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

[johnb838]

OK, that explains that. I'd remember if we lost a bunch of homes, that tends to stick in ones mind.

[Eaker]

crews are pulled in til storm passes...KPRC

They will be parked in front of my home tomorrow as my summer power bill is over $600.00 a month. They will not want me off-line long!

[truthluva]

If we still have power and if I can get access to it, I will report on the state of bayou manchac tomorrow.

Thanks!! Stay safe!

[monkfan]

strong breeze. Even without a tv you know something big is coming.

[Cboldt]

Lamp post has already fallen over where Alicia Acuna is which is across the bridge from Galveston. Not sure where.

She was near Clear Lake - just east of Johnson Space Center.

[bd476]

uncbob wrote: "Sounds like another area that doesn't need an influx of new settlers. Some serious thought is going to have to be given about further populating vulnerable areas or even some population control in general"

People quickly forget after rebuilding and restoring. Tropical Storm Allison was just four years ago.

"...Allison will go down as the costliest tropical storm in United States history.

Estimates place the total damage across Southeast Texas close to $5 billion ($4.88 billion in Harris County alone). Twenty-two deaths were caused by Allison, with each of these fatalities occurred in Harris County. By comparison, Hurricane Alicia, the last major hurricane to strike the Upper Texas Coast, caused $2 billion damage and 21 fatalities..."

Upper Texas Coast Tropical Cyclones in the 2000s

Map of Upper Texas Coast Tropical Cyclones in the 2000s

[BurbankKarl]

10 inches of rain, 20 inches of rain, 30 inches of rain!

Next we will see frogs falling from the sky

[Strategerist]

The Claudette name was not retired; both storms were Claudettes. The 2003 Claudette hit the Matagorda Bay area.

[Deetes]

mark

[Jrabbit]

Oh how horrible! And I think it's also RAINING! Oh my!!

[johnb838]

I have crickets still singing outside. Radar showing light rain in my area. Guess Id better eat my last TV dinner.

[N8VTXNinWV]

You have my prayers fellow Texans! please be safe!

I'm told the winds are picking up in Waco and the clouds are 'strange looking.'

[nevergore]

"I'm going to take a drink every time a TV personality says 'we're expecting things to get a lot worse'. Duh. "

I started that an huor hor hur hour ago...then my beeber got stunned...

NeverGore

[Revel]

Well she looks like a fine lady. And I am sure that she could take care of herself just fine. While not knowing any of you personaly...I get a sense that at at time like this it would great knowing your family were next door. Good old American tradition.

[Dog Gone]

Jersey Village will be fine. I used to live there (actually north of that about 4 miles) and they shouldn't have any problems. This storm seems to be shifting east every update, and that's only good news for the Houston area.

Don't get me wrong, they'll get some 70 mph winds tonight, but that's not quite even hurricane force.

Now the trees could still fall and hit buildings and they should almost certainly expect to lose power tonight, but they're in no danger of destruction by windspeed alone or flooding.

[WestCoastGal]

Oh no, I was just joking about Harrigan. I see you know that :) I loved watching every minute he filmed with the Northern Alliance when we went into Afghanistan. He's really one brave dude!

On another note, our town is full with evacuees now. It's heartbreaking to see so many families with no place to go but the shelter. So many had been on the road for anywhere from 12 to 20+ hours mostly depending on when they left. Wild stories about fights on the road along with many heroes helping each other out as well. There are now no gas cans left in any store. People are afraid they will not have enough gas to get home when they can leave.

We tried to help as many as we could. Some didn't want the shelter so we called every hotel that we had in our books and were able to get some lucky cancellations for a few people. It's been an amazing three days, I'm worn out.

[BurbankKarl]

Wasnt she at Nassau Bay? I stayed at the hotel once.

[monkfan]

I just stepped outside to double-check. I was scoping out the big dark cloud to the NE and got sprinkled in the face. hehe.

[BurbankKarl]

Amy Wilson interviewing Houstonians in line for "a cool beer" at the Mini Mart

[umbagi]

There's nothing wrong with a momentary flash of self-pity now and again.:)

Good, because another one's working on me--the entire outside unit (over half an hour out of its 5-year warranty) is dead, and they "may" be able to get one by late tomorrow, but Monday's more likely ("you know, the hurricane, and all")...

Of course, a cool weekend in a hotel isn't an option (you know, the hurricane, and all), so Mrs. U and 2 kids will be at oldest daughter's tiny apartment and ACLFest, while I spend a warm weekend making sure there's no co'beer left for the AC guy to steal whenever he gets here.

I have to trust the guy; he seems to be the only HVAC person working in Austin today, and--after I showed him the panel on the unit's side--he successfully removed all four screws without further assistance, before somberly announcing the demise of my compressor unit.

If this thread weren't constantly reminding me of those having a much worse weekend, I'd probably have done or said something really stupid by now. Still, there are days when I secretly wish the good Lord weren't quite so attentive when He thinks I need a humility fix...