Kat 5

Right now I'm damn glad I don't live in New Orleans. Or anywhere on the Gulf Coast, for that matter. This is going to be nasty. I can't even imagine what a cat 5 landfall would be like, and I pray I'll never find out from personal experience. We can only hope that people have heeded the mandatory evacuation orders in time.

From the looks of the projected path, we may not be safe even here in Virginia. No landfall, thank God, but according to weather.com:

Effects from Katrina will not be confined to coastal areas. ... Torrential, flooding rainfall is possible with the remnants of Katrina well inland, possibly into the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes and the Northeast later this week.

I'll bet there are a lot of folks around places like Corning, NY, and Wilkes Barre, PA , who are uneasily remembering the devastating floods of 1972 when Hurricane Agnes stalled over the area.

How long can you tread water?