Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VIII

www.freerepublic.com | September 24, 2005

[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

[Torie]

A very handsome picture. Well composed.

[RDTF]

501 WGUS54 KMEG 252342 FFWMEG MSC057-095-260145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 642 PM CDT SUN SEP
25 2005
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... ITAWAMBA COUNTY IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI MONROE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI * UNTIL 845 PM CDT * AT 641 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAIN CONTINUING TO MOVE THROUGH THE WARNED AREA. AROUND 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL HAS FALLEN SINCE LATE AFTERNOON. * LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO TREMONT... SMITHVILLE...SANDY SPRINGS...PRAIRIE...NEW WREN...NEW SALEM... MANTACHIE...FULTON...FAIRVIEW...EVERGREEN...AMORY AND ABERDEEN

[SE Mom]

Just starting to watch FOX now..TONS of southern LA is UNDER water...sheeesh..this is awful..they're thinking they might have 800-900 people still needing evac...

[humblegunner]

Humblegunner still doesn't have power

He does now.

[RDTF]

It's a replay! Same crap new storm. Sheesh!

[Ellesu]

Did you see this crop? "Get outta my face"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9438988/

[SE Mom]

I've been outta the loop most of today. Apparently there's water 15 MILES inland from the Gulf. I think I heard there were 115mph winds in the area of Lake Livingston- that's way over 50 miles in.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Thanks for your report. Good to hear your good report also. Hope you continue to stay safe.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Yes, I heard the same thing. And tornadoes continue to be spawned by the remnants of Rita - something none of the MSM's are reporting (that I have heard). Just read about them here.

What homes (towns?) are going to be flooded when they open these floodgates of this dam and when are they doing the opening - anybody know?

[RDTF]

Me too - I was at the rally in DC. I pray this doesn't get any worse!

[RDTF]

039 WFUS54 KJAN 260018 TORJAN MSC023-260115- /O.NEW.KJAN.TO.W.0326.050926T0018Z-050926T0115Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 718 PM CDT SUN SEP 25 2005
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHERN CLARKE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI * UNTIL 815 PM CDT * AT 718 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF STONEWALL...OR ABOUT 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF QUITMAN... MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. * THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... STONEWALL BY 725 PM CDT

[RDTF]

Re: Tornado warnings: Here is a great link I found

http://kamala.cod.edu/svr/

[Ellesu]

Don't forget The Dead Pelican Radio show tonight before Drudge. 8 pm central.

http://www.wjbo.com

streaming audio.

[Sunnyflorida]

FNC had wind moving rip-rap at Lake Livingston. Is that possible?

They also continue to go bananas over flooding in the ninth ward. They are grilling the Corps.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

That is a great link for tornado information - good grief! So many!

[RDTF]

I know! I posted a little bit back in this thread, hoping others in those areas would see it. My mom is in Memphis so I am trying to keep an eye out.

[shield]

Take a look at this, posted else where by a real weather guy...Joe Bastardi blew another forecast...moral of this story take Joe as a grain of salt.

RITA made landfall barely a Cat 3 111mph.

The Hurricane Research Division has detailed graphics on Rita's wind speeds at various times along its path. They generally put together a chart that shows the path of various winds in mph and knots. That chart's not there now, but they do have a graphic that shows wind speed contours for the time of landfall. Note that the max winds at landfall were analyzed as 96 kts - 111 mph, making Rita just barely a Cat 3 at landfall (and weakening).

Here's the Rita Page:
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Storm_pages/rita2005/wind.html

Here's the map for 2:30am Saturday, at landfall:
ftp://ftp.aoml.noaa.gov/pub/hrd/hwind/2005/al18.2005/0924/0730/col04deg.png

Here's a map for 3 hours after landfall: ftp://ftp.aoml.noaa.gov/pub/hrd/hwind/2005/al18.2005/0924/1030/col04deg.png

Those maps are in knots. To convert to mph, multiply by 1.152. Basically, 35 kts = 39 mph = TS force. 35 kt winds just BARELY brushed eastern Harris County. So most of Houston didn't even see tropical storm force sustained 1-minute wind speeds. We did see gusts of 40-55 mph, though. Even Beaumont may not have seen sustained hurricane force winds. The western side of Rita was weakening quickly at landfall. I did see a 62 kt (72 mph) wind at Beaumont airport as Rita passed, pretty close to hurricane force.

[SE Mom]

As I said- been out of the loop today- but tuned in to Fox to hear how absolutely incredible it is in southern LA..from Cameron all the way up to Lake Livingston.

Interview with a woman who's house is about to get flooded from the draining of Lake Livingston- they have to let the floodgates loose as there was some serious damage to the dam there..not sure how far downstream that will go.

At the moment FOX is doing blah-blah news...at 9 (eastern) they'll have -sigh- Geraldo doing it all for 2 hours.

[pollyg107]

Please let me know what you hear about L'Auberge du Lac. I have a good friend who works there.

[RDTF]

Thanks - maybe now I can take some time to review your info and views on this. Too busy worrying about the hurricane before.