Posted on 09/24/2005 9:58:36 AM PDT by Howlin
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:
Hurricane Rita Freeper CHECK IN THREAD
FReeper Sign In Thread (LOCKED) 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 VII
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
a bunch of rivers around here are going above flood stage tomorrow, Amite, Comite, etc. We will have flooding for sure but local.
Unfortunately not
Celina...a suburb of a suburb (Prosper) of a suburb (Frisco) of a suburb (Plano) of a suburb (Richardson) of Dallas. I might have missed one...
Celina...a suburb of a suburb (Prosper) of a suburb (Frisco) of a suburb (Plano) of a suburb (Richardson) of Dallas. I might have missed one...
I have a thing for dishes. I have to restrain myself. I discover neat older stonewear or something that isn't pop at the moment but I like it, and stock up on it. I have a set of blue willow dishes that I haven't taken out of the box cause it was a good expensive set and I'm afraid it will be broken. I have service for 12 in this brown transferware (a simple rose pattern) that I haven't used yet, but I mean to.
And i have more.
But we eat off the cheap walmart dishes, cause son has a tendency to break them...
RE: Blanco and no traffic jams in LA
Just attempting to rewrite history at every possible opportunity. IF you repeat the lie loudly enough and often enough - eventually it'll start to seem like the truth.
Well, I know if you're on the thread, flatware will come up! :-)
While we're talking about it, what IS the proper setting for hurricane recovery dinners?
Do you have a pic of it?
Coast Guard admiral just reported the same thing to Geraldo. Of course, Geraldo was so busy runnin' his mouth he missed the significance of it and let it slip by.
One can only hope they'll get it one day.
As long as the likes of jesse jacka$$, al sharpton, rangel, teddy kennedy and their ilk are around, I don't think they'll wise up.
I'm sorry, I'm just a big dumb guy, is flatware, like, dishes?
I think the top drawer plastic cutlery and paper plates, the nice thick ones. But you do have to have linen napkins.
The paper goods will give a festive, "we are just roughing it" atmosphere to your party but the linens say "even when roughing it, there are some depths to which we will not descend"
Candles are a requirement but if you really want to have a "wow, she is really a hurricane survivor" tone, oil lamps are better.
Simple, wholesome food will do and you laugh gently saying "I just rustled up the beef wellington before all the meat went bad". And seafood is always welcome after storms. If you have friends in from NY, hit up your neighborhood male cajun with flattery and he will give you some e'touffe and you can pretend you made it. I do that all the time.
I'm hoping to win the bid for some silverware tomorrow at the auction. I MUST HAVE it.
Ben, Ben, Ben
Are you married?
Thanks for your post about Gov. Blanco. In one of the earlier locked threads today, someone posted a really funny link to a page with quotes from "A Streetcar Named Desire" and yes, I certainly could imagine Gov. Blanco spouting some of these classic lines.
I'll repost the link because you'll get a good laugh:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044081/quotes
I think they mean eating utensils. I call it silverware, which is errant, but whatever.
I call it silver ware too. It's silver.
KALB Newschannel 5 in Alexandria reports that Rita is now officially downgraded to a Tropical Depression!
Streaming video now available at http://www.kalb.com/
Kinda on the north side...I have family roots in Denton, but more roots south of Ft. Worth in the Mansfield area, in Venus and Alvarado, not far from Cleburne, but also pretty small.
No, I need to do that one day...Pretty stuff.
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.
