Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VII

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

[NautiNurse]

Hurricane Rita landfall is anticipated within the next few hours. Strong winds and heavy rains are battering southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas.

MSM news crews are shouting over the howling winds as they foolishly describe blowing rain, swaying trees, and crashing waves through rain splattered camera lenses. It's a hurricane. We know these things already.

An 18 wheeler rig reportedly overturned on an I-10 bridge. The fate of the truck driver is unknown at this time. Reports of widespread power outages in Lake Charles. KPLC-TV Lake Charles local news has remarkably improvised their reporting from a remote location. They are taking calls from residents, NWS, and public utility representatives, and alerting residents to local conditions.

On the flip side, CNN announced to the world that law enforcement officers had evacuated from Port Arthur TX with the rest of the population. Engraved looter invitations would have been more elegant.

Godspeed to all those in the path of this storm.

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 VI
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

[Cvengr]

As of 10 pm a county by county track
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/temp/track03z.GIF

[Miss Marple]

I don't think they know, yet. The brunt of the hurricane went east of Galveston and Houston. It will have to wait until daylight and flyovers before we know for sure how much damage there is.

[mystery-ak]

They took down all their tents and moved them into already damaged buildings...I hope they held through the night...I haven't heard any news re NO other than the levees...

[TomGuy]

my hubby is still in NO with the NG, but he's armed too..

Good that he is armed. The first NG's in LA 3 weeks ago were not armed.

Hope they get the order to shoot back. :)

[Capt_Hank]

Speaking of Geraldo, "The Fake". Woke up this morning and turn to FNC. First words I heard, "A report from Geraldo, coming up". Instant channel change to TWC.

[mware]

Segment from FOX featuring the new head of FEMA. Just in case Blanco starts accussing. He just said NO sources were taken from Louisiana to help Texas.

[Cvengr]

Lake Charles Radar Image
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/radar/lch.htm

[newzjunkey]

Any news on the next tropical depressions?

[mystery-ak]

They can shoot back, but they aren't locked and loaded....sigh...

[TomGuy]

FoxNews.

Rick Leventhall reporting of some looting. Banner says Lake Charles, LA.

Wind is still too strong for police to be out patrolling yet. Still around 85 mph.

[mware]

I went to bed at 2 AM. How many more hats did Shep lose????

[hoosiermama]

Thanks....Think I'll take more cough syrup and head back to bed ;^)
God Bless Texas!

[newzjunkey]

I'll guess.... Poverty. The New Orleans folk had no choice but to the engage in "self help humanitarian aid" as the Left calls it.

Don't be so hard-hearted. They needed that plasma TV to watch CNN for news of their welfare check's wereabouts.

[laz]

This is why we're in San Antonio. It was a Cat 5 aimed directly at us. To stay for that is suicide. It will end up 200 miles east of us BUT a tick west and we'd be going home to....

Absolutely. If anyone is annoyed because they evacuated for nothing, they just don't seem to get it. When a storm of this magnitude is headed your way, you've got to evacuate before it's certain whether or not it's going to hit you. If you wait until it's certain, it's too late to evacuate. So you leave, even if it ends up not hitting you. And instead of thinking you evacuated for nothing, you're thankful that your city didn't get hit after all.

Better safe than sorry... and always better to err on the side of caution. I don't see the Houston/Galveston evac as either unnecessary or a failure. It was necessary, it worked, and it served as a test-run and as practice for future events.

[ekwd]

I believe the correct way to say that is that suppliers in your country are free to sell us that natural gas, electricity and lumber at the market price. In the 1980's the price of gas was actually as high or higher than it is today in real terms. Ronald Reagan let the "greedy" oil companies sell oil for what they wanted and by the mid 1980's there was a virtual depression in parts of Texas because the bottom fell out of oil prices. Like to see that happen to you? A lot of people in this country want cheap oil, but don't want those unsightly nuke power plants, oil refineries and pipe lines ruining their view. When we wake up and find that we want new refineries, nuke power plants and gas pipelines here, then we will be flooded with "cheap" power again. That happens when supply goes up. If a lot of people decide that they don't actually need that Humvee to drive little Missy to school and of their own free will switch to a Honda Accord (that actually began to happen months ago), then the price of gas will fall. That happens when demand goes down. Lumber? Watch what happens in Canada when the bottom falls out of the new housing market here.

[SE Mom]

Shooting at checkpoints...sounds like Baghdad doesn't it?

[jeffers]

Blanco's lucky I'm not President.

Real lucky.

I don't like looters, and I think she qualifies.

[mystery-ak]

I see your sick too....something nasty going around.....I can't go back to bed til I hear about NO...

[TomGuy]

I went to bed at 2 AM. How many more hats did Shep lose????

FoxNews just ran a tape of Shep getting blown down, grabbing hold of a sign when he got back up, then losing his hat to that blowhard Rita.

That tape will make the comedy tour.

[mware]

What a stark difference between Perry and Blanco. That mayor of Houston sounds like a damn good man too regarless of him having a D at the end of his name.