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
Me too!
The Baton Rouge radar "storm totals" make it look that under 2" of rain fell in New Orleans, but they are surrounded by '2-6"' areas - including onto the lake.
http://radar.weather.gov/radar/latest/DS.80stp/si.klix.shtml
I'm not quite sure of where this comes from though: when I hit "refresh" a while ago, expecting to see more orange and red on the map, some of the general color scheme seemingly went to lower totals. I had not saved the earlier one for comparison, so I'm not sure what's up with that...
Whatever, if N.O. area doesn't get smacked by significantly more rain, that will sure be a help.
Hopefully things will improve, but I am getting that pit of the stomach feeling that we may wake up tomorrow to another disaster after the disaster just as with Katrina.
Just got a note from friend in Bosier City. Was talking to him about 11 and we got cut off. They are back up now, communications and power.
LOL. Yes, maam.
london avenue canal also "seeping" now.. 6-8 inches in some nieghborhoods...source live report on MSNBC
>>> The Federal government did well. Brown, who despite his background did excellent last year with the several hurricanes that hit Florida and gained invaluable experience that could have been used here...he was used as a scapegoat and that was one thing I did not like.<<<
Exactly. Brown was a scapegoat. He was far more experienced than the media claimed. He became a FEMA employee in 2001, and worked for FEMA in several responsible positions prior to becoming director in January 2003. Since becoming director he organized the response to 165 federally declared disasters, including more than a dozen hurricanes and tropical storms. Another point: the hit piece on Brown by Time Magazine has been thoroughly discredited as yet another example of MSM Creative Journalism.
They can sustain immense collateral damage, suffer huge financial losses, donate voluminous sums of $$ to the stricken, freely send hundreds of truckloads of vital food, personal care and prescription items to the needy, consistently support our troops and contribute the help of their employees to volunteer by the hundreds in times of tragedy ... and yet watch: they will continue to be demonized just because they're successful.
It was impressive in a frightening way. You could *see* the cloud bands and the separation between them. The cloud formations were also really odd.
Weeeeeeee!
London Ave is in New Orleans???
After Hugo, South Carolina and Electric was asked the same question. Their answer - to expensive.
In some areas, I understand that it has been done in some places. Although lines in residential neighborhoods would be buried the large lines that carry the power from the plant to the stations to the customer would still be above ground and vunerable.
I am in Utah, but I have been in floods watching the clumps of fire ants float by...and I used to garden barefoot so I could wash the ants off my ankles with the hose. If I wore shoes and socks, they'd get under my socks and it hurt more.
Great photo! I bet seeing that rainbow made you feel comforted, didn't it? Almost like a sign that all will be ok.
yes..in new orleans
Check the Industrial Canal. It has (at least one) set of locks, and that canal communicates between the lake and the river.
The Bonnet Carre Spillway is opened by lifting creosoted timbers out of place. It isn't made up of "doors" the way a lock is. I doubt the Bonnet Carre' Spillway is open at all.
Split screen on Fox showed I-10 Columbus (?) Texas heavily crowded with traffic heading for Houston area.
Quite a breeze here in the DFW area, 20mph + in Arlington.
Thats as close As I ever want to get.
One of the gates is open? River's not high enough to need it!
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