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]

Me too, lost the good feed from KPLC. They are in a hospital with a generator. But I can't get it back so far.

[NautiNurse]

Is it bad that I am making money from my oil holdings off this storm... I can't help but feel guilt sometimes...

It's a shame that a Floridian would choose imminent hurricane landfall to gloat. Your timing is lousy.

[Rte66]

North of Westheimer?

[Types_with_Fist]

It's like a combination of rotting vegetation, stagnant water, and rotting meat

Smells like Louisiana?

[Howlin]

LOL.

And you have a broken foot to boot!

[LibertyRocks]

I've lost the feed for KPLC - prayers to all those in Lake Charles and surrounding areas. The next couple hours will likely be living hell for them...

[Moonmad27]

I have friends north of Beaumont in Lumberton. Looking forward to hearing that their town escapes damage.

[newzjunkey]

Thanks. I'll tune KPLC in.

[conservative in nyc]

Whoops. You're right - northeast.

[nwctwx]

It's doing what most storms do at landfall in the northern gulf, slowly weakening.

The recon found a 15 mile wide area of sustained near 115mph in the NE Quad. This is quite large.

Looks like we are at the beginning of an eyewall replacement as it makes landfall, so it's not going to be as bad as it could have been.

You have to keep in mind that the pressure is still way down there. Many storms with this pressure have winds 135-150mph... It will be interesting to see post storm analysis as to why the pressure was so low without higher winds. It won't weaken much more than it has been... should come in at 115-120.... large swath of big wind.

Surge is still going to be equal to a cat 4 I'm afraid. That could be the big story with this storm, as with Katrina.

[RDTF]

Your post was about how he did not have a US driver's license - and that is not cool to be driving a bus in the US. Seems they would have checked that.

[not_apathetic_anymore]

And she's also telling us how we are going to need to give her a bunch of money to rebuild the levees. I detest this b*tch.

Yes, they've been begging for money for years and no one paid attention to them...arrrrrggghhhhhh

[wardaddy]

Lumberton, Silsbee or Kountze?

I did pipeline job thru there 24 years ago.

Cowboy bars everywhere.

[Howlin]

I was watching that one, too. What do you suppose it means? I shudder to think.

[ruoflaw]

I am so glad that you are still with us!

[SMcDonnell]

Not a gloat...I promise that. I have been through these things as well.

It was an honest feeling.

[Cboldt]

That driver was NOT to blame for the fire ...

Is the final report on root cause out? I'd heard there was a mechanical issue that teh driver was apprised of, by a mechanic, and thatteh drive chose to hit the road after being apprised of the risk. Not sure what I'd heard is reliable, but AFAIK, the root cause and aggravating circumstances haven't been reported - if they have even been determined.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Oh yeah, checking in now and then. We aren't supposed to get much here in Dallas, and in fact Ft. Worth may not even get a drop of rain. Calling for maybe 30 mph winds max, so shouldn't be a problem.

[johnb838]

YEs, I believe this fire is a real problem. I heard them say the fire is creating a vortex, at least two buildings are burning, maybe three.

[Soul Seeker]

Shep--You fall on your face and look like a fool! LOL!!!!!