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

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Contraflow is not a time "when". When the first response is in place, and when the resources are deployed, then contraflow happens in Texas. Other states have very different conditions.

[Unknown Freeper]

Friday mid-day thread

[hummingbird]

LOL...does Michigan ever have hurricanes?! I always think of snowstorms upnorth but not hurricanes.

[Diddle E. Squat]

If you live in the storm surge danger area, YOU CAN STILL EVACUATE. Very little traffic on the roads, check for yourself on the traffic cameras:

http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/cameras/camtext.aspx

And the traffic speed maps:

http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/layers/

The northernmost camera on I-45 is very close to the choke point where the freeway narrows from 4 lanes northbound to 2. So while there may be backups further north, it is nothing like yesterday (8 lanes stop and go at 2am this morning) and you will be able to stay ahead of the storm. I-45 is open now past the bus accident site, which is just south of Dallas. If you are unsure of your safety in a storm surge, LEAVE! Storm surge is the big killer.

Here are storm surge maps to doublecheck:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hgx/tropical/evac_map/gifs/

[Wneighbor]

After XV Katrina threads, it's a tough habit to break...

Yes ma'am, and you do such a wonderful job, although I only lurked on the other ones - you know the ones that WEREN'T possibly going to run through my back yard!

[IndyTiger]

More specifically, Bush is going to San Antonio...his words "assist state and local people, won't get in the way of operations, will observe relationship between state and federal assets"

[rintense]

The remnants come up here from time to time. Oh geez, did anyone hear the jackass ask the President what the point of him being there is, and that its over compensation for him doing nothing in NO????? What an a$$hole.

[milagro]

Need to watch out for those tropical depressions that form over Lake Superior. Rains ICE!

[libsl]

I'm in the northeast Texas area and my mother expects me to drive her to DFW airport Sunday for a 5 AM flight to Tampa. Any ideas what the weather is going to be like? I've tried to talk her into leaving on Saturday but she wants to leave on Sunday. She has business in Tampa on Monday, it's not a pleasure trip she can reschedule.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Exactly...While Rita was a Cat5, she managed to pile up a lot of water, and some of it is putting the strain on the levees in NO...but it's not the main storm surge...that's probably going to hit between Beaumont and Vermillion Bay...

[sheikdetailfeather]

An idiot reporter just asked President Bush if plans to get in the way in Texas! STUCK ON STUPID AGAIN!!! President Bush said he will make sure he and his staff do not get in the way!!!

[Iwo Jima]

Well, for one, I'm here. With my family. And every family on our street but one.

[queenkathy]

I'm going to pay online bills while I still can. I'll check in later.

While your at it---can you take a minute and pay mine too..>? LOL

[uncitizen]

Some jerk0ff reporter just asked President Bush if there wasn't a chance that he and his entourage will get in the way when they visit the Houston area today?

So if he comes a day late, they say "why were you late when we needed you so bad".

And if he comes early, they say "won't you be getting in the way".

F'ers!

[Types_with_Fist]

Right. Unfortunately for New Orleans, however, they could not handle much of a surge at all.

[RckyRaCoCo]

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.....

[Lanza]

My goodfriend lives in Memorial, and we would have gone to her house, but she left. She headed to College Station.

[IndyTiger]

Fox news interviewing 82nd Airborne commander Bill Cauldwell, says levee "structural failure, not just spillover". Concerned about levees on other side of canal.

[queenkathy]

Since the President is heading to Texas, does that mean that CindySheeeeeeeeehan will follow?

[BurbankKarl]

They reversed the contraflow lanes back...