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

[dandelion]

YAY! We're gonna have a 768,942 post thread! Take THAT, Hobbit Hole!

[Cboldt]

The Army Corps of Engineers not characterizing this as a breach, however, since that means a there's a hole in the wall and structural failure.

The water is higher than the top of the breach. "The hole" is everything above the levee.

A breach is when the levee gets shorter. So far, there has been no report of the Industrial Canal levee getting shorter due to Rita. It did get shorter due to Katrina.

[texianyankee]

How ironic! Another school bus caught in NOLA!

[texasx]

Hi Aggie Mama. My children live in NW Houston as well and are hunkered down in their apartments. Their cell phones are out and they don't have computers. Can you freep mail me keep me updated on the conditions there as long as you have power ?

[dirtboy]

And yet another bus in the picture? :(

The irony never stops in NOLA, does it?

They managed to park the one remaining functioning school bus right where the levee breached.

[milagro]

Is that school bus in that pic photo-shopped, or is it for real? If so--it's actually kind of funny (OK--my sense of humor is sometimes warped!)

[Lanza]

I have just endured a nightmare going through this evacuation for my area (C). We thought we were smart leaving early, before it was mandatory, which started the next day at 6am. We left town Wednesday at 7 to go to my sister's in east Tx. She's 2 hours from Lufkin. 24 hours later with 2 kids (1 in a wheelchair with Muscular Dystrophy), we still had not made it to Lufkin. People ran out of gas everywhere. Cars broken down. We turned around off of 59 and came back last night after the news was it is headed to Beaumont. We were home in 1 1/2 hours. Going to my mother's in Pasadena this evening to ride it out. My mom and sister had headed out and got to Kingwood yesterday, and came back after hearing it was headed to Beaumont.

Our original plan on Monday was to stay in Houston at a nice hotel to ride it out, but I couldn't get a room. We will never put the kids through this ordeal again. My daughter was so uncomfortable in her chair, and at times laid in the back seat, and that is dangerous because she couldn't be buckled in.

Let me just say, I have the best kids on the planet. My 11 year old never whined, and would just say "are you okay mom?" like after someone rearended my camry around 3 am Thursday. A woman from LaMarque fell asleep driving. I felt so bad for her, because she had been driving on 146 since 3pm the afternoon before. I couldn't see damage on the car that evening, but the next day I did.

My husband was driving the van for the most part always ahead of me, but cell phones were not working to call each other most of the time.

I haven't read anything on FR in the last 2 days, so I hope everyone else is doing well. Sorry to sound whinny. I went 36 hours without sleep, so I may not be making much sense. I was in a coma last night, when I hit my bed.

We have a ton of supplies we are taking to Granny's. She's on much higher ground than we are here.

We took the evacuation route of 146 to 59. Starting Wednesday at 7pm, we were only in Dayton Tx by 7 am the next morning.

Did I mention our poodle was a jewel too in her kennel? I saw more pit bulls in the back of trucks not restrained. Lots of people just riding in the backs of trucks. So many people breaking down and no gas.

Take care all of you Beaumont freepers. My good friends in Lake Charles I can't even get a hold of. She called me 2 days ago saying they were watching the storm, but were concerned about us.

[syriacus]

Why aren't levees built more like dams?

[nomorelurker]

Is that a school bus in the water? Is that all they do with school buses in NO let them sit in water?

[dandelion]

Prayers for your kiddos, texasx. We can hope that telephone of landlines will last for a while so you can update them on conditions...

[ncpatriot]

Stay safe, Dog Gone. I'll be thinking of you and wife for next several days.

[aBootes]

"Where were the real men...

Yeah, I've thought about that one, too. Saw lots of women, children, and old people, all looking pretty near tuckered out, but very few men. It is a point I've returned to often.

[Orlando]

I am praying hard too that Rita gets weaker and weaker down to Cat-2 levels. Maybe if we as a nation pray more to God we can reduce Rita power, before landfall.

[dixie sass]

Be safe Hummmmbeeeee. Have you heard anything from Bigun or Petroni?

[milagro]

Goodness--God bless you and keep you and your wonderful family--including the furries--safe in His mighty arms!

[cgk]

Keep reading... I found an update on Fox's site... they found 3 breaks :(

[dirtboy]

Gawd, what an ordeal.

We will never put the kids through this ordeal again.

That's the biggest problem by far with this evacuation fiasco - when the next storm comes towards Houston, a lot of folks won't evacuate because of what they went through over the last two days. TxDOT needs to get its ass in gear and work out the contra-flow problems.

[steveegg]

Multiple tornado warnings now for southeast Louisiana -

- Ascension, Iberville and St James Parishes until 11 am CDT
- St Charles, St James and St John the Baptist Parhishes until 11:15 am CDT
- Assumption, Lafourche and St James (for a second cell) Parishes until 11:15 am CDT

[SouthTexas]

I've only got 3 1/2 cases of beer.

Isn't beer on FEMA's "immediate necessity" list for Texas?

[Deguello]

"rinse out our milk jugs really good and store them"

Don't get to a point where you might be like my Grandmother. When we cleaned her house out, we found over a hundred 1 gallon Gandy's buckets.