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

[PAR35]

Odessa is about the driest place in Texas. My house is about 15 miles from sand dunes, literally.

Ever been to the Meteor Crater? It would be a more popular attraction if they had built it closer to the Interstate.

[bd476]

Thanks Karl. Here's a link for you. Pull up the image and look to the upper left corner of the screen. You'll see the curve of the earth. http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/g8/latest_g8ir.gif

[Centurion2000]

I just love Texas. I just wish you had at least one, tall cool mountain down there.Come to think of it, I'd make y'all a pretty good deal on Pikes Peak.

That's ok :) ... I think we used to own it.

[KingKongCobra]

"Well you are entitled to your opinion, that it is all going grand. But as I said, it is more of subjecting folks to a horrible day, and maybe losing a car, rather than loss of life."

Opinion huh? 3 Million people will get out of here with one bad day. Yeah, I'd say that's pretty darn cool. Don't kid yourself. There's no other place on earth that could do a better job of what we're doing.

[Brad’s Gramma]

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/float-vis-loop.html


I've had this open, most of the day, hitting the refresh button lower on the page. Watching it this long, this thing "seems" to be heading MORE towards LA than TX.

[silentknight]

Bastardi doesn't know what he is talking about. He sometimes will get the forecast right. EVERYONE should boycott Accu-Weather. Accu is trying to severely limit the flow of information that the public gets from the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service. They want YOU to pay for the information FROM them. Our tax dollars already pay for the stuff. Accu-Weather is a pathetic company. Cancel your subscriptions folks.

[Spktyr]

Well, in Texas the question has never been "what are you" but "what have you done and what can you do?"

Sam Houston would *never* have acheived what he did anywhere else.

[Torie]

It's more fun when the odds are about 85% that the eye will be to your east. I think that if I lived on the gulf, when a nasty hurricane entered the gulf, I would immediately take an unscheduled vacation. Maintaining some pied a terre someplace would seem to be a good idea. I don't like crowds, and I don't like traffic.

[texpat72]

I don't know.

[conservative in nyc]

Kemah's where the star is on this map. SW of downtown Houston along Galveston Bay. Across Clear Lake from Seabrook (where I think Jungle Jim Cantore originally camped out).

[Spktyr]

Yup, we sure did.

I want the rest of our state back! ;)

[de Buillion]

"Yes, that's right, you *can* legally walk down a Texas city street with a slung rifle that is loaded,"

Is the rifle/shotgun required to be slung?

[toldyou]

"First death among Rita evacuees stranded in traffic. It was the grandmother of a driver. No more details right now."
OMG! What would you do in a case like that? I just can't imagine."

"I saw this once in a movie (Vacation). I think you just wrap her up in a blanket and strap her down to the roof rack."


I didn't want to say that! But I did email both of my daughters telling them of incident because they always loved that "Vacation" movie and still laugh about that scene. They always kidded me about that when I'd be driving my elderly mother 400 miles from her home to mine to visit.

Thanks! You're funny. Gotta have a sense of humor in these times. I'm still going to wonder, though, what they really did.

[de Buillion]

"Yes, that's right, you *can* legally walk down a Texas city street with a slung rifle that is loaded,"

Is the rifle/shotgun required to be slung?

[publana]

We just have short cool mountains... our highest is 8750 feet.

You can keep Pike's btw. ;)

[Brad’s Gramma]

Thank you. I watched the wind kicking up and the waves starting to splash over the boardwalk.

[de Buillion]

"Yes, that's right, you *can* legally walk down a Texas city street with a slung rifle that is loaded,"

Is the rifle/shotgun required to be slung?

[Centurion2000]

I want the rest of our state back! ;)

You sure about that ? We'd get the flakes in Santa Fe, NM democrats and Boulder Colorado liberals.

It was worth the USA paying off our debt to export those folks to other states.

[eastforker]

That would be SE of downtown.

[D-fendr]

Got a real good friend of mine (Mr. Wacky) and his wife doing the fair there in Tyler. Whats the rain prognosis for up there so I can give him a heads up if things get dicey and he has to pull out had head home to NV.

As of 11 PM Thurs. Nite: Tell him to get out. If he can move fast, leave no later than noon Saturday - at the very very latest if he feels lucky. Forecast is sustained winds of 35mph, gusts of 70; buckets of rain. Rain and lightning perhaps tornados, power problems, etc. etc. If the predictions of a stall are right, this could last for days.

That's how it looks at this hour. If it were me and I were vacationing, I'd leave Friday heading West.

Of course things could change, Rita is wobbly right now. I would strongly advise either: He keeps a constant eye on the situation, or you do it for him and call. He and his wife should be prepared to bug-out quick.

Local tv with weather at: KLTV