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

[LA Woman3]

>
An e-mail going around here.....

President Bush Sells Louisiana Back to the French
>
>
>
>
>
>President Bush and a giddy Jacques Chirac shake hands on the deal.
>
>BATON ROUGE, LA. - The White House announced today that President Bush has
>successfully sold the state of Louisiana back to the French at more than
>double its original selling price of $11,250,000.
>
>"This is a bold step forward for America," said Bush. "And America will be
>stronger and better as a result. I stand here today in unity with French
>Prime Minister Jack Sharaq, who was so kind to accept my offer of Louisiana
>in exchange for 25 million dollars cash."
>
>The state, ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, will cost hundreds of billions of
>dollars to rebuild.
>
>"Jack understands full well that this one's a 'fixer upper,'" said Bush.
>"He
>and the French people are quite prepared to pump out all that water, and
>make Louisiana a decent place to live again. And they've got a lot of work
>to do. But Jack's assured me, if it's not right, they're going to fix it."
>
>The move has been met with incredulity from the beleaguered residents of
>Louisiana.
>
>"Shuba-pie!" said New Orleans resident Willis Babineaux. "Frafer-perly yum
>kom drabby sham!"
>
>However, President Bush's decision has been widely lauded by Republicans.
>
>"This is an unexpected but brilliant move by the President," said Senate
>Majority Leader Bill Frist. "Instead of spending billions and billions, and
>billions of dollars rebuilding the state of Louisiana, we've just made 25
>million dollars in pure profit."
>
>"This is indeed a smart move," commented Fox News analyst Brit Hume. "Not
>only have we stopped the flooding in our own budget, we've made money on
>the
>deal. Plus, when the god-awful French are done fixing it up, we can easily
>invade and take it back again."
>
>The money gained from 'T'he Louisiana Refund' is expected to be immediately
>pumped into the rebuilding of Iraq.
>
>
>

[Jrabbit]

My husband works for the company that owns the last refinery that was built in this country....in 1976. Pathetic, isn't it?

[steveegg]

Local edits.

[Lorraine]

Last year during Charlie, both my dogs acted very strangely. I actually "lost" my miniature dachshund for awhile. I finally found her huddled underneath a pile of clean clothes in a laundrey basket, trembling and shaking. This was before the worst of the storm even arrived. She had never done that before and hasn't done it since.

[Jrabbit]

Don't have it on....what?

[Dog]

I can't eat them.

[TheMom]

You sure it wasn't the neighbor watering their yard? ;-)

[don-o]

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

What really stinks about that, is my town in Tennessee has a very nice space built quickly. But, we have had no guests. Too lazy to find the link.

Thread is A Tale of Two Shelters

In case anyone is interested in the good, bad and ugly.

[AlleyCat48]

I'm not the alley cat you're thinking of...I just joined FR.

[N8VTXNinWV]

Yipes! Stay safe! My family also told me they've been getting warnings all day today that the Brazos and Bosque Rivers are expected to flood, if the storm stalls.

[Dog]

my miniature dachshund for awhile. I finally found her huddled underneath a pile of clean clothes in a laundrey basket, trembling and shaking

I have a daschund also....sounds just like her.

[milagro]

Was that before or after the flag flying in the wind?

[johnb838]

My family supported themselves mining coal for generations, but there was too much sulphur in it so the environmentalists shut'em down.

[mware]

I can't eat them.

Well hell, I'll make you a bowl of Lima beans.

[Cboldt]

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

She may have relocated. I caught her say "Clear Lake" when she reported, just after leaving Galveston. She also mentioned being "next door" to Johnson Space Center.

[Dog]

LOL!

[johnb838]

I thought Shep was in Pt. Arthur which is going to be under water. (are they trying to get rid of him?)

[TheMom]

TheGirl does rock! As does the rest of the family.

We were talking to several neighbors today, and all of them said if it got nasty they were headed here.

[BurbankKarl]

Sept. 23, 2005, 5:05PM

HISD police arrest 3 on looting charges
Associated Press

When Houston-area residents heeded warnings to flee Hurricane Rita, they left behind nearly abandoned neighborhoods and stores.

And a potential playground for thieves.

By this morning at least three people had been arrested on charges of looting. Houston school district police arrested three juveniles Thursday night who were accused of going room to room at a middle school looking for electronics.

"They did this because they thought no one would be paying attention," district spokesman Terry Abbott said. "We are amazed it was happening even before the storm."

Houston Police Capt. Dwayne Ready said city police had not received reports of looting but were making extra patrols in areas around pawn shops, gun shops and stores such as Wal-Mart that might "be attractive to the criminal element."

Ready said the department would pay greater-than-usual attention to pawn shops and gun shops after looters in New Orleans raided such stores, leaving roving bands of gunmen on the streets after Hurricane Katrina.

Ready said officers had responded to several burglary calls since the mass evacuations in the state's largest city started earlier this week, but said they were routine calls and didn't rise to the level of looting.

"I think the key element in looting is the fact that those who would not otherwise engage themselves in criminal activity (join in) and believe they will be able to hide in the crowd," Ready said. "It's the difference between an unlawful assembly and a riot. Essentially (looting) is theft but I think its when the crowd believes they can hide against the anonymity of a large crowd engaged in the same kind of conduct."

And with the department at full alert this morning, Ready said officers would be very visible as long as weather conditions allow.

"We have put out the message that we are not going to tolerate looting and we have increased out presence and visibility," Ready said.

Abbott said his officers were also planning to be very visible throughout the day.

To the south of the city, in South Houston and nearby Bellaire, police officials said they also had not received any reports of looting.

In Fort Bend County, located southwest of Houston, deputies arrested a man today after several residents in a subdivision saw him break into a home. The suspect, Leonardo Taveras, knew the owners of the home had evacuated because of Rita, said sheriff's department officials.

"Should anyone in the course of this hurricane emergency take advantage of the situation, it will not be tolerated," said Fort Bend County Sheriff Milton Wright.

[Nita Nupress]

I've always had this wacky notion that I could say I'd lived and done it all if I ever got the chance to step outside during the eye of a hurricane to smoke a cigar. Never thought I'd get the chance, but when I figured out I'd be stuck in this thing, I went and bought one. LOL!