Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VIII

www.freerepublic.com | September 24, 2005

[Howlin]

Hurricane Rita landfall is anticipated within the next few hours. Strong winds and heavy rains are battering southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas.

MSM news crews are shouting over the howling winds as they foolishly describe blowing rain, swaying trees, and crashing waves through rain splattered camera lenses. It's a hurricane. We know these things already.

An 18 wheeler rig reportedly overturned on an I-10 bridge. The fate of the truck driver is unknown at this time. Reports of widespread power outages in Lake Charles. KPLC-TV Lake Charles local news has remarkably improvised their reporting from a remote location. They are taking calls from residents, NWS, and public utility representatives, and alerting residents to local conditions.

On the flip side, CNN announced to the world that law enforcement officers had evacuated from Port Arthur TX with the rest of the population. Engraved looter invitations would have been more elegant.

Godspeed to all those in the path of this storm.

The following links are self-updating:

Public Advisory Currently published every 3 hours 5A, 8A, 11A, 2P, etc. ET
NHC Discussion Published every six hours 6A, 11A, 6P, 11P
Three Day Forecast Track
Five Day Forecast Track

Rita Forecast Track Archive
Forecast Models
Buoy Data Western Gulf of Mexico
Houston/Galveston/Beaumont/Lake Charles Wx Watches/Warnings
Jefferson Co TX NWS Weather
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Texas
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Louisiana
Hi Res Houston Flood Zone Map Slow load, great detail

Images:

Lake Charles Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Lake Charles Experimental Radar Outages and Delays May Occur

Storm Floater IR Loop
GOM WV Loop
GOM IR Still Image
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop

Streaming Video: (coverage may be intermittent)

KHOU-TV/DT Houston
KPRC-TV/DT Houston
KTRK-TV/DT Houston
KTRH-AM Houston
KPLC-TV/DT Lake Charles/Lafayette
KSLA-TV/DT Shreveport

Additional Resources:

Hurricane Rita Freeper CHECK IN THREAD

FReeper Sign In Thread (LOCKED) Check in to let us know whether you are staying, going, and when you get there
FReepers Offering Lodging To Rita Evacuees People and/or Pet Friendly FReepers Offering Shelter
KHOU Houston
KTRK ABC News Houston
KPLC Lake Charles Evac Routes, news
KFDM Beaumont/Port Arthur News, evac info
Hurricane City
Wxnation Houston
Galveston Webcams
Golden Triangle Weather Page Provides Galveston Weather, Warnings, Radar, etc.

Category	Wind Speed	Barometric Pressure	Storm Surge	Damage Potential
Tropical Depression	< 39 mph < 34 kts			Minimal
Tropical Storm	39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts			Minimal
Hurricane 1 (Weak)	74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts	28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more	4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m	Minimal damage to vegetation
Hurricane 2 (Moderate)	96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts	28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb	6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m	Moderate damage to houses
Hurricane 3 (Strong)	111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts	27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb	9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m	Extensive damage to small buildings
Hurricane 4 (Very strong)	131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts	27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb	13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m	Extreme structural damage
Hurricane 5 (Devastating)	Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts	Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb	Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m	Catastrophic building failures possible

Previous Threads:
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VII
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VI
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part V
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part IV
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part III
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part II
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[jeffers]

Yeah, there are subdivisions all along the Trinity River below Lake Livingston and above Liberty.

The geometry's not real good for Anahuac either, but the pros will know if a flood would disperse across the marshes before it got there.

[laz]

Houston mayor to evacuees: Don't come back yet.

New Orleans mayor to evacuees: C'mon back!

Re-entry, you know.

[BurbankKarl]

There are houses there? I dont see that many on the Google Earth....how far out of the banks will that river flow?

[jeffers]

That is good stuff. Can you grab one from the Trinity, above Lake Livingston?

[ElisabethInCincy]

But Valero Energy reported Saturday that recovery teams found "significant damage" to its oil refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, following the hurricane. Shell reported wind damage to its Motiva facility in Port Arthur.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/24/rita/index.html

[Cboldt]

I don't know what sort of oversight the Corp of Engineers might have. The dam is under the Trinity River Authority; an entity created by the Texas state legislature.

Trinity River Authority websites are not functioning at the moment.

http://www.trinityra.org/

The Trinity River Authority of Texas is a political subdivision of the state of Texas charged by legislative mandate with three functions. These include maintenance of a master plan for basin-wide development, serving as local sponsor for federal water projects and providing services authorized by the Texas Legislature within the defined territory of TRA.

Public services currently provided by the Authority include wastewater treatment, water treatment, recreation and reservoir facilities. TRA also serves as a conduit for tax-exempt financing for municipal water and wastewater facilities and industrial air and water pollution control facilities.

On a functional basis, the Authority operates as a governmental water utility. Each operating or financing endeavor of TRA is an independent financial entity. The Authority receives no revenues from a direct tax base or appropriations from the state or federal government. TRA is only compensated by those using the services for which they have contracted, and only to the degree services are received.

[laz]

in other words more water is flowing into the gulf now then is moving backout..creating a backup...that would explain the "slow" water rise and why it is still rising in places

Yes, that makes sense. The surge and the run-off can't retreat into the gulf, and the winds are pushing more water north.

[jeffers]

One million acre-feet and change, divided by the area it spreads out over...it'd take a big comp to crunch but I guarantee you the guys that man that dam have already run it.

[laz]

Ruh roh. This could be quite bad.

[jeffers]

PS. DeLormedoesn't display houses, but the street layout of subdivisions is very distinctive. It's not wall to wall residential area, but there are more than a handfull.

[gpapa]

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv?08067000

[Flyer]

I'm not sure who operates it.

[Cboldt]

http://ahps.srh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=hgx&gage=grit2&view=1,1,1,1,1,1

Trinity River.

[Flyer]

No, I'm far from the areas that will flood.

[RDTF]

Gibson on Fox showing the levee repair now

[ruoflaw]

that is good to hear

[tiredoflaundry]

Just wanted to say

For all the work and info on the Hurricane threads!

[Cboldt]

Can you grab one from the Trinity, above Lake Livingston?

I saw this after I posted the other Trinity River link - the previous one, Goodrich, is below the dam.

http://ahps.srh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=hgx&gage=rvrt2&view=1,1,1,1,1,1

Riverside, just above Lake Livingston. I'm sure the lake fills from many sources other than Trinity River above - it is a big reservoir.

[jeffers]

Thanks...from the footer to that story, some good news for a change:

In Texas, the Jefferson County Sheriff's department said people who were
trapped in an apartment building near Beaumont were able to get out
unharmed.

That was a collapsed apartment building.

One for the good guys!

[Cboldt]

Trinity River at Liberty

http://ahps.srh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=hgx&gage=lbyt2&view=1,1,1,1,1,1