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

[Double Tap]

Weird. I'm getting gust of about 30 mph here in Spring.

[Miss Marple]

Ha! Shep's baseball cap just blew off.

[mware]

I think Jerry said he was going to bug out too.

[kassie]

What state are you in?

[RummyChick]

He keeps playing with his hair. oh my. No stylist to make him look pretty. He tried to put up his hood and then took it down.
He hair is thinning.

[LibertyRocks]

LAKE CHARLES - BOIL WATER ORDER
Mayor advising Lake Charles residents to boil tap water for drinking. They have lost ability to control water pressure.

[topher]

In near SW Houston my trees were getting enough wind to scoot me back indoors. I don't need no 800Lb limb on my head.

One of my many Aunts lives near SW Houston. She lives close to the Astrodome.

SW Houston is the South side of Houston to be on. SE Houston will get alot more of Rita than you.

In fact, you are a long ways from Liberty, TX, which will get alot more wind than you...

As for Sabine Lake and Sabine Pass, well... It might get a little tough there tonight...

[mtbopfuyn]

We're north of Austin. Cable went out before 8 pm but no brown outs or anything (not supposed to get much anyway). Don't know where the cable comes from so don't know if it's Rita related or not.

[Txsleuth]

Thank you...when I turned on Fox a few minutes ago, the writing under Hurricane Alert said that Rita was supposed to make landfall at daybreak...

but then, Greta says, "Rita is supposed to arrive in a couple of hours...."...so I just threw my hands up in disgust...

[Revel]

Just listening to KPLC TV. Some idiot was driving an 18 wheeler across a bridge on I 10 and got blown right over the edge. No one can get to whoever it was because of the storm.

[New Perspective]

Put a crown on it and somehow your Katrina Family Float pack reminds me of an evil Mardi Gras Float.

Ask and you shall receive.

[raygun]

Roger, copy that.

Your figures appear to show the storm isn't even a 1/3 as intense as I'm making it to be. You need to understand one thing, the eye-wall winds are going to be extremely high, and extremely tight in this storm.

I believe that we'll be able to discern afterwards a trail of carnage that is clearly distinct from the destruction surrounding it.

At this time I'm firmly convinced that a 15NM wide F1 (at least) tornado is going to set foot upon shore. I'm guessing this tornado should dissipate fairly quickly, but it still doesn't detract from the worst possible thunderstorm you can image continueing non-stop for several hours subsequently (including that what occurs for those in the outlier areas for just as long, and who had not that "wonderfull" (/sarcasm off) "pleasure" of experiencing the "tornado" I've alluding to.

Again, prayers thrown thrownward (in Jesus' name) in that regard.

[LucyJo]

Thanks. I'll put that on the list.

[kassie]

Oh that is strange. We just had a few brown outs. But all is calm right now.

[Sender]

Who you callin a lady? Talk to that eyewall inversion convection girl, honey. That's lady talk. I kin out spit and out shoot the lot of yall. Mm, mm mm, like yall got a big L on yo forehaid. Don't get me started now.

[Soul Seeker]

The midterm elections occur in just over 13 months and Republicans face the historic reality that the party controlling the White House typically loses seats in non-presidential years.

LOL!

[Spktyr]

I almost wish Rita would do something about Geraldo. :-P

[Michael Goldsberry]

Sporadic power failures here, but the UPSs handled that. One total network failure so far.

[Revel]

A guy in a boat calling in to Kplc tv. Is this guy on the 18 foot sailboat?