Page 39 - Eye Wall News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Flooding. louisiana, in fact, bracing for a day of destruction as the governor warned that ida could be the strongest storm to hit the state since the 1850s. think about that for a moment. also, ida comes 16 years to the day after katrina devastated louisiana. right now officials and residents there are closely watching to see if the since improved levy system will hold. we have reporters fanned out along with meteorologist bill karins who is watching the radar for us here in studio. welcome to all of you. bill, we'll start with you. so bring us up to speed. where is it? how strong is it? and ...

Strength of this storm. the more symmetrical the eye is, the more powerful the storm is. the more organized the storm is, so it's a sure bet that we definitely have winds of 150 miles per hour right around that eye wall. it's remarkable. i think a lot of it has to do with the amount of marsh and water that is in south louisiana. so it was able to hold onto its intensity. and it's able to hold on now even after landfall. so it's incredibly unfortunate all these towns in south louisiana, very special places that are experiencing winds like this for this long of a duration. so we are going to see...

And then the eyewall is just a fire hose as we find those winds getting into the center. >> washing machine on a rollercoaster, that paints quite the picture for your experience out there. help us understand, how long will stay up there with this storm in particular? when is your job done? >> our job is done once the storm makes landfall. our shift here will continue for another three or four hours, until we are replaced with another crew to follow the storm all the way into landfall. >> what you know from being at their, what is your message to people in louisiana, new orleans, those who are ...

Mandatory evacuation because there wasn't time to get everyone out. the storm intensified so quickly. and they didn't want people to get stuck on the highways in conditions like this, jim. so this is where you see the dynamic really changing with this storm. we're getting clobbered here. we have to keep our -- sorry. got to keep our eyes out for flying debris. it's getting a little dangerous. >> absolutely, brian. be careful. great reporting as always. you can see those winds really picking up in new orleans. just a nasty scene in the big easy right now. brian todd, thanks. now to houma, lou...

Terrebonne bay. grand isle had that 146-mile-per-hour wind gust. one thing that's interesting with the structure of the storm, we're now seeing dual eye walls. the storm had been about 20 miles wide. that's the clear eye here. then another ring on the outside of that. so that's what we call a double eye wall that is 50 miles wide. the max winds will come down with the storm a little bit so you think that's great but the problem is then the wind field expands so the damage path could be even wider so instead of just an extreme damage path of 20 miles now we're talking about maybe not quite as e...