Robert Ricks Jr. (born c. 1964)[1] is a retired American meteorologist who worked as a lead forecaster at the National Weather Service (NWS) in Slidell, Louisiana.
A later review by the NWS called attention to the "unprecedented detail and foreboding nature" of the forecast, and credited it with helping assist officials as they evacuated residents in the storm's path.
It listed the expected damage in extensive detail, warning of profound devastation to infrastructure, including widespread building collapses, and said that the storm would launch "household appliances and even light vehicles" into the air as debris, causing "certain death" for anyone struck.
[6] Compared to previous weather bulletins, the forecast was so uncharacteristically graphic and intense that some in the news media initially thought it was a hoax, and called the NWS to check its veracity.
[7] Though some meteorologists later said that Ricks' forecast overestimated Katrina's wind speeds and neglected the storm surge, he was widely praised for his efforts to convey the severity of the hurricane.
[4] In 2006, a copy of the forecast was donated to the National Museum of American History, as was the family rosary that Ricks held as he and his colleagues rode out the hurricane at their office.