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

[fjsva]

while all eyes are focused on Rita, Phillipe seems to be acting up a little.

The 5 day tracking chart has it heading back to the east coast. Read a article recently that a hurricane coming into the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area on a perpendicular track is the worst possible scenario for flooding.

[LA Woman3]

Do you have sirens there?


No, not here. We are close to Baton Rouge though.

[MamaB]

I wonder if anyone took statements so the policemen could be identified and tried. If anyone needs to get what they deserve it is bad cops.

[texianyankee]

I just got back from a short drive to our HEB in College Station.
3 out of the 4 gas stations I drove by are out of gas completely.
HEB still has gas - even had a tanker truck just delivering a load of gas as I was there.
HEB still has bottled water and the shelves are fairly depleted of non-perishables.
I noticed the beer was reduced in prices!

Albertson's was crowded, too.

There is a fairly constant "gentle" breeze from the east.
Just whisps of cloud bands high in the sky above.

[LA Woman3]

Thanks! Blennos is also in Prairieville....

[jslade]

Although you don't use dogs to hunt doves, a baited field works every time. LOL

[cgk]

Joe Bastardi's outlook from today:

WEEKEND FINGER FOODS.

1.) Typhoon recurve supports a cold shot down Plains, through the East, then out next week. A frost threat has to be addressed for the Plains through the Ohio Valley and interior Northeast next week with cool pool.

2.) Pattern pulse of development means more tropical menaces are in the cards with in-close development over the next two weeks as the ridge cranks again in back of amplification.

3.)Phillippe is doing a weird dance around Bermuda.

4.) Rita: NO CHANGES ON TRACK. LANDFALL NEAR GLS, THEN SLOW MOVE UP I-45 CORRIDOR. STORM TRAP SET AND BACKING SOUTHWESTWARD TOWARD MEXICO TO FOLLOW. ANOTHER POST LATER, BUT MAJOR DISASTER SCENARIO MAY COME TO PASS...EVEN BEYOND THE OBVIOUS OF 930-950 MB HURRICANE HIT.

Ciao for now.

[janetjanet998]

storm has turned more west the past 1 hour..will have to wait to see if it just temperary..also parts of galeveston island not protected by the seawall flooding already...one more point the forecaster that wrote the 11m advisory is often conservative, the storm looks stronger on SAT now then it did a few hours ago

[Strategerist]

while all eyes are focused on Rita, Phillipe seems to be acting up a little.
The 5 day tracking chart has it heading back to the east coast.

Umm, no it doesn't. It's forecast to dissapate in 24 hours.

[dirtboy]

they built a sea wall but is the seawall only on the gulf side....

But they also jacked up the existing buildings and pumped a bunch of sand in to raise the elevation of the island, so a bayside surge shouldn't be too bad for that section of the island.

The problem comes with the SW end of the island, after the seawall ends. When I was a kid, we went to west Gavleston and there were just shanties there. Now a bunch of idiots has built million-dollar homes - with no dunes and no significant elevation. The fetch at landfall from Rita will probably blow all the way down Trinity Bay and Galveston Bay and pile up right where the seawall ends - and right through those homes.

And if FEMA gives those idiots one dime to rebuild, I'll scream.

[lainie]

while all eyes are focused on Rita, Phillipe seems to be acting up a little. The 5 day tracking chart has it heading back to the east coast. Read a article recently that a hurricane coming into the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area on a perpendicular track is the worst possible scenario for flooding.

[blink]

[grey_whiskers]

I call them healthy since I am not married.

My wife now no longer lets me watch the Weather Channel :-(

Oh well, I can still FReep.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

Texas does NOT have municipality stickers for our vehicles.

Another good reason to move to TX!...if you'd take another yankee.

[oceanview]

FNC showing levees breaching in new orleans.

[Spktyr]

Katrina, Mark III, perhaps?

[milagro]

Don't think there's much a chance of that--the Police Chief and his sub-ordinates were in full denial mode. In fact, I truly fear for the "health" of those people interviewed, especially the hotel owner. So sad!

[No Truce With Kings]

"I too rode out Alicia in League City. It was actually rather exciting when the eye passed over us. We broke the rules (young and stupid) and went outside to get a bit of fresh air because being stuck inside a boarded up house without AC during a hurricane gets to be rather miserable. The worst of it for you guys that stayed will be the power outtages."

I think it was the right decision for me to leave League City for this storm. My feeling at this point is that with the current storm track, LC will get some wind and rain, and would have been survivable. However, the game is still in the 3rd quarter. If the storm shifts west, then I could have 10 feet of water in my living room. Not fun in a 1-story house.

The problem with power outages is that they often last a lot longer than the storms. During Alicia a metal shed flew away and wrapped itself around a local power substation. Shed got spot-welded to the breakers by the shorts. It took TWO WEEKS ((in a Houston August) to get power back. Ugh!

So that is a problem whether or not you evac.

[lainie]

TWC chops up its own coverage so badly with advertisements it's hardly worth watching today. All the same news can be obtained at CNN & Fox.

[Ichneumon]

New Awlins food (many good photos)

Aw, man... Now I'm hungry, and all the restaurants here are closed.

[jslade]

You can use also dogs for hunting pheasants, duck, chukar & grouse. Any bird, really.

Aha! Guess that's why they call them "bird dogs".