Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VI

NHC - NOAA ^ | 23 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Dangerous Hurricane Rita is expected to make landfall in the northeast Gulf of Mexico within 24 hours. Tornados have spawned in Louisiana. Water is filling the Ninth Ward of New Orleans again. A bus carrying elderly evacuees was gutted by fire this morning outside Dallas, with multiple fatalities. Television crews have positioned their hurricane reporters throughout the region to attain maximum drama effects. Whoooooa.

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
Jefferson Co TX NWS Weather
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:

Lake Charles Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Lake Charles Experimental Radar Outages and Delays May Occur

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)

KHOU-TV/DT Houston
KPRC-TV/DT Houston
KTRK-TV/DT Houston
KTRH-AM Houston
KPLC-TV/DT Lake Charles/Lafayette
KSLA-TV/DT Shreveport

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
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 V
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

[Cvengr]

Shep always gives me that feeling of Deja Moo. (That feeling you get when you know you've heard the same bull before.)

[CedarDave]

The Mayor of Houston just said.. unlike in Katrina, Texas will not blame FEMA on problems. The Feds are here as back up.

Let us know if it reported anywhere else but here and maybe the Fox "Grapevine" on Brit's show.

[hummingbird]

I feel sorry for all of those people who were on the road for 18-24 hours.

One personal silver lining...it forced my work-a-holic brother to load up the wife, kids and dogs and take a "vacation" in the hill country.

?8^)

[mother22wife21]

,

[Nita Nupress]

Are you on high ground? Nederland may flood.

[mware]

I know from experience if you drive your car with a flat, it will heat up bigtime.

When I pulled over at the first opportunity the grass the tire was on caught fire.

[TheMom]

No, I did not realize that.

My husband saw the look in my eyes and told me you "didn't mean anything bad by it & there no bad intentions". My post was the nicest I could be at the time.

[milagro]

Good one! Now he just said--the audio is following the video. He is LOST without people around him thirsting for water and asking for help. Leaves him begging for attention!

[mewzilla]

Think you're much better off spending time with Fred instead of Shep.

Hee hee. Mr. Mew just walked in. Fortunately he knows who FRED is :)

[BurbankKarl]

I read it was because they are sucking the ground water from Houston...

[mathluv]

Anybody watching Fox? Did Greta say which hotel she is in? It looks familiar.

[milagro]

OOPPS! How funny! Was going to add "the boob in the tube"--that would have confused your hubby, huh!

[Dog Gone]

I've been watching TV on three channels all day. It looks like a 90% chance of landfall between Galveston and Port Arthur, perhaps a little closer to PA. They say the weakening has stopped and strengthening may be underway and will be a strong Cat 3, maybe a weak Cat 4 at landfall, expected at about 6 am central time.

Hurricane force winds will reach shore late this evening, perhaps around 11 pm.

Conditions are getting reasonably rough around Galveston Bay, but certainly not up to damaging levels yet.

Keep you fingers crossed. The eye looks like it might pass over the only place between Houston and Beaumont where it won't destroy significant property. The storm surge for Port Arthur and Lake Charles are a different story.

[nevergore]

"Hey I called that number an they said 3.95$ for the first three minutes and 1.95$ for each additional minute and then some nasty lady asked me what I was wearing.......... "

That's terrible!

Now what was that number??

NeverGore :^)

[antivenom]

You have been recorded in my cell phone, thanks!

[nevergore]

Baywatch is on???

NeverGore :^)

[TheLion]

Large map of Texas:

http://www.angelo.edu/pstudent/images/texas_map_large1.gif

[BurbankKarl]

her and Mrs Halloway are back together

[TheMom]

LOL

[Dog Gone]

I was on the phone just now with a friend of mine residing (and hunkering down) in Houston - living on relatively high ground. She said she just lost power....

Not good. I guarantee nobody is going to go out before tomorrow evening at the earliest to begin restoration efforts.