Posted on 09/21/2005 11:48:48 AM PDT by backhoe
Notice the line of clouds extending out before the storm? Katrina had the same thing - and it pointed in the direction she ended up going.
Oil rigs in the path of Hurricane Rita (map: RigZone.com)
I hope the democrat websites and the MSM don't get a hold of this photo.
Hurricane Center May Run Out of Names By Ker Than ... Liberals will start naming them, "Bush's Fault"..."Still Bush's Fault"...."Also Bush's Fault"...."You Know What Bush's Fault"...
Here's Their Chance! -- Let all of the complainers, ie Kerry, Kennedy, Pelosi, Reid, Jesse Jackson, and any other of the folks who have blamed the federal government, specifically President Bush and FEMA for the so-called failures in the Katrina effort, do their duty! Each and every one of the dirty bastages should fly into the Texas gulf coast prior to Rita...
Tropical Storm Rita Live Thread -- The difference in the two news conferences I just heard- Jeb speaking with Floridians and Nagin talking down to...everyone. Jeb giving information and instilling confidence. Nagin acting arrogant and wishy-washy (an amazing combination) and giving NO information.
Water
a fill bath tub
b fill all large pots
c several dozen cleaned plastic milk carton / change quarterly
Battery operated radio
Battery operated flashlights (1 per person + 1)
Week worth of batteries for above
Fill propane for gas grill
Fill all cars
Sterno cans and fondue pot for cooking
Matches, lighter, lighter fluid
Several rolls of 6 mil plastic sheets 10 x 100
5 boxes of 20 each, large garbage sacks
4 pair heavy work gloves
Axe, hatchet, shovel nails, heavy duty staples, staple gun, hammers, saws, chain saw
6 bread baking pans (to make block ice)
4 large ice chests
Hand operated can opener and bottle opener
Bug spray
1 month of all medicine, gauze, band aids, tape, alcohol, OTC headache, antiseptic
Heavy duty knives, 100 each plastic forks, spoons, knives, paper towels, paper plates Toilet Paper!
Soup, Vienna sausage, peanut butter, crackers, chili, bread, several small jelly, mustard, spam, apples, dried fruit, hard candy,
Stove top coffee pot, 10 lbs coffee, sugar, salt, pepper, tea bags
2 12 ga shot guns 2 boxes of 00; 1 of slugs; bird shot
Might as well line them up now:
http://www.wxnation.com/houston/
http://www.skeetobiteweather.com/
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tlh/tropical/
Texas Weather Cams:
http://www.weatherimages.org/weathercams/usa.html#TX
I just spent the last five hours out in it. Here are my observations:
All freeways are jammed and bumper-to-bumper, like the very worst of rush-hour, except that it doesn't end, not even in the middle of the night, and *all* sections of freeway are that bad, including the parts that are normally still pretty clear during normal rush-hours. The only exception are lanes heading *towards* the coast, which are about as empty as they can be -- I made record time heading down towards the NASA are. It's getting *back* that was grueling.
The feeder roads are actually better than the freeways most of the time, and at times can zip along pretty quickly, up to 50mph.
Just a block or two off the freeways, the surface roads ARE CLEAR SAILING. I found this to be consistently true all over town. If you know your way around town, AVOID THE FREEWAYS and drive the surface streets. You'll make *much* better time, even taking into consideration the traffic lights and lower speed limits. Not only are the evacuees all on the freeways and not on the surface streets, but the regular city traffic isn't out as usual either, since the whole city is battening down the hatches.
IF ALL THIS WASN/T ENOUGH...GFS80 HAS CONTINUED TO SHOW A REBUILDING RIDGE ALL AROUND WEAKENING RITA...SO MUCH THAT RITA COULD ROTATE AROUND PARTS OF N E AND S TEXAS FOR SEVERAL DAYS.
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Hadn't seen that map of the rig locations before. Wow.
Hadn't seen that map of the rig locations before. Wow.
