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

[NautiNurse]

If it always says 984mb, then it may be your grandpa had the same problem hurting barometers that I have.

btw - 984mb is lower than Hurricane Rita's eye. Something is fishy with that thing.

[RDTF]

hey Steve - how many MG is 52,000 bytes? I'm trying to figure it out so that I don't post pics that are too big.

[steveegg]

Ouch. Glad you're all right.

[RoseyT]

Thanks for the laugh. :)

[Tall_Texan]

That is great to hear. Hopefully, he got her meds when he left Galveston. If so, she ought to be fine in a day or so and will have a story to tell.

Now all you have to worry about is Rita coming up there to see you. The predictors are "all over the map" once it comes ashore but it is most common for hurricanes to go Northeast after landfall. Hopefully, that's what this one will do.

[RDTF]

You're so funny! I didn't even see your post, and I just asked that SteveEgg that question cause I knew I was cuttin it close :)

[Zacs Mom]

He did use secondary roads all the way up........problem was he started out in Galveston and couldn't get across Houston to access the roads to the west. He took Hwy 146 north to Hwy 59, 59 to Lufkin, and finally 69 out of Lufkin past Tyler to I-20.

[fjsva]

I nominate Hurricane Lewinsky. I can see the t-shirts now......

My favorite newspaper headline (real) from a few years ago....

.

[Cboldt]

984mb is lower than Hurricane Rita's eye. Something is fishy with that thing.

984 mb is low, but Rita is close to 900 even.

[NautiNurse]

the LSU vs. Tennessee game is still scheduled for tomorrow night!!

Is this a case of gridiron bravado, or denial?

[dfwddr]

Everyone has seen tail pipes dripping gasoline at one time or another

Ummm, that's H2O, not gas.

[CollegeRepublicanNU]

First of all I'd like to say my prayers and thought are with those who are facing a possible hit by hurricane Rita..

And now to a point I'm sure has been made many times... Look at how well this evacuation has been going in Texas. I think there is a lot to say about how smoothly everything is going. The Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana should be taking notes.

[MamaB]

Neat. That's my name!!!!

[steveegg]

hey Steve - how many MG is 52,000 bytes? I'm trying to figure it out so that I don't post pics that are too big.

If you round down instead of rounding correctly, it's is 50 kb. Run it past NautiNurse though.

[Wneighbor]

One thing about it, in this area we already know the flood prone areas so that's easy to avoid. Hope you've talked to your mom and brother today to make sure they're prepared just in case of power failure for a bit. Prolly not going to happen here - looks like the thing is going further east than we'd originally been planning for.

Nice to hear from ya. Always good to find "home folks" on FR!

[SE Mom]

Just heard Max Mayfield on CNN say it's going to strengthen again...he "wouldn't be surprised to see it back at a 5" overnight since it's about to dit a deep warm water trough..

[SE Mom]

dit=hit

[NautiNurse]

You are right...I need to think better...

[RDTF]

so I can figure if it's under 50,000 I'm ok. That's what I needed to be sure about. Thanks!

[KC Burke]

Hi old buddy.

I think part of the problem is that people are using the term Coleman Stove (a brand name) and some people are relating that to Coleman Fuel (a brand name for filtered white gasoline). Of course, Coleman makes little field and camping stoves that run on propane, Coleman fuel (white gas) and I think they even have one that will run on kerosene.

Having been an Army Mess Sgt, I cooked on gasoline fueled stoves and even took them inside old army buildings and fumed up the places pretty good.

In construction, we use huge propane heaters in partially enclosed structures as we are building them.

All of these various fuels have CO by products of combustion. You are correct that Propane (and butane) has the least normally. Natural Gas, White Gas, kerosene and gasoline (in increasing output) all generate greater amounts. Charcoal and wood have even more harmful CO and other gases given off in combustion. Besides the fuel issue however, there is the percent of combustion by product that is burned off.

Some appliances designed for indoor usage are even rated to be "un-vented", but that wouldn't include small field kitchens.

Any small burner or heater can kill the people in the confined space if enough fresh air for (1) efficient combustion and (2) ventilation are not provided. If a user isn't knowledgeable they need to be aware that even use in an open garage or deck can be dangerous if the fumes can get back into the dwelling by air intakes for other appliances that might still be running, like combustion air intakes to the furnace room still drawing air for a non-electrical gas fired water heater.

In summary, I think that all have made some correct points but since they are using non-specific terms they are talking around each other.

A week after I completed and turned over a water main, a water company employee entered a pit to check a meter and died due to lack of air quality. No heater, gas leak or anything -- just ground gas fumes pushing out breathable air. If someone isn't an old timer like you or I, and thereby know what to check, they should play it very safe.

When this hurricane is passed, we can start a thread on blowing up old army field kitchen burner units and immersion heaters and I will relate how I burned off my eyebrows two years in a row. Good to see you.