Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part III

NHC - NOAA ^ | 21 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Extremely dangerous and large Category Five Hurricane Rita is churning westward across the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas. Air Force Reconnaissance indicated the central pressure has dropped to 904mb, making Rita the fifth most intense hurricane ever in the Atlantic Basin.

Hurricane and Tropical Storm Watches have been issued from Northern Mexico through the South Louisiana coastline. Galveston TX used school buses to evacuate residents. Mandatory and voluntary evacuations are in effect along the Texas coastline.

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
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Texas
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Louisiana

Images:

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: mms://beloint.wm.llnwd.net/beloint_khou
WWLTV NOLA

Additional Resources:

FReeper Sign In Thread 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
Coastal TX Evacuation Maps
KHOU Houston
KTRK ABC News Houston
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 II
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[Brad’s Gramma]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1488829/posts


Zac's Mom.....onyx is right, if they can maybe sleep somewhere for awhile...have you checked this thread out? Maybe someone on there, is along the way and they can rest for a bit.

[Zacs Mom]

Pretty scary outlook here for this weekend. Especially when you consider ~Dallas, Texas "One of the most flood-prone regions in North America"

[onyx]

Good advice and so's Tall Texan's.

ZM -- if you can call him on a cell phone -- TT has GOOD info to escape the heavy traffic.

[JustAnotherHolloway]

Katrina had a fetus. Guess what Rita has?

[Brad’s Gramma]

I'm going to head out for the night. Oh man, I PRAY they can get rest somewhere, somehow tonight...

You too. Try your hardest to sleep. Worry won't help them a bit.

God bless you all..!!

[KingKongCobra]

The world's largest parking lot in south Texas.

[Zacs Mom]

I know he is planning on going on 59 north to Lufkin - after they get that far they are planning to call and see what the traffic conditions are ~ I think he'd be willing to stay on 59 all the way to Tyler and back track to Dallas if there is less traffic that way!

[Howlin]

Have you been out drivign around?

[onyx]

I need to get some sleep.

Prayers for you and I hope you can sleep some too.

Nite all.

[Zacs Mom]

Thanks, Brad's Gramma ~ My head is throbbing right now. I think I will take a couple of asprin and lay back down for a bit. Two of my neighbors are here with me and they can field any calls that might come for a bit.

Goodnight and may God bless us all.

[Deetes]

MARK

[Tall_Texan]

I don't know if it *escapes* the heavy traffic but, if Dallas is the goal, they'll eventually need to jog westward to catch I-45 The further NE they go, the longer a drive they will make for themselves. The flip side is that the further away from Houston they meet up with I-45, the likelier the traffic will be tolerable. But I'm thinking 1/4 of Houston is probably heading towards the Dallas area so the conditions might never be ideal.

The one thing you don't want to do is run out of gas in an area you don't know very well. The more you stay on larger highways, the better your chance of finding an open gas station.

[Ichneumon]

Are you home or at your desired destination and safe now?

We'll be hitting the road either Thursday or early Friday to head to the nearest place we could find motel reservations which would allow us to bring our pets. It's in (drumroll...) New Mexico! So we've got a 700-mile drive ahead of us, with four people, four dogs, three cats, and three parrots. This should be... interesting.

As near as we can tell, pretty much every motel and hotel in the state of Texas out of the direct path of Rita is already booked up.

[freepersup]

chiming in...

898 milibars
173 mph

[Ichneumon]

But I'm thinking 1/4 of Houston is probably heading towards the Dallas area

Which is kind of futile, because it looks as if Rita is going to plow into Dallas after it leaves the coastal area...

[Sally'sConcerns]

Here's a link to a town in Ok with accomodations you can check on:

http://www.duncanok.org/html/accomodations.html

It's large enough to have a Holiday Inn as well as a couple of other hotels along with a SuperWalmart and the regional hospital. It's off the beaten path but Halliburton and Schlumberger have a presence here. It's 25 miles due east of Lawton, Ok.

I offer the info as a just in case and because I live 10 miles north so I know the area. It takes about 8 hours to get to from Houston. When we lived in Houston we wouldn't take the I-35 route but would go through Decatur, then to Bowie, take a right at 81 in Bowie and then a straight shot.

http://www.cityofduncan.com/

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-478703-duncan_ok_vacations-i

[onyx]

You're right...best to stay on the larger roads. I think you provided GOOD, USEFUL information. My prayers for all.

[KingKongCobra]

"Have you been out drivign around?"

Up late? I'm not wasting any gas until I decide whether to bug out. KPRC - TV is still live with reports and pictures from all over Houston.

At 2Am they started showing new computer model which are a bit optimistic. The high pressure system may move east faster than expected and Rita may swing east of Houston. (My fingers are crossed).

[dandelion]

Bless your heart, dear, and please be careful out there!

[onyx]

New Mexico. OMG! Be safe dear friend. My prayers are with you.