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

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I heard there was flooding in New Iberia this morning. But that was from 8:30.

[The Mayor]

Everybody OK? any reports of damage on your property yet?

[jeffers]

No but Lufkin and Nacodoches, NW of Polk, are in a bad way, significant structural damage.

[AFPhys]

I think you're being a bit premature. If I can read the weather charts at all correctly, nearly all of western LA has just been HAMMERED by Rita, much as Katrina totally hammered MS and AL (but the OldMedia didn't cover).

TX, especially coastal TX, seems fine, but just you wait until you hear the stories out of LA before getting too optimistic about this.

[CedarDave]

Thanks!

[jeffers]

Agreed.

Tell the TP.

They reported it, along with one other anecdotal account.

[txdoda]

I am in Breaux Bridge.

Love it !!!........"Crawfish Capital of the World" !!

Glad to see your neck of the woods made it without much damage

[SE Mom]

exactly- remember after Katrina..we kept wondering about some of the parishes no one heard a word from..

[laz]

So far, all major damage reported has been east of a line from Beaumont to Lufkin.

I imagine this would be consistent with the western side of the eyewall. How wide was the eye at landfall? 30 miles? That would put the eastern edge around Lake Charles.

The damage swath should be like a path carved by a 30 mile-wide F2 tornado coming ashore between Beaumont and Lake Charles.

[lonestar]

Everybody OK but no watr or electricity. I talked to our mayor and he can't get out of his neighborhood. His pine tree is in the street and he said he counted thirty down from his front yard. He's upset because they need a generate for water. They bought one Wed. ($29,000) and it went out.

[SouthTexas]

LOL, well you can relax now, wife has. Told her a while ago that there was an empty milk jug and an ice tray on the cabinet. She said "there is no more room". Think we have enough water and ice to last through the end of the year.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

They're pushing an agenda. They've been saying this is why the lower ninth has flooded since the day of Katrina. One of the urban legends, like the blowing up the levees.



If they rebuild, they just ought to let that hole in the ground become a marsh.

[ReyDM]

Joe Bastardi also said this storm would hit Houston head on - he still clung to that as late as last night - everyone else had already changed their forecast to Port Arthur. Accu-Wx sucks.

Bastardi couldn't find his own butt with both hands and a flashlight. I agree 100% w/ your assessment of Wack-u-wx.

[AFPhys]

LOL... yeah - if we could swing it, I'd be happy to give you first dibs, even though I've been on the 'net since 1991 (I used to post oodles on "Aviation Digest" and similar "gopher" forums) - somehow I think we're going to be outvoted by all the newbies, though... blasted capitalism/democracy...

[RoseofTexas]

YAHOOOOO...W landing in Austin!! GOD BLESS YOU MR. PRESIDENT!!

[Sunnyflorida]

Knit, I'm with you if that River is allow to backflow into the Industrial Canal that would be a mess. I'm trying to get elevations of the non-River levees. From what I've seen on the news and my recollection of New Orleans the River levees are much higher.

[janetjanet998]

you are correct..FR will be hours ahead of the old media as far as damage reports right now all the big three cable news networks are showing the shots from the air of galveston...they didn;t even have 70 MPH as far as I know, big deal might as well cover a thunderstorm in the midwest..WHAT is going on in southern LA and NO is the key

[pollyg107]

not nearly the doomsday scenario the media was so clearly salivating over the prospect of

I'm so very thankful for that. My prayers and condolences to all who are affected by the storm -- especially those who can't read this because their power is off.

[Spktyr]

Dallas report: Winds kicking up here, hitting about 10-15mph in gusts. Mostly out of the North to East sector but getting some other random directions at ground level.

[BlessedByLiberty]

I saw that and wanted to shout "Bravo!"

Perhaps General Honore's admonition to the MSM stiffened the spines of other federal officials.

The press sounded like two year olds whining about who took the blankie last. Pitiful!