Forecasting models today were projecting Gustav to come ashore west of New Orleans — near a town called New Iberia.
When I learned that, I immediately thought of former Wichita State University professor James Lee Burke, who has set most of his legendary Dave Robicheaux series in New Iberia. Burke’s 2007 book “The Tin Roof Blowdown” is a fictional exploration of New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina…and now I’m curious if Gustav’s treatment of New Iberia will serve as a catalyst for more of Burke’s masterful prose.
If Gustav makes landfall as far west as at least one computer model suggests, remnants of the potentially monstrous hurricane could reach Kansas by late next week, said Dick Elder, meteorologist-in-charge of the Wichita branch of the National Weather Service.
I think it’s definitely something we’re going to need to keep an eye on, for sure,” Elder said.
The “European” forecasting model brought heavy rain as far north as southeast Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri, Elder said. Wichita could see rain from the remnants if Gustav comes ashore in, say, eastern Texas, he added.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty,” Elder said. “We’re not ready to put a flood watch out right yet.”
But local forecasters will be watching closely.
State emergency management officials have begun preparing to send personnel, aircraft, trucks and other equipment to the Gulf Coast, which is bracing for the arrival of two hurricanes – Gustav and Hanna.
Two Kansas Department of Emergency Management employees left for Jackson, Miss., today and three more will depart Saturday. They will be assisting in the State Emergency Operations Center, authorities reported.
Officials are also anticipating requests to provide shelter and food for hundreds of people who will be displaced by the storms.
“We learned a lot from Hurricane Katrina,” Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the adjutant general and director of the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, said in a prepared statement. “One key lesson was ‘Get ahead of the curve.’ Even though the hurricane isn’t projected to hit until Tuesday, we’re getting equipment ready and alerting personnel of the potential need to be available to respond.”