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

[AliVeritas]

Water pouring into NO, 9th ward. Water 30 ft wide over, levee breached... water for blocks, waist high.

http://www.weatherserver.net/ritavideotexas.htm

[bwteim]

Link to Nola logs

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/

[No Truce With Kings]

"9th ward NO...his phone connection was really bad and they finally cut it off"

Man. My heart is back in my chest again. I was afraid you were talking about League City, where my house is.

[mathluv]

Perry on Fox - buses running through Beaumont to pick up people for evacuating. Even evacuating people from the Lufkin area.

[AnAmericanMother]

Thanks!

[LizardQueen]

....hurricane porn...

ROFL....Thanks for the first chuckle I've had all day...

LQ

[TheMom]

My brother left his house Wednesday evening at 7:00, he arrived at his destination at 9:00 this morning. On a normal day, the trip takes him four hours.

[bonfire]

Must be the same cops that have conveniently disapeared.

[LA Woman3]

Thanks...
I'm listening to WWL (United Radio)...
It keeps breaking up though.

[LikeLight]

Tornado warning (not watch) box now up near New Orleans.

[lainie]

TWC said the New Orleans levee break is 45 or 50' wide. Also a bus accident near Dallas has killed up to 20 people.

[steveegg]

Tornado warning now issued for Ascension, St Charles, St James and St John the Baptist parishes in southeast Louisiana until 10:30 am CDT. At 9:57, radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado near Norco and Hahnville moving northwest at 55 mph.

[cajungirl]

It sounds so terrible. Imagine it. Did anyone run out of Oxygen during the 27 hours.

[bwteim]

179
wgus54 klix 231455
ffwlix
lac071-087-232045-

bulletin - eas activation requested
flash flood warning
national weather service new orleans la
952 am cdt fri sep 23 2005

the national weather service in new orleans has issued a

* flash flood warning for...
orleans parish in southeast louisiana
this includes the city of east new orleans and lower ninth ward
st. Bernard parish in southeast louisiana
this includes arabi and chalmette

* until 345 pm cdt

* at 948 am cdt...Several reliable sources are reporting an
overtopping of the levee on the industrial canal between claiborne
avenue and florida avenue. Those areas flooded during hurricane
katrina will flood once again with 3 to 8 feet of water...Mainly
in the lower ninth ward...Arabi and chalmette.

[RDTF]

[Dog Gone]

How's your wife, and, do you have a generator?

Wife's fine, thanks. Her gasoline wasn't siphoned in hospital parking lot last night. So she still has over a quarter tank left. I have over 3/4 of a tank, so we're in better shape than most.

No generator, so we're holding out hope that our part of town will retain power.

We're watching the storm track closely, as you can imagine, but if the eyewall comes ashore 60 miles or more east of us, I'm gonna have minimal damage I think. I hope.

Hey, I just remembered. If we lose power the garage door will remain locked. I gotta go unhook that from the electric opener and switch to manual. They woulda been a bad mistake!

[LikeLight]

Fox weather gal talking about Tornado watch being posted for large area, but we are talking about a specific Tornado WARNING near N.O. - just to make that clear.

[IndyTiger]

Water rising in ninth ward at rate of three inches per minute

[elfman2]

Rita’s almost down to a Cat 3 at 11:00AM and likely to make a direct hit on Sea Rim State Park. I worked there in-between junior and senior years in highschool 1979. I surfed during a Cat 1 directly were and when it was hitting there that summer (or tried to surf). This one will be 10 times as bad. It’ll be interesting to see if the buildings that I used to clean every day will survive

The pilings were driven into the ground 60 feet in anticipation of a big hurricane, but that may be all that’s left.

We had a tiny little beach house in the 60s in Gilchrest. One hurricane blew the roof off, but my dad found it and had it put back. I sold my mother’s lot in Tidelands 5 years ago. It was second row from the ocean. I should have saved it. It’ll probably be Ocean front after Rita.

[milagro]

Yeah--that's the same BS they were offering last night. Dontcha know they were just serving by "protecting" those Cads.

The hotel owner was actually chuckling about how full the bus loaded with the loot the cops who "stayed" in his hotel was, and how loaded their black and whites were.

It was definitely surreal to watch that report!