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

[EmilyGeiger]

Has Geraldo fallen yet?...

LOL, that's the only thing to look forward to in a storm. :) As long as he is not seriously injured of course.

[TomGuy]

KPRC 2

Latest/current: Cat 2 at 100 mph moving nw @ 12 mph

[abb]

Bonnet Carre Spillway

http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/pao/bcarre/bcarre.htm

[Alia]

That's my little nickname for her... "I've always relied on the kindness of strangers..."

"Blanco Dubois". ROFL!

Isn't that from the play "Streetcar named I'll-Think-About-it?

Memorable Dubois quotes.

[PleaseNoMore]

Um, maybe your brother should have taken the initiative to leave sooner himself since he was coastal and all...

[janetjanet998]

they got 5-9 inches on rain last night all along the river from just west of NEW Orelans all the way to Baton Rouge..a band set up there
116 MPH wind gust in Port Author..

lots of damage reported in NE texas

will take a while for the damage reports to come in

[topher]

Prayers, too, for your folks in De Ridder...

They are near Fort Polk, so they are very close to where the Calvary will be coming from...

Godspeed...

[battlegearboat]

Over on A&E just now, they were touring NOLA and admiring the clever pumping system into the Lake that was installed in 1909.

This was obviously a pre-Katrina show.

Ironic

[SE Mom]

LOL! You're an inspiration:) TV reports are still sketchy..just like after Katrina the reporters busily fill the airwaves with one small slice from where they're broadcasting. Too soon to tell.

I've no clue where Geraldo is.

You're in our prayers..thanks for letting us hear from you.

[bwteim]

" Rebuilding NOLA in its current form is madness. "

Thank goodness Nagin called off that insane plan to re-insert people in the city... /s

[cardinal4]

News from Houston: 28 confirmed burglaries ("looting"), 16 arrests. Houston has a dedicated task force assigned to finding and catching looters for the duration of the hurricane, and apparently they're doing a good job. There's video on Channel 13 now of a car that had crashed into a tree (pretty hard, from the looks of it) when the police caught some folks looting a Wal-Mart and they tried to get away.

Poor tree..

[EmilyGeiger]

You are right. Here in B'ham all the evacuees we've had come through our center have been from NO, a few from Mississippi. Not even our local news affiliates have said much about damage in Alabama. I would love to help Alabamians too.

[Types_with_Fist]

Wow. Thanks! I can't tell you how many times, growing up, I heard about the Bonnet Carre Spillway on NO television. I never really paid it much attention but it sure seemed important every April...:-)

[laz]

Then they went on to split hairs over the terminology.

If I hear the dentist analogy again...

[johnb838]

Blanche DuBois: I don't want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic. I try to give that to people. I do misrepresent things. I don't tell truths. I tell what ought to be truth.

[jeffers]

Saw the Galveston building. Old brick. Masonry isn't worth a squat under a side load. Mortar only holds against a downward force.

Not good news for the owners, but most new buildings are made of sterner stuff.

[Shqipo]

...I did not see Geraldo fall - but Shep took a spill last night... and his hat flew off....
--MSNBC has had stronger coverage. Rita stood her ground like a pillar.

[SauronOfMordor]

If anyone is annoyed because they evacuated for nothing, they just don't seem to get it. When a storm of this magnitude is headed your way, you've got to evacuate before it's certain whether or not it's going to hit you. If you wait until it's certain, it's too late to evacuate. So you leave, even if it ends up not hitting you. And instead of thinking you evacuated for nothing, you're thankful that your city didn't get hit after all.

The way I describe it to people is: Here I've got a box of twenty rounds of ammo. Nineteen out of twenty are dummy, one is real. I'm going to take one round at random, insert it into my gun, point it at the chair you're sitting in, and pull the trigger. Are you going to get your butt out of that chair or not?

[Nita Nupress]

Thank you. Wind has died down somewhat and getting light outside. Devastation just unbelievable. This house used to have solid woods in back behind lot... now looks like it's been clearcut by timber company. Huge trees everywhere either down by their roots or split in half and hanging onto themselves like broken toothpicks. Someone here works for electric company and heard them mumble, "We'll be weeks before we get power back." Ugh.

Signing off to save battery. Wind kicking up again. Please continue praying. We feel it and thank you very much.

[laz]

Yes. After overnight hurricanes, we must dread what the sun will reveal.