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
Trinity River is flooding, below the Lake Livingston Dam. Immediately evacuate!
Video of Port Arthur and Beaumont on Fox News now
Wow, brand new and it's out. What a shame.
live shot on fox showed huge sandbags being droped by helicopter onto a levee..which one i have no clue they cut away
Oh no Mr.Bill, it's the DRAMA QUEEN!!!
This may be the reality...
Shep is on. He has on a khaki hat this afternoon.
LOL!
I have a long article from The New Yorker about the Mississippi and the Atchafalya, and how long the Corp has been trying to reroute it. Let me know if you want me to email it to you. You have to subscribe to New Yorker so I can't post the link. It is an excellent summary of what they are trying to do.
Heck, last night he said Rita was going to be the WORST storm EVER.
FUDGE! I missed the president unloading from the plane because of that idiot SHEP the drama queen....DAMN!!! DAMN!!
Laf. area - trees down, some w/out elec., no real damage
New Iberia - flooding is the major problem, some houses w/out roofs, lots of trees down
everything south of that is major flooding 6+ feet of water in houses, people on rooftops waiting to be picked up, and that is the places that they can get to!
Not sure if this graphic has heights or not. Try it and see. I have one that does but there are a lot of levees and they're all different heigths. it's too big to post too. and I don't have a direct link.
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf?/washingaway/goingunder.html
There's another possibility too. If just one of the locks' gates are open, then it wouldn't change the wording of the article necessarily, and they would be worrying about it, but there wouldn't be a flood from that cause yet.
Not sure it matters.
The London Canal breach repair has been undermined by percolation and is leaking. Per janetjanet998 here, 6 to 8 inches of water in some neighborhoods of downtown NO.
Another report has sand boils uder downtown levees.
Not trying to be alarmist, but fixing a breach under pressure is a very difficult proposition in any weather.
No panic, no hysteria, but NO stands a good chance of flooding again.
Thank you for the information. It is very, very interesting.
And thanks to all of you providing information on the flood situation in New Orleans and environs.
The live images of Lake Charles with water still seemingly everywhere are a bit troubling.
A good friend of mine and former Freeper calls them "the Hive". Pretty much conveys the same idea.
Thank you so much for the info on Breaux Bridge. I feel much better now.
New Iberia is 23 feet ASL on the south side, 16 feet ASL on the north.
Right now, anecdotal reports have flooding from Lake Charles to New Iberia to just south of Houma.
I doubt that's rain water, which means it came ashore with velocity.
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