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

[esarlls3]

LOL! do you mean Lady Bugs?

Nope, see this: http://cricket.biol.sc.edu/luvbug.html

[Wneighbor]

Being stuck on highway 146 and 59 for 24 hours I started thinking "oh no I am going to turn into a hurricane Katrina refugee!"

Naaa... I can tell you're from better stock than that! LOL Hugs to you.

My girlfriend called me that was headed to San Antonio. They turned around and went to Corpus!

Would you believe I have been planning for a long time to head down to Corpus this weekend to spend some time in a sailboat on the gulf with some old friends? Guess what.. LOL.. I'm still sitting at home in central Texas.

My family evacuated Houston for hurricane Carla and the highways were crowded then too - but even though we only had 2 lane highways think of the difference in the population between then and now.

[frankjr]

""fizzle" is not a word I would apply"

Then what about "fo shizzle", my dizzle?

[demkicker]

The funniest thing is that most of these enviro whack jobs drive SUV's themselves. They just can't stand the fact that "the little people" drive them too.

[milagro]

I know--but it is very encouraging to see it down to a Cat 3 and NOT over Galveston or Houston. But--like you said--still will hurt, so am still praying--hard!!

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Here in north Utah, it's comfy, about 70, partly cloudy. Felt like rain earlier today, and the mountains are full of maple turning red.

Fall.

But now I am worried less about my brother and more about my Grandma's house in Shreveport...that area is supposed to get seriously, seriously drenched after the storm comes in...

[MineralMan]

Easy to Be Hard...from the Musical Hair

[johnb838]

If I saw a storm that looked like this storm looked yesterday, I wouldn't underestimate it in the future. Am not now either.

[Rumierules]

Hopefully, it will even decrease to a CAT 2 by landfall. Anything less than that is probably just wishful thinking.

[nhoward14]

Has Shep started rounding up evacuees on a bridge so he can stand in front of them waving a staff yelling 'Let my people go!'?

[CindyDawg]

We run into that problem here. Every year we get threatened but rarely get slammed. Many like me still prepare but I also hear, things like it always turns or goes to Mexico. We've been thru the tropical winds, no big deal etc.

[LucyT]

At this link, click "Trop Fcst Pts" for latest forcast hurricane path.

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/float-ir4-loop.html

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Me too. Stayed home today to pray and watch.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1489333/posts
A thread of prayers for those in the storm.

[NautiNurse]

Train derailment in N.O. . .

Don't tell me they left rail cars in NOLA this time.

[Syntyr]

Syntyr here from West Houston - Memorial Locked and Loaded as well. A little wind right now and thats it.

[Patriot from Philly]

The media hype of hurricanes is what confuses the public. I was in New Orleans for a conference several years ago and they hyped this hurricane that was coming, everyone was frightened, Dan Rather came down to cover it. It fizzled and was just some rain and wind.

I wonder if this is why it was so hard to get the people to take it seriously when it actually did hit.

The truth is a lot of these hurricznes fizzle out. Media hype doesn't educate the public about what is real and what is hype.

The media is so critical of everyone else, I want them to look at their own shameful performance during this crisis.

Those 2 clowns that do the Fox Show looked so disappointed that the storm is down to a 3.

[meanie monster]

lol

[blam]

Love Bugs

Look close, they're butt ended to each other.

[cgk]

I voted 3 as well... and yes I believe it. They think he has these godly powers at the same time they think he's stupid. Logic is lost on them. Even my Dem mom said "How can ANYONE blame a hurricane on a person?" when I told her people were blaming Bush for Katrina.

Hey, 95 people (when I voted) blame ME (selfish SUV driver)! LOL

[Graymatter]