Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VII

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

[NautiNurse]

Hurricane Rita landfall is anticipated within the next few hours. Strong winds and heavy rains are battering southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas.

MSM news crews are shouting over the howling winds as they foolishly describe blowing rain, swaying trees, and crashing waves through rain splattered camera lenses. It's a hurricane. We know these things already.

An 18 wheeler rig reportedly overturned on an I-10 bridge. The fate of the truck driver is unknown at this time. Reports of widespread power outages in Lake Charles. KPLC-TV Lake Charles local news has remarkably improvised their reporting from a remote location. They are taking calls from residents, NWS, and public utility representatives, and alerting residents to local conditions.

On the flip side, CNN announced to the world that law enforcement officers had evacuated from Port Arthur TX with the rest of the population. Engraved looter invitations would have been more elegant.

Godspeed to all those in the path of this storm.

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 VI
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

[Howlin]

Mine is In Harm's Way" and The Hunt for Red October.

I just cannot make myself NOT watch them.

[AFPhys]

One more post - courtesy of some maroons - before I take a short bit of a break from FR:
from the Wx blog- http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/temp/ritablog.htm

11:30 PM - The office is receiving numerous phone calls from people who didn't leave
before the storm, asking if it's okay to leave now. PLEASE stay sheltered
in place at this time...it's far too dangerous outside and on the roads!!

[nerdgirl]

I agree he has a great voice. I do think men and women like him for different reasons though!

[swmobuffalo]

"hold until relieved....."

I love hearing Richard Burton talk!

[conservative in nyc]

KPLC - Eyewall is just now beginning or very close to make landfall, extremely close to being on top of Cameron. There were reports of water in downtown Cameron midnight last night.

[hole_n_one]

Shep is quite animated tonight.......

......and over there is where I lost the red one

I'm gonna try and pinch Rita and stop her once and for all

Yo, bro

[Chicha Kazembe]

Wind Vains

[hoosiermama]

I saw that. He was also angry about no one coming to help the people at the convention center.....He was very intense (to say the least) but he got the results he wanted.

[cherry]

my brother says that if you put a garlic clove in your shoe and wear it around, the next day, your fingers will smell of garlic.....don't ask me how he knows this.....LOL

[Tuxedo]

Eerie resemblence to Audrey then. Pressure is 932mb, which is much lower than Audey (946mb). The Governor said that area was pretty well evacuated. Let's hope so. I think this storm surge is going to be awesome.

[Howlin]

Dear lord. Dear lord.

[Uncle Joe Cannon]

.

[Armedanddangerous]

I have a friend who is/was a professional "cooler" like Swayze in Roadhouse. He worked in NOLA until the storm. Claims to have seen lots of Ghosts there. Especially a few around those above ground cemeteries.

I felt left out, I want to see a ghost.

I watch Ghost Hunters on sci fi, but they never really show one.

[steveegg]

Got KPRC streaming in a corner of my screen. Who is running the "national" part of PMSNBC coverage?

[nuclady]

Koreans don't 'treat' the cabbage. They simply pack with water and lots of salt. The natural sugars in the cabbage end up fermenting into lactic acid, a natural preservative. It is therefore 'pickled,' but not with our familiar vinegar pickling. They also add lots of hot pepper in the jar. It is definitely pungent and an acquired taste.

[WoodstockCat]

would it be that Russian accent via Sean Connery perhaps ;-)

[Types_with_Fist]

I do think men and women like him for different reasons though!

Yeah... I guess I don't like him the way you might...:-)

[Howlin]

Gosh, my grandson did that in karate today!

[WoodstockCat]

perfect!

[MplsSteve]

Louisiana's congressional delegation asked for loads of money for the J Bennett Johnston Waterway - basically a canal for barge traffic that never lived up to its expectations.

In short, an expensive pork barrel project.

They could have and should have asked more that money to be used to for levee reinforcement. But they didn't.