Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part V

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

[NautiNurse]

Extremely dangerous Category Four Hurricane Rita continues to move toward landfall along the northwest Gulf of Mexico shoreline. Mandatory and voluntary evacuations continue across Texas and Louisiana coastal areas. Lake Charles LA is providing evacuations by bus for residents who have no transportation.

Traffic gridlock in the greater Houston area was compounded by gasoline stations without fuel, long lines at those stations still carrying fuel, and record breaking temperatures on the first day of autumn.

Offshore drilling platforms and rigs, as well as oil refineries, petrochemical and natural gas plants are in the path of the storm. Wave heights recorded by buoy have exceeded 38 feet. The refineries threatened by Hurricane Rita are on higher ground than those affected by flooding from Katrina. As a result, speculation abounds regarding future prices for winter heating fuel and gasoline.

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
KPLC-TV Lake Charles KPLC Streaming
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 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

[mewzilla]

Even those bastard smokers like me don't smoke around old and sick people.

Good for you. Unfortunately some smokers do, including old and/or sick ones.

[shield]

KHOU continues to show the dry air being pulled into her...by showing us the dry slots within her counterclockwise motion. Dry slots will weaken her with her pressure continues to rise.

[steveegg]

Thanks for the radars.

[laz]

On TWC, Stephanie Abrams is quickly running out of beach to stand on in Galveston.

[numberonepal]

CINNAMON ROLLS CINNAMON ROLLS YEAH YEAH YEAH!

[tincture82]

There might be no smoking on buses, but it wouldn't be the first time that somebody sneaked a smoke while wearing an oxygen cannula. I've seen it before.

[Boss_Jim_Gettys]

Try here

[libsl]

My first thought was that somebody probably was trying to sneak a smoke. Many people are in the condition of having to use oxygen tanks because of years of smoking, and it is extremely difficult to stop. My aunt with emphysema and many other health problems must carry around an oxygen tank AND she also smokes at least a pack a day. Of course she turns off her tank when she lights up, but if you're in a bus with many others on tanks you can't be sure they are all turned off.
I'm not blaming anybody, it's just a likely scenario for what happened.

[WxMan2000]

Lake Charles radar link to what they call the "experimental" radar product:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge/lch_N0Z_lp.shtml

[bwteim]

Sometimes when things can't seem to get worse...

[steveegg]

That's not a good sign. As for the pressure, last 2 measurements were at 927 mb just before 7 (not reported until after the 7 am advisory; they used an estimated 930 mb) and a fresh one at 925 mb (still in raw form; not out as a Vortex).

[RDTF]

I thought of yall last night when the episode of CSI was about someone smuggling drugs in cinnamon rolls

[publana]

>>How DARE YOU!!!<<

Because you made the racist statement "blessed to be born of one skin color"? It's possible that you meant something entirely different than as construed, but darned if I can find another meaning.

[Boss_Jim_Gettys]

Here is a decoder site.

Link

[RDTF]

That one is much cooler

[WxMan2000]

Cool...thanks!

[Fresh Wind]

Yer prolly a rabid anti-smoker huh?

So what if I am? I remember my mother the last day of her life as she was dying of lung cancer. She was on oxygen, and too weak to get out of bed. Yet she still had the strength to light up. Thank God she didn't burn the house down by doing that.

Though I shouldn't even say this after your ignorant post, for your sake, I hope you don't have to go the same way. It's not fun.

[Alia]

May the Good Lord have Mercy.

I'm glad the reporter used the words "souls". living souls, deceased souls.

I can only imagine what all in Louisiana and Texas are going through right now. My fervent prayers for each and all.

[jeffers]

Here's the thing. If the water in the Industrial Canal is high enough to flow over the top of the sandbag repairs, which are close to the original height of the seawall there....then the water on the Gulf and in the MRGO is high enough to pour through hundreds of full breaches on the east side of St. Bernard Parish.

If it follows the form it did during Katrina, you'll see the Canal breach put water on the ground first, but soon the flow from the east side will overwhelm the smaller canal breaches. It has further to go, so it takes longer to get there, but the holes are orders of magnitude larger.

That's why the barge was inside the breach, but the water was pouring out.