A question, for anyone in Austin or who knows about what this storm may bring.
My sister is flying down from New Jersey tomorrow to attend the City Limits (?) Music Festival in Austin on Saturday. It's an outdoor festival. She has a hotel and isn't scheduled to fly back to New Jersey until Monday.
What could a hurricane do to Austin, which is 200 miles inland? Is it scheduled to pour rain on the city? That, at least, would shut the festival down and take away the only reason to go.
On the other hand, I could see the festival waiting until the last minute to cancel so ticketholders don't get pissed.
If it were me, I'd cancel, but it's her, and she's already spent the money. If being in Austin for Rita is the equivalent of being in, I don't know, Little Rock or Memphis for Katrina, is their cause for panic?
Austin will get alot of rain. It should be in the Northwest quadrant which is good, but it will not be a great day to be outdoors. There will be heavy thunderstorms, and gusty winds in Austin. It should be relatively safe, but not ideal for this outdoor event.
I think your sister will be fine, but I won't be surprised if ACL cancels at least some of the shows. I also won't be surprised if some shows still happen. If not outside, then inside other clubs.
I think she should still come. It might rain, but Austin's a great town regardless, and I bet she'd still have a good time.
Rita could mess up the weekend pretty good in Austin. Could even cause some major downpours and tornados. But I have a feeling that one way or another the show will go on.
Rain, wind (40-70mph), some power outages, some flooding, and a good chance of bad flash flooding (much of Austin is hilly.)
p.s. I lived there for 10 years, I know the mindset.
There will be no outdoor music festival. If Rita is a Cat 4 at landfall, winds will hit Austin at 100 mph. Your sister will stay in a hotel all weekend, and may not be able to get out on Monday.
Surely the tickets will be refunded, and the hotel can be cancelled so that evacuees from the coast can use the room.
Not cause for panic. An umbrella and a poncho will be required. It will get "a little damp" as we say in Texas. And there will be "a stiff breeze" in Austin.
I have tickets to that festival also. I haven't heard anything about cancelling it yet. But I expect some word on that tonight. I was hoping Friday's start would go on and maybe Saturday too. But Sunday looks iffy.
Maybe more like being in Jackson Mississippi. Austin and Jackson are both about 150 miles from the coast. Katrina was a CAT 1 when the eye went over (or very close to) Jackson, MS. Most of Jackson lost power for several days. No power, no festival. Being in a hotel with no power in a strange city would suck IMHO. This shows the power of Katrina (and maybe Rita). Usually these storms are not still a Hurricane when they get that far inland. OTOH, if the storm misses Austin, or is weak by the time it gets there you may be okay. Kind of a crap shoot I guess.
Memphis (where I live) is 400 miles north of New Orleans, and 70,000 homes lost power here, although not for more than a couple of days. Part of that is because we have so many giant oak trees. When they fall they knock lines down and it takes a while to cut them up and re-string the lines. I doubt Austin has the same tree issues we have.
I would cancel and stay away, but that's just me.