| This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies. |
|
Locked on 09/24/2005 10:02:57 AM PDT by Admin Moderator, reason:
Thread VIII: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1490587/posts |
Posted on 09/23/2005 8:01:35 PM PDT by 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
7.5 inches so far in baton rouge in gauges and that is underestimated since the winds blow the rain and they have a heard time catching it all..9-11 inches doppler estimated
Shep lost about five or six hats last night... and maybe some more hair as well.
Listening to all these folks on Fox saying people are steamed about evacuating for no reason. It'll get worse as they sit in the snarled traffic to get back in.
I find that so odd. Will the same people complain about "paying all that money" for insurance...and they didn't even get to use it!?
___________________________
As for Katrina and Mobile, I personally had trees, branches about 15' deep in my front/back yards...all fell during the back side of the storm. None hit the house, but lots of shingles blew off. No power for 7 days. I'm high, so no flooding here.
Downtown Mobile had 10' of water. Of course, Bayou la Batre and Dauphin Island took major damage. In Mobile itself, homes along west side of Mobile Bay were wiped out (including my niece's in-laws' house). Damage was from tidal surge, not wind.
Mobile took a big hit, but now---just 3 1/2 weeks later---one would hardly know a hurricane had come through here. By far most people in town had their yards clean and houses tarped within 4 or 5 days. All done with no complaining given the horror stories we were hearing from just west of us. Even now, almost half the huge debris piles along the street have been hauled away. The City and FEMA have done an outstanding job here. Mobile has quickly gone from a victim city to a refuge for our neighbors in MS and LA.
I say all this recognizing there's a HUGE difference when most homes are left habitable. All in all, Mobile was lucky and resilient. We know how close we came.
I agree.
A gate like that standing open would be on TV, posthaste. As you note, it makes for dramatic video.
Still, I hate to discount flooding reports out of hand. File it under unconfirmed and we'll see what happens.
OT, NBC live just showed some street in Beaumont, six inch flooding, "may have dodged a bullet".
I believe my eyes, but not that phrase.
"Connection: close"
The server's loaded up. Even a screen shot will do, tho. Not that I take delight in the suffering of others, of course...
They say they are doing great - haven't lost power and none of their big pine tree have come (yet).
The fat lady has yet to sing.
:-)
the eye wall is dumping 2-4 inches and hour with totals now 6-9 inches all along the river north of buemont I mean if following the river channel perfect all the way up... ignore media "not so bad" reports..remember new orleans?..the same thing happened after andrew in south florida at first
Whew. I know my dad will still be sound asleep. Thanks!
All,
I will not overly or exclusively focus on loss of life or property damage to gauge the impact of this storm, as important as those items are.
They will not be the story here, IMHO, as this storm did not hit populated areas head-on.
The key issue with this storm is not whether the roof blew off on the Civic Center, but whether the oil/gas production, refining, and distribution infrastructure has been compromised. If it has, then the immediate and significant ripples will be not only in high gas prices, which would be the least of our problems (I pay $7/gal here in Europe), but in shortages which will then potentially cause fundamental problems in this just-in-time-inventory economy. The dislocation resulting from that has the ability to snowball, especially on the backs of Katrina, into something very problematic for our near-term economy.
In other words, multiply the long lines and fist fights at gas stations, the looting, the failure of basic services, and the deprivation, exponentially in scope and frequency.
IMHO, that is the worry.
The Woodlands should be okay. I am in Cypress and we had a lot of wind and rain and still getting some strong gusts but I still have power (Praise the Lord!) Power went out a few times last night but came back on. Houston got very lucky.
"70 mph does not sound that bad, I remember Nor Easter's in Virginia that had winds at least that fast"
Several years ago we had 70 mph winds (wind and rain storm) in the Seattle area (I was living no of Seattle in Edmonds at the time - I think we got the highest winds). We lost electricity, had trees down, etc., etc. IIRC the eastern-based news channels referred to it as 'strong winds'.
Agreed.
In fact, underlined.
"Even a screen shot will do, tho."
I am nowhere smart enough to figure out how to post a screen shot.
Lower Mississippi River Forecast center
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lmrfc/quickbrief.shtml
btw, mornin.
Rita vs. Rita, eh? I guess we can call it a draw.
After you finish posting, click twice on the back arrow and you will go back to the post that you were answering.
Exactly- it takes hours and/or days to get a realistic picture.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
