Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part IV

NHC - NOAA ^ | 22 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Extremely dangerous Category 5 Hurricane Rita continues to threaten the Greater Houston Metropolitan area. The forecast track has shifted slightly to the northeast, increasing the risk to Southwest Louisiana, and a significant portion of the oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Texas Governor Perry is urging all coastal residents between Beaumont and Corpus Christi to evacuate as soon as possible.

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
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:

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)

KPRC-TV/DT Houston - KPRC-TV/DT Houston - http://mfile.akamai.com/12944/live/reflector:38616.asx
KHOU-TV/DT Houston: mms://beloint.wm.llnwd.net/beloint_khou
WWLTV NOLA

Additional Resources:

FReeper Sign In Thread 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
Coastal TX Evacuation Maps
Beaumont TX evac Routes
Lake Charles/Southwest LA Evacuation Map
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 III
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part II
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[PAR35]

Fox just reported seepage from waterlogged dikes in New Orleans.

Just shut off the pumps and let the rain help equalize the pressure on the levees.

[Cedar]

They may get some flooding, but just didn't have any choice. Had 3 small children in the car and needed to get off the interstate. Don't know if they'll try again at some point or just stay put.

Hopefully, all the neighbors with 2-story houses will help out the single-story dwellers.

[ruoflaw]

excuse me, but I was trying to direct him to the information he sought because I didn't know the answer but I knew where to get the answer. Most people that I know do not have a gas range. Why would you assume everyone has a gas range? There was no reason for you to be rude or to call us stupid. Shame on you!

[Jrabbit]

Gibson didn't say......I "assumed" he was talking about the sand bagged ones. Fox talking about the pumping stations now....

[tcrlaf]

Been trying to find Worst-case scenario's for Lake Charles, and all I'm coming up with is Greenpeace's "If the Chemical Plant Blows" BS...

Any ideas?

[conservative in nyc]

Continental Airlines Prepares for Hurricane Rita at Its Houston Hub

HOUSTON, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) is preparing for Hurricane Rita by continuing to evacuate travelers from Houston. The airline is making operational decisions with the highest priority placed on the safety of its customers and employees.

Continental expects to be able to operate only a reduced Houston schedule on Friday morning, and will cease flight operations at Houston at noon. All Continental Airlines flights from Houston on Friday afternoon and Saturday are being cancelled. All Continental Express flights from Houston on Friday and Saturday are being cancelled. Flights are expected to resume Sunday morning. Throughout the weekend, all flights not involving Houston should operate normally. The best way to check the status of a particular flight is to visit continental.com .

"We are committed to the safety of our customers and employees," said Larry Kellner, chairman and CEO. "We are doing our best to evacuate as many people as we can until we are forced to suspend operations at noon tomorrow."

Supplementary Staff Fly to Houston

To augment staffing at the Houston hub, Continental has flown into Houston hundreds of employee volunteers and TSA security screeners from Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York/Newark and San Antonio. These personnel supplement existing staff at the airport and replace workers who were subject to mandatory evacuation orders. The supplementary staff have been brought to the Houston airport with Continental's commitment to fly them home before the hurricane hits.

Travel Advice: Check in at Continental.com and Carry-on Bags Only

Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport is extremely busy with all flights sold out. Only ticketed passengers should go to the airport. Passengers should bring only carry-on baggage to help expedite check-in and security screening. Passengers should check in at continental.com and print their boarding passes prior to leaving for the airport.

Continental strongly recommends against passengers flying to Houston to make onward connecting flights. Due to the approach of Hurricane Rita, connecting itineraries may not function as scheduled, risking passenger misconnections and possible stranding in Houston. Only passengers who need to travel to Houston itself should board flights destined for Houston.

[Diddle E. Squat]

I couldn't agree more with your assessment of Laura Miller's shameful mouthiness the last few days. The only good thing about her was that she was outside of the corrupt good ol' boys network, but she's bungled her opportunities and her 15 minutes are up.

[olrtex]

I heard somewhere that Highway 290 to Austin would have no contra flow. I think we can be sure that the news idiots--even Fox--will find the biggest traffic jam and focus on it. There is no more reason to listen to those bozos than there was with Katrina. There is a lot of time before landfall. This whole thing seems to be working very well, unless the folks to the east of Houston got too focused on "predictions" and made no preparations.

[don-o]

What would happen if you used a nuke to blow up/disrupt a hurricane?

Besides dispersing radioactive fallout all over the damn place, you mean? Uh, nothing.

[Alia]

The inner eyewall is 15 nm wide

Whoa...

and the outer eyewall is 40 nm wide and contracting.

Sounds like it's gearing for the punch. Lord have mercy.

[aBootes]

Though we do come to the rescue like "the cavalry" does.

Hm, yes. That was my point. I do hope ya can show NO how a real American city responds to a natural disaster. They're something of an international embarassment at the moment.

[Spktyr]

Laura Miller has thoroughly annoyed everyone on both sides of the fence. If the Republicans run an even halfway-credible candidate, she's out in the next election.

[kjam22]

You just gotta ask yourself how a coleman stove is going to starve a propane fed fire of air? And you know really 23.5 cubic feet of air isn't a lot.

So yeah.. what this is telling you is the first thing they teach you when you work in a gas processing plant. You can't have a little bit of air in a pipeline mixed with ngl's. Because that is a time bomb waiting to happen. It's a confined place. So for goodness sake.... if you use a coleman heater, don't put in a confined space like a sealed barrel or something.

[RDTF]

There is a NASA site that has some of these scenarios - did you see the link to the powerpoint slideshow from this morning? May be something on that site.

[eastforker]

And your average house has between 3-5 thousand cubic feet of air.

[native texan]

Here in south central Texas we are experiencing 100 degree weather...I don't think we have to worry about heating with propane....

[Cboldt]

Propane is safe in doors ...

Are you Hank Hill?

;-)

[steveegg]

Thanks.

The 4 pm discussion is interesting. Not only is Rita undergoing an eyewall replacement cycle, but it's over a cold eddy in the Gulf right now. They thought about taking her down further, but she's leaving that cold eddy and headed for a hot one. Throw in expected increased shear and they're saying 125 knots up until 36 hours out, when the prediction becomes 120 (still a Cat 4 for those of you reading along) and landfall before 48 hours.

[Wneighbor]

Personally, I have always thought that Texans ARE the cavalry...

Nah, you know what they say, "One riot, one ranger."

[NautiNurse]

Are you in the clear enough now to stay at home through the storm?