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Part VI: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1490045/posts |
Posted on 09/22/2005 5:44:09 PM PDT by 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
So you walked the stage 4 years before me. Did they change Houston Lee's name? My sister graduated from Houston Lee also.
I'm not lasting beyond the 1 am intermediate advisory tonight.
"Lemondropkid31,I have cricket's in the garage.Turn on the light-they love me-turn off the light-they fall asleep.You alone there(((Hugs)))"
LOL really? I know they tend to make noise when the lights are out. Is that a sign of love? :O)
There is going to be an enormous amount of glass exploding down on city streets. In a 2000-lb truck bomb in London in about 1993, 72 buildings were damaged and 500 tons of glass came down.
<<< When I was at Goodfellow>>>
Did someone just say Goodfellow??
Was that BEFORE or AFTER DLI???
AP et al
They'll probably sue, like the families of illegals who died in the California desert.
I don't recall hearing any strange noises that far ahead of a hurricane. But the humidity might increase until the air is all misty, especially when gale winds from the hurricane are moving in.
Not long ago, I bought an old 9 passenger 69 Caddy that was originally sold in SA. When last seen, being driven off by the new owner after I realized that I had nowhere to park a 30 foot car on a regular basis, it didn't have any problems.
Remember, in Texas, nothing ever rusts out, even crappy domestic POS.
The wide lanes and broad shoulders are for huge farm equipment.
I spent a night in Shamrock Texas last year. Driving my sister and her truck of stuff across the country.
I've let this subject slide all day.
You could pretty much hear the herd collectively thinking "I'll set the alarm 10 minutes early so I can beat the rush", Wednesday night when they went to bed to a CAT 5.
Roads clog up, people get where they're going, roads go empty, happens every storm.
You can almost set your landfall clock by the TV News imagery of full and empty freeways.
Hey there - younow see the best I have. Keep waiting for a GOES satellite update, but their latest pic is now 90 minutes old... was hoping to get an intermediate plot from that. :(
XM Traffic
http://www.xmradio.com/programming/neighborhood.jsp?hood=traffic
It runs a minute traffic breakdown, short ad, a minute weather breakdown, another short ad....and repeats. Updated when conditions warrant.
XM also has an Emergency Channel 247 for Breaking Events, and just added a Red Cross Channel 248.
I have a friend who still freaks out when I tell her Seattle traffic from my car in Los Angeles....I repeats every two minutes, so I can get an update before the local station in Seattle repeats their traffic report.
In Texas, can't y'all do that about any time anyway?
In more situations than in any other state, yeah.
I still chuckle when I recall a bit I heard on the radio news on day. A woman investigaing strange sounds went into her garage with a gun to find a man trying to steal her bicycle. The news played an audio clip of her describing what happened next: "He told me to go ahead and shoot him, so I did."
No charges were filed.
Technically speaking, you can even shoot people for spray-painting grafitti after dark (under the "criminal mischief" statute), but most folks consider that overreacting.
Depends on your definition of "Okay."
Someone will come collect her, especially if she figures out to call 311. Houston has buses and cabs circulating to pick up people like that.
Mabe that is what I am smelling? Because it really smells like rain.
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