UPDATE: Roof of Superdome Shredded by Winds -08/29 10:15AM PST

I find it very interesting that while there are numerous news stories about the citezens of New Orleans taking refuge in the Superdome from Hurricane Katrina, I am suprised that none of the news stories bring up the question of whether or not the Superdome can even withstand Katrina’s 165mph+ winds. CNN reported (video only) that the bottom floors of the facility are likely to be flooded along with the rest of the city, but what about the winds? At least one article points out that the tests have only shown the dome to stand up to 130mph winds; even if Katrina drops considerably in intensity gusts could easily exceed that. I don’t want to come across as a pessimist, but this just seems like a question people should be asking. Hopefully we’ll all wake up tomorrow and New Orleans won’t be much more than flooded, but as someone who has seen what 165mph tornadic winds (low F3) can do over the course of a less than a minute, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near 165mph winds that last for tens of minutes or more. Good luck New Orleans.