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

[LikeLight]

Lake Charles, LA . . . trouble with flooding . . . highways blocked . . . rising waters . . . "desperate" people . . . 4-6 feet of water at Civic Center . . .

Per ABC13 (live now)

[OwenKellogg]

Glad to hear that y'all are doing ok this morning.

Last year I dodged those pesky typhoons practically every weekend. It's been quiet over here this year but the Gulf Coast is getting clobbered. I hope this is the last one for you guys this year.

[Jeff Head]

...and God bless you for it. Tens of millions feel and act just as you do and that is what keeps this nation together and prosperous despite the worst efforts of the libs/dems/rinos/leftists/etc.

[LikeLight]

Storm surge flooding in Cameron Parish . . . rush of water pushed inland from storm . . . 4-7 feet of water over roads . . .

ABC13

[STARWISE]

Oh my .......... die, Rita, die.

[Abigail Adams]

Has there been much news out of LA yet? I'm guessing it's going to end up being the real story out of this hurricane, since they were on the bad side of it.

[LikeLight]

This storm surge at Lake Charles is 30 MILES INLAND . . . not gonna be good news for coastal areas . . .

[PhilipFreneau]

>>> I also didn't like the comment that "FEMA was doing a great job" while also listening to reports of people starving and dehydrating days later in Gulfport.<<<

Like it or not, the President's statement was accurate. FEMA did the best job possible under those circumstances, and with the authority granted to it by the Congress. FEMA's 2400 employees coordinated relief efforts for 90,000 square miles of devastated landscape in less time than it took to coordinate the Hurricane Andrew relief efforts and other smaller relief efforts. It was a good job.

>>> It has nothing to do with "sticking or not sticking" with the Pres. It has to do with facts. <<<

Then stick to the facts, instead of regurgitating anti-Bush media hype.

[ncpatriot]

I agree with everything you say here, and it makes me want to vomit.

[LikeLight]

"Developing" story . . . Lake Charles . . .

ABC13

[silentknight]

Keep us posted with the ABC13 stories...

[ClearBlueSky]

Ah- but isn't it interesting that the SAME people who trashed and terrorized the Superdome behaved FAR differently at the Astro Dome??
An eyewitness account from my nephew- who was downtown during the hurricane and the subsequent violence: The medical teams and choppers were being shot at from the ground. He simply couldn't believe it. They were trying to HELP and were being attacked. He was issued a shotgun to protect himself and his ambulance. His partner had to shoot two thugs and he saw other rampaging criminals blown out of the water-literally- by the helicopters.
The anarchy that was seen in N.O. after the hurricane was fully public and unrestrained. Those were the same people who have been ruining N.O. for years.
I pray to God that NO, repeat NO housing projects are rebuilt( especially near the Quarter as the Bienville project was) IF any of N.O. beyond the Quarter and downtown are reconstructed.
One ironic laugh I got while listening to TV reports after Katrina. I think it was either Nagin or the police chief Compass who proudly announced that New Orleans was drug and crime free!
Of course it is- it's EMPTY!! It just took a historic disaster to clean the huge criminal element out.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I know. It's sad that our culture often forgets that--I understand that there are times where one needs professional services like nursing homes (and sometimes even the person involved chooses them), but to dump them there, or to leave them in an apartment while you go do your own thing (like those elderly who died in France the summer before from the heat while their kids vacationed) is something I couldn't do.

[SouthTexas]

You don't see me crying about "my" tax money going into Mississippi do you? Iraq and taxes are different subjects for different threads anyway.

This issue was politicized WAY to quickly with everyone pointing fingers at the President, up to and including charging him with being responsible for the hurricane itself.

Personal responsibility for where YOU chose to live is being ignored. We have family on the Gulf coast from Pensacola to Corpus Christi, all points in between INCLUDING Miss. We all know the risk of hurricanes and all have suffered loss, including the loss of life. It is NOT the governments fault we chose to live here.

[jeffers]

They might ot be stylish, but there's absolutely NO good reasonto let all those RPGs we're capturing in Iraq and Afghanistan to go to waste when there's perfectly good looters over here.

Waste 'em.

Then make the jelly bounce.

[cajungirl]

I am on record here as saying the political class here is corrupt. I am in agreement on that.

You are misreading my comment. I was addressing those who are assuming that every citizen down here is of that ilk.

And callng me Mary Landrieu like is an insult. I was calling for Landrieu's impeachment the day after the storm.

The "locals" are not the "local politicians",,that is my point.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Well stated. And I agree, positive change HAS to start with heads rolling. The good folks of LA and NO would be wise to send Blanco and Nagin packing.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

People forget storm surge takes awhile to get there. I've been waiting for this news.

[LikeLight]

Now they are covering Galveston Mayor presser . . . city still not safe . . . do not come back yet . . .

ABC13

[janetjanet998]

not really..Lake Charles sits on the north end of a lake/river that flows in from the gulf..the surge went up that waterway..it didn't come directly from the gulf so that statement isn;t 100% correct..that being said the areas along the gulf did get a huge surge that went well inland..but that area is very lightly populated