Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VI

NHC - NOAA ^ | 23 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Dangerous Hurricane Rita is expected to make landfall in the northeast Gulf of Mexico within 24 hours. Tornados have spawned in Louisiana. Water is filling the Ninth Ward of New Orleans again. A bus carrying elderly evacuees was gutted by fire this morning outside Dallas, with multiple fatalities. Television crews have positioned their hurricane reporters throughout the region to attain maximum drama effects. Whoooooa.

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
Jefferson Co TX NWS Weather
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:

Lake Charles Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Lake Charles Experimental Radar Outages and Delays May Occur

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)

KHOU-TV/DT Houston
KPRC-TV/DT Houston
KTRK-TV/DT Houston
KTRH-AM Houston
KPLC-TV/DT Lake Charles/Lafayette
KSLA-TV/DT Shreveport

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
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 V
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

[freeperfromnj]

Geraldo emphasizing how well built and sturdy the infrastructure of the oil rigs is compared to the way the homes in that "poor" town are built on cinder blocks with no foundations.

[Sender]

What I infer from this is that despite upper level winds not increasing, lower level eyewall convection is increasing. As a result, entrainment below the eye-inversion is causing forced dynamic subsidence.

Okay mister book-learnin, so are you sayin this is gonna be a big ass storm? Cuz that's what it sounds like you're a sayin.

[RDTF]

Oh sheesh. I betcha he has a playstation and plays it when he goes to the john.

[floriduh voter]

Hurricane season is allegedly over on November 30th. I hope Rita's the end.

[Dan12180]

I am working on letting my middle son go. He is ready to enlist in the service. We have talked with him over the last couple of months and encouraged him to find a branch of service that matches his interests. He has decieded to go into the navy and is looking for an area that will use welding and pipe-fitting. We support this, it is just hard to let go.

[BurbankKarl]

Convoy of FEMA relief vehicles staging toward Astrodome...

[frankjr]

7 hours. Keeping fingers crossed.

[johnb838]

Astrodome is not a shelter now. It is full of ambulances, power and utility trucks, various response vehicles for initial stages of recovery. It's the main staging area for recovery. It's *organized*.

[Miss Marple]

I really wish you would knock it off. President Bush did NOT "take the blame." He took responsibility for anything that went wrong with the federal portion of the rescue effort. He did not take the blame for the incompetent governor and mayor.

Anyone who listened to his speech understands what he said. Furthermore, it is NOT too late to fight back, because Blanco and Landrieu have jumped the shark with their gimmee attitude over the last two days.

This is all I have to say about this subject, because I do not wish to derail the thread. I trust that you will also refrain from posting this comment of yours again, since I have seen it at least three times today.

[RDTF]

Postin with a smile

http://www.weatherserver.net/hurricanecenter/

[mtbopfuyn]

Nope, dial up at a whopping 21,600 bps. Yeehaw! Looks like I'll be getting updates here tonight.

[mware]

Damn fools, Geraldo and Shep conferred and dont think the water will get too deep/

They had the head of the hurricane center tell Shep it is going to flood. What arrogance.

[A Citizen Reporter]

No, orignally this was know as a "Ratherism". And we all know how well he's done.

[Dog Gone]

Houston is going to be fine. They not only pulled off the biggest evacuation in world history, but they've done so in a remarkable display of cooperation between local, state, and the federal government.

The current mayor of Houston deserves a great deal of credit. He's a Democrat hack, of course, but he's a competent Democrat hack, and he's not bickering with the county judge (equivalent to something like a county president) or Governor Perry.

It's way too early to see how they react to the damage, mostly because it hasn't happened yet, but I'm pretty impressed so far.

And it's been a long time since I've been impressed with any part of the government except the military.

[BurbankKarl]

Lights out in the San Luis Hotel...

[LucyJo]

I've been reading your posts to hubby. lol.

We had been thinking of going to a video store and renting a bunch of Eastwood, Bronson, and John Wayne westerns to watch for the weekend, if the weather doesn't cause the electricity to go off. He said he wanted to see a good movie where the bad guys get their a$$e$ kicked or killed, and good prevails over evil. We haven't seen a good movie in ages. Do they make them anymore?

[BurbankKarl]

Yee haw!

[Txsleuth]

I just got back to the thread....and wouldn't you know...a jokester!!! LOL

NO, he didn't but maybe he should have...

[SouthTexas]

ROFLMAO!

[RummyChick]

Sheesh, Geraldo telling the story of what a hotel owner said he could do in worst case scenario. Break into the hotel and go into the center. They guys are freaking hilarious. He keeps yammering about the possibility that his escape route being blocked. Just leave now if he is so concerned.