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

[HoHoeHeaux]

This is one evil looking eye.

http://www.easternuswx.com/bb/index.php?showtopic=54089

[BossLady]

That's what I'm on.....its awesome!

[randita]

Landrieu almost lost her last election. Without a last minute push by movers and shakers in the DNC, notably Donna Brazile, in getting the NO vote out, Landrieu would now be an ex-Senator.

Without NO, LA will go totally and reliably into the Red State column. Mary is begging for her political future. Republicans in the Senate and House should refuse to bankroll her Senatorial war chest.

[RoseofTexas]

Any lightening around pretty boy's area? I wouldn't hold on to a steal pole if I were him...:)

[Txsleuth]

Oh, don't get me started on those pesky snipes...I hate em!

[topher]

The storm seems to be slipping east, so Port Arthur and Beaumont might be a bit to the "calm" west side. There go the TV ratings. We MAYBE are getting really lucky with this storm. There are 21 oil refineries in Port Arthur, or so I read. Lake Charles might be the worst hit in damage. It has a lot of refineries too, apparently, but not like Port Arthur.

The ones in Lake Charles are considerably farther from the Gulf than the ones in Port Arthur. But from Galveston to Lake Charles, there are quite a few refineries.

This storm heading East of Port Arthur might make things easier on motorists next week -- all over the US.

Might want to say a few prayers...

[markedmannerf]

Just wanted to let you all know Im praying hard for you all! May God bless you and protect you!

[MamaTexan]

Maybe if we wait a bit Rita will airlift him out of here.

LOL!

We can only hope!!

[sheikdetailfeather]

Entergy saying Beaumont is slowly losing power. (Fox)

[Mo1]

hmmmm ... looks like Shep's hair is thinning too

[Double Tap]

Good.

I'm not the only one to be shooting at looters while drunk.

[steveegg]

A bit late to include in the raft of links above (I just noticed this), but the Lake Charles NWS office has a blog up. Among other items:

9:20 PM - Just got off the conference call with the National Hurricane Center. No major changes to come with this forecast package, other than reducing the intensity to 105 knots/120 mph.

9:15 PM - We have achieved hurricane status...64 knot/74 mph wind gust at 9:07!

9:10 PM - With the power out at the airport, the automated observing unit on the runway complex (the unit which supplies the official hourly weather for Lake Charles) has only about 30 more minutes of functionality before the backup batteries run out.

[RDTF]

I actually like Shep

[RummyChick]

SOmeone should be recording this and making some files of it. It will provide great comic relief in the future.
Shep about to go down again. The guy he is interviewing was going to help if he fell.

[Dog Gone]

I may not be on much longer. Winds have really picked up. Power is already out to 100,000 in Houston, and the power company doesn't plan to do anything about it for the next 15 hours or so.

I took a brief look around the neighborhood a few minutes ago, and trees are already touching the transmission lines during gusts.

And it's not really all that bad around here yet. If this is happening now, when the worst of it hits us in a few hours, it's hard to imagine that I'll still be able to post.

I don't feel like I'm in danger, but I do feel like I'm going to lose power. Crossing my fingers, though. The storm track keeps looking better for me.

[Miss Marple]

Gingrich has been busy trashing Bush and making nice with Hillary.

[daybreakcoming]

Wherebouts was that bridge on I-10?

And thanks for that ping. Know you are busy but appreciate it.

[newzjunkey]

Bad link for anyone who isn't logged into that website.

[jacquej]

I am so upset for all down south that I am going to the kitchen to bake bread.

Why it soothes me, I have no clue, for I "shure" don't need the calories...

[mtbopfuyn]

HAhahaha! Shep is so gonna bite the pavement again.