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

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Amen, cajungirl. I lived in Lousiana from 58 to 93, and I will vouch that we are NOT all like Mary Landrieu or the other people playing political games with people's lives for power and wealth.

[jeffers]

Agreed. Still looking for any reports of rising water in downtown NO. You see 'em, post 'em up, even if they're sourced to the DU or Art Bell.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

this was good news, though:

BAYTOWN, Texas (CNN) -- The largest oil refinery in the United States reports no major damage from Hurricane Rita, an official who monitors the region said.

The Exxon-Mobil refinery, the largest in the United States, is located in Baytown and was undamaged, Ed Hawthorne, of the Channel Industries Mutual Aid group told CNN.

About 200 other refineries and chemical plants along the channel connecting the port of Houston and the Gulf of Mexico also appear not to be damaged in any significant way, Hawthorne said.

Fuel prices rose recently because of concern about that the storm would hit the refineries.

The plants and refineries shut down in advance of the storm. It will take about a week for them to reopen, Hawthorne said.

[jeffers]

Regardless of which model comes true, Rita will be dumping rain the whole time.

Those loops doom NO to another flood, whether Rita reforms as a hurricane or not.

[shield]

Hey there...same here. Just a broom will do my clean up. After seeing the damage done to Jasper (which is the same distance from the coast as we were from Matagorda, Freeport or Galveston), am I relieved. We'd have come out of Rita in a world of hurt, if she'd not been east of us.

Thanking The Lord, and sorry and praying for the folks in her path. As much as I wanted to pray to move Rita away from us...I never could 'cause I didn't won't anyone to have to go through this storm. However, it does appear this wasn't a Katrina, places wiped out completely as was eastern LA, Miss, Ala.

I'm taking the water I stored and watering everything outside. Since, we've kinda been dry...that stored water over the next few weeks could be used to give your plants plenty of drinks. Take care.

[laz]

To me, it is so clear I often marvel how others cannot see it. But then, the scales on their eyes are thick, and others are enemies to the truth and will not accept it.

The Left is the biggest fraud in this creation after Satan himself. Everything they profess to be, they are the opposite. Everything they accuse the Right of being, they are themselves. They are wolves in sheep's clothing and demons disguised as angels. They have convinced Blacks that they are their friends and that conservatives are their enemies, and the truth is precisely the reverse.

An argument could be made that the damage the Left has wrought on Blacks is unintentional, that the Left is well-intentioned but misguided, that they are stupid and unaware of the fallacy of their methods. But this argument would be untrue. The Left is very well aware of the results of their actions and methods, and that's why they do what they do. They have deliberately created and molded several generations of obedient and deceived pawns for the sole purpose of getting their votes and obtaining the power to transform the planet into their socialist, godless, utopia. The crassness with which they have done so is inhuman; but then, what drives them comes not from the realm of the flesh, but from the realm of powers and principalities. For the utopia they wish to create is simply the anti-kingdom the Evil One wishes to establish in place of the Kingdom.

It has reached the point for me that when I see the Left escort Blacks to the voting booth, I see Nazis escorting Jews to the gas chambers and telling them they are showers. And the Left, in true form, calls us the Nazis.

[janetjanet998]

water still flowing into the 9th ward..no attempts at repairs yet other levees "fine"...live report MSNBC..again NO missed the heaviest rain it went just NW up to a foot of rain now in the baton rouge area..and still pouring there

[CedarDave]

Regarding Fox weekend crew:
Woke up as if it was Saturday morning (no alarm clock). Heard Steve, ED and Brian hosting Fox and Friends. Sat straight up in bed and took a second or two to gather my thoughts -- last night was Friday night and I just know I didn't sleep 48 hours. So they replaced the usual inept weekend crew for today at least.

[Comstock1]

Well, sort of... The river flows to the Gulf not the other way around. The surge would have come up the Calcasieu ship channel. My wife, father and I are trying to find out more info about the Lake Area. We're especially disturbed by the lack of news out of Cameron Parish.

[Sally'sConcerns]

You mean the email that's being passed around all over the country?

[AFPhys]

On the same web site, but not easily found with the previous link, is this document detailing "Hurricanes striking U.S. by decade":
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdec.shtml

One quick way to look at this table: Since records were kept beginning 1850 (or so) the average number of hurricane strikes on the US has been 17.7/decade.

We have had FEWER than that average number of strikes since 1950. This decade, we are finally on a pace that would exceed that average for the first time since the 24 in since the 1940's.

Side note:
I wonder if the political opposition was blaming the US intervention in Europe and Asia, or our burning oil and coal, for all those hurricanes?

[Prime Choice]

Are you joining us tonight?

Sorry, couldn't make it. Had to rest up because today is going to be a long, long day at work. JSC is the fourth NASA center to be directly affected by a hurricane this year.

[LikeLight]

From what little I can see, it looks like the Corps is waiting for water levels to equalize between the breached canal and the 9th Ward - so they can make the repair, as they did before, without a strong flowing current . . . but I wonder what happens to the other weak levees once the "lowest stave" in the barrell is equalized . . . won't the water find the next lowest spot to breach, and so on?

[jeffers]

The wind dies, the sun comes out, the reporters say "we dodged a bullet", and then the water comes.

You can set your clock by it.

[Cboldt]

I make no apologies for FEMA if they are still screwing things up.

Not sure if it's a FEMA thing, but KHOU ran a report yesterday about slow action from the the Feds until Senators Hutchison and Cirnyn got involved - then flights were provided to medivac 100+ patients that had been collected at an airport in TX. The Senators know how to full Fed strings, where state officials don't have any power to discipline slow responders.

Long story short, orders have to come through the right chain of command in order to be carried out; and disaster relief creates a mighty complex chain of command where state officials lack the direct order/discipline levers.

[RummyChick]

Electricity and Law Enforcement made a big difference. It is not that the nature of the person changed. It is that they knew they couldn't get away with it.

There are reports that they gangs were paying off the cops to let them run amuck. I can't remember who said that. It might have been from Col. Hunt's investigation but I just don't remember.

[ncpatriot]

OK.

But do you think the man-on-the-street Democrat is very well aware of the results of their actions and methods?

[LikeLight]

Meanwhile ABC13 is covering this incessant presser from Galveston, totally dropping the amazing live shots and info they had from the developing situation in Lake Charles . . .

[LikeLight]

Yes - MSM is perpetually stupid - and always mistakes no news for good news - every freakin' time . . .

[plain talk]

You said "... spewing all over us down here, and I would like to slap every blasted one of them silly." That is almost exactly the essence of what Mary Landrieu said.

My antennae go up when I see people circling the wagons around a "group" and daring people to criticize the "group". So I was attacking that notion which I abhor. I still have family in New Orleans. Where do you live?