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

[BurbankKarl]

The Houston EOC is telling people to head East toward Baton Rouge then north to Jackson MS....they will get farther away faster.

[rwfromkansas]

save it to your computer and enlarge in photoshop

[Eaker]

Lots of homes are using propane inside. Stove, dryer, waterheater, gas logs in the fireplace, etc.

If you are safe in your application you will be fine. Propane produces no more CO than Natural gas.

[SauronOfMordor]

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.

I see. I was wondering about getting off 45 around Bayou Vista or League City, then striking out west using the regular streets past Santa Fe and Alvin, but that's moot at this point

[CedarDave]

Houston Road Conditions/Cams here:

http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/cameras/camtext.aspx

[Brad’s Gramma]

BTTT

[mware]

She is only moving forward at 9 mph. If Rita is 150 miles wide that will take it more that 16 1/2 hours to pass over an area.

[Arizona Carolyn]

He replayed it on the radio this afternoon... What a jerk Donahue is.

[backhoe]

Is it some sort of spring?

No- that may be why you are having problems.

Turn it around, and on the back plate are several screws-- ignore all but one, different from the others, which is inside a little hole in the plate. That is the adjusting screw.

All the other screws mount the innards to the plate, and should not move easily-- the recessed adjustment screw should move easily, and when it does, the dial reading will go up or down according to the direction of rotation.

I haven't done this since being a teenager, setting the barometers on Dad's boats, but it can't have changed that much!

[BurbankKarl]

Texas DPS said they wanted to distribute fuel at the rest areas...but they cant reach them

[trillabodilla]

Clouds and wind have arrived in Zachary, LA.

Heeeeere we go!

[cajungirl]

amazing link that is!

[Tuxedo]

What exactly is the steering current that is supposed to cause Rita to turn North or Northwest? Still looks more or less westward to me. With no turn, Corpus Christi is the target.

[RDTF]

Thanks for that link!

[steve86]

Propane produces no more CO than Natural gas.

They both can produce prodigious amounts of CO if oxygen in the area is depleted.

[conservative in nyc]

According to The Handbook of Texas, a 23-foot seawall was built near Texas City after it was inundated by 4 feet of water in by Hurricane Camille in 1961. The seawall was completed in 1985. In 1982, the city built an 8-foot high levee on Moses Lake, to the north of the city, and installed pumps.

Texas City may be on the clean side of the storm, but what happens will depend on the storm surge. It's less than 10 feet above sea level in most places behind the wall, and directly across from the Texas City Channel that connects Galveston Bay to the Gulf. It's likely that any storm surge thrown into the Bay will head there first. And the 8-foot Moses Lake levee may be vulnerable to any water pushed by northerly winds. I don't know if they have a gate to close in the narrow inlet from Galveston Bay to Moses Lake.

[Eaker]

Brother, I'll take a 10 or 15 round semi over your revolver anytime.

Semis have been pretty good since about 1911.

[mewzilla]

She is only moving forward at 9 mph. If Rita is 150 miles wide that will take it more that 16 1/2 hours to pass over an area.

Wow. Well, let's hope something happens to give her a goose.

[gab1279]

Leaving Port Arthur now. We're scared to death.

The storm surge is supposed to come in in a matter of MINUTES. Up to the roof. I pray everyone is getting out and there will be no deaths.

The projected flooding here is unbelieveable, 40 mi inland. Whole area covered.

I know a lot of people don't know much about our little area, but it's real nice. Awful lot of people over here when you get right down to it, Beaumont is pretty big, the highways are unreal getting them out.

Thankfully now switching to contraflow on our route out. We're going to Shreveport.

[steveegg]

What exactly is the steering current that is supposed to cause Rita to turn North or Northwest? Still looks more or less westward to me. With no turn, Corpus Christi is the target.

From the 4 pm discussion, it's a high that's expected to slide east that will allow Rita to hook more to the north. Vortex reports have been showing a WNW-to-NW movement the last several hours.