Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part V

NHC - NOAA ^ | 22 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Extremely dangerous Category Four Hurricane Rita continues to move toward landfall along the northwest Gulf of Mexico shoreline. Mandatory and voluntary evacuations continue across Texas and Louisiana coastal areas. Lake Charles LA is providing evacuations by bus for residents who have no transportation.

Traffic gridlock in the greater Houston area was compounded by gasoline stations without fuel, long lines at those stations still carrying fuel, and record breaking temperatures on the first day of autumn.

Offshore drilling platforms and rigs, as well as oil refineries, petrochemical and natural gas plants are in the path of the storm. Wave heights recorded by buoy have exceeded 38 feet. The refineries threatened by Hurricane Rita are on higher ground than those affected by flooding from Katrina. As a result, speculation abounds regarding future prices for winter heating fuel and gasoline.

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
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:

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)

KPRC-TV/DT Houston - KPRC-TV/DT Houston - http://mfile.akamai.com/12944/live/reflector:38616.asx
KPLC-TV Lake Charles KPLC Streaming
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
Beaumont TX evac Routes
Lake Charles/Southwest LA Evacuation Map
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 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

[Spktyr]

Trucks are working their way down the interstate shoulders and medians from the other end, fuelling and getting those people on their way and working their way into Houston. Quite smart.

[fishntex]

We can<> dream can't we?

[publana]

**Beats sleeping in the seat or in a bare truck bed, I suppose!**

and a nice mattress to throw on the floor at the relatives or friends with whom one is visiting in the event they don't have extra beds. Sounds like prepared people to me.

[Mr Cobol]

As bad as all this is we ain't seen nothing yet. The knee jerk and blowback will be awesome. There will be massive construction for evac routes out of all major cities. Think about Denver, you have a hard time even when it's not rush hr.

Hold on to your pocketbooks, it's going to get ugly and the MSM will drive it. This thing should be wakeup call for all of us. The MSM is not our friend.

[steveegg]

Speaking of that, the latest Vortex Data Message (via Weather Underground; NHC is S-L-O-W) - Winds up 2 knots to 125 knots (and found in the NW quadrant), pressure up 2 mb to 919 - eye fix at 10:24 pm CDT (last one was at 9:54 pm CDT) -

081 
URNT12 KNHC 230338
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE
A. 23/03:24:50Z
B. 26 deg 10 min N
  090 deg 19 min W
C. 700 mb 2406 m
D. NA  kt
E. NA  deg     nm
F. 311 deg 107 kt
G. 219 deg 018 nm
H.        919  mb
I.  11 C/ 3050 m
J.  17 C/ 3044 m
K.  15 C/ NA
L. CLOSED
M. C30
N. 12345/ 7
O. 0.02 / 1  nm
P. AF309 2018A RITA         OB 17
MAX FL WIND 125 KT NW QUAD 01:50:40 Z
INNER EYEWALL REMNANT VERY RAGGED

Other significant changes -

- Movement 7 minutes north, 12 minutes west (resuming a WNW movement)
- Single eye now, 30 nm wide
- Inner eyewall reminant very ragged (can't tell whether it's on the north end or south end)

[RedWhiteBlue]

I have to take 1488 into the woodlands from Montgomery. Am I going to be able to get there?

You don't HAVE to do anything, unless you are in emergency support, law enforcement, or orther critical services. Stay home.

[Shqipo]

....General Honore deserves a medal for that. Or a promotion to White House press secretary...

And for his first words to the WH press corps being "The President has picked Janice Rodgers Brown for nomination to the Supreme Court. Now, Any stupid racism questions from you all?"

[Spktyr]

Not that I disagree with you on the MSMSOS, but Texas seems to be doing just fine with what we have. Of course, if the rest of the country blew their highway money on things other than highways, how is that *our* problem?

We've had 105 years to think about this problem. The rest of the country should have had at least that long.

[tarheelswamprat]

my personal fav is "Mule Shoe"

Don't forget "Earth"!

[CindyDawg]

And we love highways, don't we? We even tear up perfectly good ones just to re-do them:')

[fishntex]

Ouch!

[conservative in nyc]

The Town of Montgomery? You can't get to 1488 via I-45. It's only running north from 1488 North.

Looking at a map, I'd suggest taking 149 to 1488. Or, if you want to get devious, 105 to 2854 to Egypt Community Road (in the town of Homea) to 1488. But I'm from New York and have never been to The Woodlands, so you should take this with a grain of salt.

[Txslady]

That makes it worth it! :o)

[samantha]

I saw more than I wanted of that BOR with Commie Pinko (best buddy of Cindy Sheehan) when I fell asleep watching greta for Hurricane coverage and woke up with that thang spewing his bile. BOR came so close to hitting him it scared me. I tried to zap it to another channel but the dog was lying on the remote and gave me a hard time when I was retrieving it. I never want to wake up to that face on my TV again. You know the Dems are really going down hill when they bring out these losers.

[steveegg]

The models are close enough for that to be a possibility, but I'll take just west of Port Arthur at this point.

[Lemondropkid31]

I am in security. I HAVE to be at work!!!

[Spktyr]

Well, yes, but we also build the biggest and best "back roads" and "two-lanes" in the world.

Texas two-lanes are so big that they're four-lanes in other states.

[flowergirl]

pronounced e-rath..I think..one of favorites is Uncertain!
I'm pretty sure it's one of my favorites:) Also Gruene cracks me up cause it's pronounced green...

[RummyChick]

cooper staying in Galveston at the San Luis hotel . Goverment/Mayor is moving there. Built on two WWII bunkers.

I was impressed with whatever hospital they showed on CNN. Fuel, huge generators, a huge door that acts to hold water out. I don't remember the name of it but much better than NO.

I hope the building with those deadly virus' have some kind of flood door.

[samantha]

The rain will be horizontal, and look like a big misty fog.