Don't look now...

Here's an interesting tidbit worth chewing on. With a HT to the Corner, Prometheus points out this discovery about Katrina as it hit New Orleans:

An alert reader (thanks JA) passes along this very interesting news story from today's Florida Sun-Sentinel,

"Hurricane Katrina might have battered New Orleans and the Gulf Coast as a considerably weaker system than the Category 4 tempest initially reported. New, preliminary information compiled by hurricane researchers suggests the system struck southeast Louisiana on Aug. 29 with peak-sustained winds of 115 mph. That would have made it a Category 3 storm, still a major hurricane, but a step down from the enormous destructive force of a Category 4. Katrina might have further downgraded to a strong Category 1 system with 95 mph winds when it punched water through New Orleans' levees, severely flooding most of the city and killing hundreds.["]

Add that to the mix of Katrina-related screaming, wailing, hand-wringing and knashing of teeth, and boy...I hate to think what will be going through some people's minds!