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

[Conservababe]

And good folks were doing good deeds, even in that evil city of NO. I'll never forget this one young man who had waded up to higher ground on a supermarket front. A reporter asked him where he had been and he replied "I've been pulling people out all day. Is there anywhere I can get food, water and a place to lay my head".

Just because the politicians let these folks down is no reason to paint them all with a broad brush.

[cajungirl]

I agree.

And I am watching the build back NO versus the Plow it under debate with so much sadness.

NO is gone, it is gone. A port can be built back, the Quarter can be preserved, uptown will be okay. But NO is gone.

The people I am seeing, alot of them too, don't want to go back. They are finding other places, looking for other places. Making other plans. Actually maybe it is like Reconstruction after the Civil War.

I don't think I am pessimistic, I just think that nature had its way with a place that was built on shaky ground. And somethings are too expensive to be redone. And you cannot rebuild and old city, just can't.

[MoefromMs]

I'm curious about that statement. In your tag line you have a Bible verse. I'm going to assume you are a Christian. so, you well know, that as Christians we are to look after others BEFORE we look after ourselves. That is true love. Now, of course that has nothing to do with government. The we I am talking about is you and me.

[STARWISE]

Many of us here love the Lord .. and accept and have faith in Him and His Word. I speculate and personally wonder what's happening, but I'm a frail, imperfect human. Neither I nor you nor any of us are capable of grasping the entirety of the mysteries of life and the course ahead for this universe of ours, nor have the omniscience to know or predict anything with 100% certainty.

The anti-God and cocky science-only posters are just as offensive to us.

[laz]

This is COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT Machievellian behavior.

Their behavior has been Machiavellian from the very beginning, because it always is. To them, the people of NOLA are nothing but pawns, a means to an end. And yet they portray themselves as their champions, and the pawns are fooled, even though their so-called champions have absolutely no compassion at all. It is the height of evil.

[No Blue States]

Entergy: Power restoration 1 week or more.
They wont know until they get a better look at damage.

1-800-9-outage for Entergy power problems.
Calling them helps identify where the problems are.

[RummyChick]

Again, I didn't give you a percentage but I know damn well it is not a small percentage and so do you . You just refuse to admit it.

Tell us the percentage of corrupt politicians in LA.

And please tell us about the Levee money and tell us why some of it wasn't used for the Levees.

[commish]

"The damn press has created this division in the country, and the democrats are very adept at using it."

Yup and they seem to delight in doing it. They make me sick. Always some kind of spin to their coverage.

Always remember what the true goal of liberalism is -- to create a socialist society of "equality". The press is their lapdog so they will push whatever the liberals want them to push.

For a society to willingly or semi-willingly give itself over to socialist doctrine and rule, a clear societal class separation must take place and be clearly delineated. The "oppressed" and "downtrodden" must also make up the majority of the society, so that the "equality" of a socialist society looks inviting to them becuas eit raises there standard of living.

Therefore to reach thier end goal, socialists must create and expand the Class division so that they can exploit it. The poorer, more dependent and less educated thier subjects are, the easier they are manipulated.

[ncpatriot]

Now why should they be afraid?

Not only what you said, but I also think they were afraid because they know how the government is. It is easy to get lost in the gov't bureaucracy. Poor folk know this very well. And they know how gov't always screws them - always.

That is why I have hope for what President Bush is proposing - ie a different way to help the poor other than through direct gov't "services".

[Jeff Head]

I believe the leftist/liberal/RINOs have created the division (and they have done it with a will and in a very planned way) and that the MSM then uses it for their own purposes...which far too often are right in line with and complicit with the former.

Read Alan Keyes "Masters of the Dream" where he talks in detail about how this has been done particularly to the inner-city blacks...by the very libera/socialists blacks who talk about how they are trying to "help" their brothers and sisters when they have nothing of the sort in mind. They want them to be dependent on them, using the socialist "dream" to advance that dependence. Thhis gives them great power over them and locks in a voting block. Keys calls it as insidious as slavery...which, IMHO, it is. Whole generations of people whose family structure has been destroyed and who have been propogandized and lulled into utter dependence on big government and who then vote that way which continues their dependency.

That is what really has happened here IMHO, and they are trying to spread that malady to as much of society as possible.

[Humidston]

Present and accounted for! Got some rain, still drizzling, minor tree leaves/twigs down, but we're fine up here south of Conroe.

Ironic... We were talking about evacuating to Tyler, TX. And THEY are now getting it much worse than us down south!

Now all the traffic jams will occur in SOUTHbound lanes. I don't envy all those millions trying to return.

[No Blue States]

"Any early reports on how the refineries at Lake Charles and Port Arthur fared? Oil rigs?"

Ive heard hardly nothing all morning on the oil situation.
Someone mentioned a refinery fire earlier but the Houston news hasnt mentioned it. I imagine those wells sitting off the SW LA coast took a good pounding.

[Eaker]

I think that if there had not been so many cops present, we would have seen much more looting and chaos.

The cops helped.

However, there was going to be no looting in my neighborhood.

[cajungirl]

You are right MM.

Rummy, we have always been friends. We went thru the Runaway Bride together I do believe.

I won't criticize you if you will allow that most of us are nice down here.

We can all agree our Govt is lousy.

[SouthTexas]

So you think that everyone who is unhappy with Pres. Bush's response to Katrina are"cowards and opportunistic?"

I would. It is not, and has never been, the federal governments responsibility to be first or even second responders to any natural disaster.

ALL those who live on the Gulf coast should know the risk of hurricanes. This is not the first nor will it be the last and with the continued influx to the "surf and sand", it will only get worse.

[No Blue States]

Kay Baily Hutchison: Federal Response will be immediate.

Refineries mentioned but no word on them.

[Jeff Head]

Agreed. Read my post 2850.

Along with the bad, and the liberal governmental let down (and I do not include the federal response in that category because initial response is not their responsibility...and on something of this scale they simply cannot respond in an instant-meaning the first 72-96 hoiurs), I say along with that bad, there was a LOT of good, and still is.

[commish]

I won't criticize you if you will allow that most of us are nice down here.

Some of the nicest and most giving people I have ever met have hailed from Cajun country. It is sad that the face of your city is being defined by a select group of hoodlums and idiots.

Besides, any group of people that can cook like ya'll can are AOK in my book. heehee

[Robert A Cook PE]

I10 overpass somwhere in LA collapsed..unconfirmed.

Not too surprising: I-10 past Baton Rouge is one verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry long low pair of bridges over the swamps. Past that area, there are intermittant swamps low bridges all the way to where "solid" ground starts a little before the border.

Storm surge and flood waters "lift" the bridge up off of its old (1050's) concrete columns and allow the bridge sections to fall off their supports. See the Pensacola Bridge over Mobile Bay for comparable damage. (Wave damage of course greater at Penn. than in the swamps.)

[Rebelbase]

"NO is gone"

That was my first thought on seeing the levees flood over yesterday.

IMO, The flood protection infrastructure was minimally maintained and now it's been compromised to the point of failure. Until that is restored there will be no rebuilding. And the scope involved in securing the miles and miles of levees in NO and surrounds will prove to be financially unfeasible.

As you said, the Downtown, Quarter, Garden District and port will be restored. The remainder will become a park or some other non residential use.