. When I awoke about 7:30 I decided to look outside to see what was happening before taking Lilli and Tika out for a walk. When I looked out the back door of the building I was completely surprised by the sight of water everywhere. The first floor of the airport building is high enough that water did not get up that far.
The angle of the wind hit directly perpendicular to a long length of the seawall so that the maximum possible wave action occurred and huge amounts of water were thrust onto the airfield. Winds never exceeded 40 to 50 mph with a few slightly higher gusts throughout the storm, but 12 hours of water pounding at exactly the right angle against the seawall was all it took. Water got into many to the hangers where numerous planes were stored for the duration of the storm. Many ended up getting water in the engines. Considerable work was needed on the planes to avoid any corrosive effects from the water. Lake Pontchartrain is mostly fresh water, but when easterly winds blow in advance of a storm some salt water gets mixed in with the fresh.
The TV stations seemed completely unaware of the situation until late morning. It wasn't until early afternoon that a film crew was sent out to get some live coverage from atop a bridge overlooking the airport area.
I had been smart enough to bring my camcorder with me. I shot about 15 minutes of footage of the flooding from both the front and back of the building. On the front side, the winds were not too bad. But when shooting out the back, I had to deal with the winds blowing steadily at 40 mph with frequent gusts over 50 mph right at me.
Two cars in the parking lot in the front of the airport had stalled the night before and couldn't be moved. By the time the water began rising it was too late to do anything about them. Needless to say neither was worth salvaging.
Water levels reach up to 5 feet in places. Dumpsters floated like pleasure boats. Water in the basement finally caused all power in the building to go out about 11 am, including the backup generators.
A rescue boat was sent to get everyone out between 3 and 4 pm. Lilli, Tika and I were among the last to go. Both were really confused by their first experience of riding in a boat. They behaved very well.
When we got to the car I discovered that the back and driver's side windows had imploded. Glass was everywhere inside. We got a ride home with a rescue vehicle. I had failed to leave the windows open a slight crack to let the pressure equalize. Dumb Terry!
It took 2 more days before we could get back into the building and the power restored. City officials refused to let the floodgates be eased open even slightly to let the water go down sooner. The corrosive effects kept causing the power to go out from time to time for several months after the hurricane.
Further east from the airport along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, a number of summer camp site homes (built back in the 1920's) were destroyed by the wave action that hit the shoreline at exactly at the right angle to maximize damage from the wave action in that area too. Because of pollution problems from these camps, none were allowed to rebuild after Georges. Harmful bacteria levels in Lake Pontchartrain have since gone down dramatically.
Below are 36 images
of the flooding from the storm. The forces of nature are always impressive.
Had a major hurricane done struck the same way, the water would have gone
over the top of the floodgates and caused flooding to much of the City
of New Orleans. Officials have taken much too much comfort in the
gates keeping the water out of the city in this hurricane. 50 mph
winds versus 150 mph winds is quite another story. The day will come.......
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| The shots above are all overlooking parking areas in front the airport building. Note the top of car in the 3rd image on the top row above. I shot this footage after the water had come down a few inches to reveal the car being there. |
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| All of the airfield is covered with water, up to 5 feet deep in some places, especially near the hangers. |
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| Some examples of the waves crashing onto the seawall. It was very difficult trying to hold the camcorder steady in 50 mph winds. |
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| Even across the airfield where the elevation is a bit higher, water still gets into the hangers. Notice Bally's Casino boat in the first image above. |
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| At last the rescue squad comes in to take everyone out and away from all the mess. Quite the long day! |