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
Lanterns on the Levee.
The good news is that this may, repeat may, have been a rather benign surge event, a slow rise rather than a tidal wave...the people in the flooded regions are escaping their houses per reports, which defacto means that they have houses left to escape from....fingers crossed.
Most of the lake over here have emergency spillways, if it gets too high the excess spills over that. Of course that option doesnt not allow them to control flow for those downstream..its sort of a last resort.
"LAKE LIVINGSTON. Lake Livingston is on the Trinity River six miles southwest of Livingston in Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity, and Walker counties (at 30°38' N, 95°01' W). Livingston Dam, owned by the City of Houston and the Trinity River Authority,qv is an earthfill dam with a concrete spillway and was designed by Brown and Root, Incorporated. The dam has a spillway crest elevation of ninety-nine feet above mean sea level. The reservoir has a normal capacity of 1,788,000 acre-feet, covers 82,600 acres, and drains an area of 16,616 square miles. Construction of the dam by Forrest and Cotton, Incorporated, began in 1966 and was completed in 1969. The reservoir is used for municipal, industrial, and irrigation purposes."
Earthfill dam..damn. I trust the completely cement ones more. Hopefully Rita wont stall upstream as predicted.
Apparently, that is true.
On CNN, yesterday, they were reading emails from people evacuated to Houston from NO, and 5 out of 6 emails, said they will never go back to LA.
I think many have found jobs in other States. New Orleans has no opportunities. Past or future.
Blanko is from near Lafayette. Or New Iberia. Her ties are all over Acadiena.
Nagin's base was not the poor blacks of NO. It was creoles and uptown white people. People don't know that.
not_apathetic_anymore wrote:
no kidding? I just google earthed those towns...that's almost the whole bottom of the LA boot.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y138/jeffers_mz/Rita/BigPicture.jpg
Thanks, that makes sense. I have been puzzling for a while over that.
The sun is out here. Wind is blowing but we keep getting bright sunshine!
I believe it. I was born in Texas, and we moved to NO when I was in 3rd grade because my Dad worked in the "Evil Oil Business". I never considered staying in LA. I left for Texas after HS and my parents left when Dad retired. FWIW - Tennessee is much like Texas, but I still miss Dallas a little.
So many, many times in the last month I've wished we could loan Jeb to y'all.
If you look where I live old maps have us about at sea level MHW. However I am nice and dry even during Charley. Why? General Development dredged and filled instead of a sea wall. The ground my house sits on is about 10 feet. My canal is 20 feet deep and leads to the Harbor which leads to the Gulf. Its great. That is how to rebuild NO.
I think it is completely unfair to NOLA people to let them think they can just go back and salvage or rebuild as it was. I can see a ton of finger pointing on this. It will be a mess.
Indeed. Lake Charles is 20-25 miles from the coast. Yikes.
Perhaps that's their motive, make everyone else look so bad, they move up the "most hated by Americans" ladder? :)
I wouldn't bank on many of them going back, either.
This is the return plan, so if you can ping FReepers to this post to make the return smoother. Thanks.
Steve McCraw, Homeland Security Director for Texas announced this plan to return to East Texas.
West of IH 45 & North of IH 10 – Return on Sunday (Tomball, Woodlands, Waller, Katy, Brookshire, etc.)
West of State Hi-way 35 & South of IH 10 and inside Loop 610 – Return on Monday (Richmond, Stafford, Rosenberg, Perryland, Sugarland, etc)
East of 45 & North of IH 10 – Return on Tuesday (including Liberty and Chamber counties.)
Victoria and Corpus Christi have no staggered plan.
Grrrrr. hehe.
The only people I hear about who want to go back are those who have businesses that they think will survive, those with a job and an unruined house, those who live uptown and students.
Even they are thinking twice. Some went back and saw their houses that had been sitting in water and the mold is growing up and onto the ceiling, the stench is terrible, all furniture and belongings ruined. They don't want to go back.
MD's and Lawyers are trying to get other practices. People who work for big companies with branches other places are transferring. There is talk that Tulane, which is now in Houston, will not come back!!
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