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]

""It's all the people that left that are much further inland that evacuated that blew my mind. I have friends in Spring that are in Dallas."

Mine, too. And they are clogging up the roads keeping folks that HAVE to leave from getting to safety."

...

My Daughter (who is based at Fort Walton beach and now a seasoned veteran of Hurricanes) called yesterday morning and BEGGED us to leave our house - she was afraid our manufactured home can't take Hurricane I winds. She may be right, but we told her that we wouldn't leave for precisely the reason you suggested. We are far enough inland that we didn't want to take up resources that might be used by Texan coastal residents who need it most.

We will shelter in and do our best here. What the track takes inland remains to be seen - but we know for a fact that those on the coast are definitely in danger. They need to be given priority on the roads...

[steveegg]

Warning has expired.
My neighbor is outside weed eating his lawn.

That's a good way of keeping an eye on the sky. There's still a few warnings in the general area.

Stay safe and not airborne.

[dirtboy]

Don't look now, but Phillipe seems to have changed direction on us...

And notice that the NHC forecast track only goes out to 8pm today.

Which means they expect Phillipe to dissapate or become extratropical.

Phillipe may ruin vacation weather for a couple days in Bermuda, but that should be the limit of its effects.

[rwfromkansas]

Great news that this hurricane is amazingly still weakening. The outflow looks incredible, but obviously the dry air must be getting to it.

It probably will not regain any strength now at this point.

It will just continue to slowly weaken.......by landfall, 115 mph winds probably.

[johnb838]

I actually think White botched this thing good. There needed to be some emergency shelters in Houston and there were none because they said it wasn't safe. So people who didn't think their homes were secure, even though they weren't in the surge zone, took off. I'm not crazy about sheltering in place myself, alone in this little apartment, but they've given me no choice. I couldn't bring myself to join the debacle on the road.

Someone asked him about local shelters this morning and he simply refused to entertain the question.

[fjsva]

We would go south into North Caroline and then west to the family in the NC mountains. Would not even try to go through the tunnels. Also, leave early.

[LA Woman3]

Will this never end...?

One can hope!
My husband just got a phone call from the soccer league he coaches saying practice is canceled for tonight and there will be no game tomorrow. Ya think??

[Dog Gone]

I'm riding it out in the area of 290 and Barker Cypress and it made me a bit nervous that his entire neighborhood had evacuated. (Mine hasn't)

I walked around the streets in my subdivision last night. I'd say it's 80% evacuated. There are few people walking around this morning. Why, I'm not sure. I realize they're conserving gasoline, but nothing is open. Phone service is spotty. I guess it's just because it's a surreal scene. No cars on the road, no nuthin'.

Heck, I didn't even get my Houston Chronicle delivered today, and I'm willing to be a nickel that I won't get it delivered tomorrow morning, either! ;-)

[steveegg]

Bud can keep retooling for bottling water; Miller will take care of the beer :-)

[Wneighbor]

Ya'll just try to enjoy your grilled steaks and visit to Granny's house. You've been through enough and you've got lots of prayers from FR covering you. I pray you and all your family stay safe in every way.

[dirtboy]

Just how strong was Alicia?

Minimal Cat 3.

[milagro]

Well,as one of my bestest friends once told me, God doesn't like ugly! And the corruption throughout NO--including the looting cops--is definitely UGLY! And as much as the MSM tries to ignore it or cover it up, the residents of NO know it and many have not been shy in saying it. Even Nagin commented a few days after the hurricane that for the first time in years NO was free of crime and corruption.

I don't think he is corrupt--just incompetent. VERY SAD!!

[BureaucratusMaximus]

It does bear a rather suspicious resemblance to structural failure.

LMAO! I'll say.

[Lanza]

Just heard on ABC 13 a middle school was being looted the police caught them in the act.

Randalls has plans to reopen Sunday at 9:00am.

[Dog Gone]

Eye now circular and 28 nm wide

Wow. Keep heading for those rice fields, Rita. I'm willing to give up rice for awhile.

[SouthTexas]

If not, I'll take one of those Anheuser Busch debit cards and call it good!

Now WHAT would be emergency planning at it's best!

[Lanza]

Thanks. We really appreciate and NEED the prayers.

[Michael Goldsberry]

Winds have started to kick up noticeably, coming from the North. Trees swaying, etc.

No rain yet.

[No Truce With Kings]

" We will never put the kids through this ordeal again. "

Lanza, we evacuated from Zone 2 on Wednesday, also. My plan was to be on the road by noon Wednesday, as I wanted to be well away from Houston BEFORE the Zone 1 mandatory evacuation started.

We actually left from my in-laws place in League City at 10:30. Went west on 518 to 35, then took the Beltway to US290. Things were slow on the Beltway, but things were at hwy speeds on 290 until we got to a stoplight at Brenham -- which held everyone up an hour. It took us until 3:00 to reach Austin -- which is pretty good considering.

I feel for you. My recommendation is to leave sooner rather than later. Had you left at 10:00 am on Weds instead of 7:00 pm you probably would have reached Lufkin by 7:00 pm. It is a pain to leave early, but less of a pain than what you went through. And much less of a pain than suffering through a house flooding with a kid in a wheelchair.

I am not trying to be a told-you-so, just advising you as to what my experience was.

[dirtboy]

It will just continue to slowly weaken.......by landfall, 115 mph winds probably.

However, it will probably resemble Ivan's landfall in that it has already put a lot of water in motion as a Cat 5/Cat 4. So the surge will be more like a Cat 4 than a Cat 3 - just as Rita's surge was Cat 5 even though it weakened to a Cat 4 at landfall in Mississippi.

A good rule of thumb is that a hurricane that is intensifying at landfall has more wind and less surge than its strength would indicate (Hugo, Charley) - and a storm that is weakening at landfall will have more surge than anticipated (Ivan, Katrina).