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

[ElisabethInCincy]

Fox had a banner maybe 10 minutes ago, "Beaumont Oil refinieries on fire" anyone else see it ?.

[No Blue States]

"Perry is republican."

Yep, I like this Perry quote:

"Texans made a decision about marriage and if there's a state that has more lenient views than Texas, then maybe that's a better place for them to live."
Gov Rick Perry

[MarMema]

Good to see you posting this morning as well!

[laz]

Ritas eye slammed into the Beaumont TX/LA border area from the NW.

I feel it should be stressed that the center of the eye hit in Louisiana. The landfall location per NHC is east of Sabine Pass in Louisiana. Rita made landfall in Louisiana, not Texas.

So, within the space of a month, Louisiana has been bracketed by two hurricanes. Katrina hit on her border with Mississippi, and Rita on her border with Texas. Bookends. Blanco must be tickled pink to be so special.

[Ellesu]

http://house.legis.state.la.us/H-Reps/members.asp?ID=5

[Knitting A Conundrum]

The AP didn't report that after that wind gust, the device broke. Some crewboats weathering out the storm recording winds of 130+ on their equipment before the TV station in Lake Charles lost its streaming feed.

[McGavin999]

Oh good! You're safe, we've been praying you'd make it through.

[MarMema]

We don't get that much rain in an entire year here in Arizona!

Aww, you guys are all rain-woosies.

Here in Seattle that's just a good drizzle.

[Pirogue Captain]

"Ritas eye slammed into the Beaumont TX/LA border area from the NW."



Thanks!

[dixie sass]

Glad that y'all are safe.

[TX Conservative]

Yep, did you hear him tell the idiot reporter last night that the Houston community was not going to be placing any kind of blame on FEMA because our city had a plan and FEMA was part of his team and were doing a great job? Ha! Slap down. I think it was one of Channel 13's reporters that asked a snarky question about FEMA's response to Katrina.

[ekwd]

35" a year in Seattle, right? That's a drought down here.

[Howlin]

Excellent!

[No Blue States]

Thanks for the correction laz. ;)

[Rightly Biased]

West Side of H-Town I assume?

[laz]

As with all storms, and especially storms that hit overnight, it'll take a while to discover the extent of the damage. I hate it when somebody looks across the street, sees nothing amiss, and concludes nothing happened anywhere else.

[Liberty Tree Surgeon]

I'm in the Woodlands, just north of there. Power and DSL are working. Lights have flickered just a little, but not even enough to knock off the modem (which is sensitive to gnats). We've had wind (35-40MPH gusts) and some rain (nothing pooling on the streets at all, though). There's a single orange band trying to head to the west side of I-45, and it might make it, but that looks like the worst that we will have seen all night.

[texpat72]

Rick Perry is a Republican

[deport]

Thanks..... I just got off the phone with her. They came out. It's like you said, they lost power for a few seconds once and other wise they are fine.

Again thanks and I'm glad you all are okay over that way. Now I have to find out info at home when I can make contacts.....

[No Blue States]

ping to #2424 for a more accurate landfall location.