Yes, I wish I could find mhking's "Just Damn!" banner- it really can't get much worse.
US High-res National Radar from NSSL/U.ofOkla. National high-resolution (1 km) radar reflectivity mosaic, updated once every two minutes. Note that there are no radar sites in the middle of the gulf, so until the storm nears land and the sites that are there, you won't see much on this radar.
Here's a composite I just did which combines both of the dynamic data layers listed above and overlays them on Google Earth.
Update:
Galveston roads are almost completely empty. Hwy 146 (freeway on the west border of Galveston Bay) is also empty all the way up to at least Baytown. I-45 gulf freeway is nearly empty all the way up from Galveston to almost Loop 610(a few miles southeast of downtown.) Southwest freeway nearly empty at Beltway 8 on the west side of Houston.
Still stacked up on all the freeways to the west and north, but traffic has begun moving faster in the last hour or two. Outbound side roads out those directions also clogged, but the rear of the backup is advancing north and west. Keep in mind, the evac plan wasn't designed for a 100% evac of the metro, just 100% of the lowlying areas. Those in suitable buildings 60 miles or more inland might be ok staying. La Porte officials believe 80% of town has evacuated.
I-45 contraflow open, I-10 soon to open, Hwy 290 still not open because bottlenecks in Giddings and Brenham are not yet cleared. Some pissant counties out to the west don't have their act together and haven't been able to implement their portions of the statewide evac plans. Huge backup in Fulshear because the lights are on their normal cycle and the town police can't be bothered to direct traffic. Guess he's too busy "Blocking the bridge"?
Biggest unforseen headache seems to be the shutdown of nearly all gas stations. Since the evac plans didn't anticipate a full evacuation of the metro, it appears they weren't treated as essential services. Rolling gas resupply fleet was part of the plan, but it may not be enough. Wonder if officials will commandeer closed gas stations that still have inventory. Let the Libertarians bitch all they want about that. Those stranded who don't get gas will be taken to shelters. Still nearly 36 hours of evacuation time left.
According to Channel 11 in Houston, IF the current track holds Conroe could be looking at 75 mph sustained winds, hurricane winds maybe as far west as Sealy. Baytown could see 90-100mph, downtown Houston 75-90mph. 1 in 4 pine trees could be blown down in the metro.
Some possible suggestions:
Head southwest along the coast and turn north or west. In fact Harlingen/Brownsville, Laredo, (and maybe even Corpus depending on what happens the next 12-24 hours) might be the best place to head to. You can always sleep in your car, but a lot easier to do so without hurricane winds.
If you must evac using I-45, 290, I-10, etc., perhaps wait a few more hours and see if the lines start to lessen. If you are stuck in traffic(congrats on being online in your car!) towards the rear of the backup and starting to run low on gas, pull over for a few hours to conserve gas and let the backup drain down. Things will most likely start moving faster over the next few hours as contraflow takes its effect and others have been scared off from trying to get in line to get out.
But remember, a direct hit on Galveston is still about the highest possibility, at 24% (chance of a landfall within 50 miles either way.) Port Arthur is at 21%, Corpus at 19%, and New Orleans still at 16%. The models are still divergent, so there is NO guarantee that the track will continue to move east, and may at some point move west again. There are 2 different highs affecting this track, and the solid ridge is going to break at some point.
No kidding.
So far:
1. Gun ownership - vital
2. Survival basics for at least a week should be on hand
3. The government can not protect you and your family
4. Band together with like-minded individuals and watch each other's back
5. Have alternate escape routes from large metropolitan areas pre-mapped so you're not killed with the cattle during the coming dirty nuke/bio-strike
NRA files suit to stop firearms seizures in New Orleans
British scientist criticises US climate "loonies" -- this so-called scientist has nothing to say on the sharp DECREASE in hurricanes over the past 70 years...
Water going over Seawall Avenue in Galveston - already
Looks like it's well on the way to becoming a breach.
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