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

[Flyer]

there's no traffic at all

No gas=no traffic!

;-]

[rabair]

did anyone see on Fox and Friends a few minutes ago, the authorities pulling some guy out of the water who went body surfing? I guess they told him no, but he did it anyway.. a few minutes later he was dragged out in cuffs.. (I'm not 100% on the cuffs, but when I glanced at the TV over my shoulder he seemed to be cuffed.)

[NautiNurse]

LOL!

[L,TOWM]

Mrs. L,TOWM thinks I'm porn surfing because of your handle.

[james_f_hall]

Why aren't they calling DPS? The number is on the back of their drivers license.

[NautiNurse]

There are always yahoos surfing and gawking at high waves on the piers. Young fellow was warned last year in Florida, and he disappeared in a bad way shortly after ignoring the warning. Don't know if they ever recovered the body after the storm.

[AntiGuv]

Yes, that's when GFDL was last run. I believe it runs again at 8:00am EDT this morning.

[NautiNurse]

ROFL! I'm sending the invoice shortly.

[RGVTx]

Here's an online tide predictor program.

http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/index.html

[johnb838]

DPS is saying there is nothing they can do. All levels of government have been saying there's nothing they can do. This is a huge story here. This is our superdoom. They are trying to get fuel out there, but they can't fuel cars from the tankers because the nozzles wouldn't fit. They can't get drivers either. They have to get the people off the freeways before the storm. They had a lot more people try to get out than they intended to try to get out.

[Hatteras]

"Storms always go north and northwest when they hit land why don't the authorities send people south and west (except in Florida)?"

I was listening to Joe Bastard-i (weather lord) last night and he was hedging his bets on Rita coming in within 25 miles north or south of Galveston, reaching the northern suburbs of Houston and then turning around and heading southwest. I was hearing earlier that the prevailing high air mass would be moving off to the east by today allowing the storm to start a more northerly track. I'm curious as to what he sees in the national weather scope to come to this conclusion. By the way, the majority of the tracks have the storm pushing in the opposite direction toward the north and northeast once it makes landfall.

[Michael Goldsberry]

Here we go... Rita has entered the building...

Houston Doppler Radar

[Ditto]

Thanks all

[Flyer]

They are passing out 5 gallons to folks in the Conroe area. That will get them to Huntsville.

Hopefully there is gas in Huntsville.

[humblegunner]

Time to bring the laundry in I guess.

[Michael Goldsberry]

Fry up all the bacon first.

[johnb838]

I've been looking at the loop they show on all the stations and it looks like Louisiana, including NO is getting whacked by outer bands. Also, no one is saying anything about Louisiana, which implies something is up there. Anybody have any info about LA?

[CharacterCounts]

They are trying to get fuel out there, but they can't fuel cars from the tankers because the nozzles wouldn't fit.

Am I missing something? These people had a weeks notice of this and they didn't bother to fill the tank before leaving?

[NautiNurse]

Try the Long range radar. Also the loop, if you have broadband.

[Zacs Mom]

I hate all this b*tching about the "shortage of gasoline"!

I defy any city in the US to have ever citizen with a vehicle rush to fill up at the exact same time and still have plenty of gas 24 to 36 hours later.