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

[mtbopfuyn]

Wow! The UTMB ghost face link finally loaded for me. Yep, that's him. Only thing is when I saw it years ago, he was up higher..... Seems they sandblasted a second time and he's moved again!!! Oh, that's just freaky!

http://halloweensunseen.com/faceutmb.html

[momf]

Yes, it is; coffee made with it it gross, too.

[Carolinamom]

Do you have Ceci Connelly on your list?

[steveegg]

Salty? In Dallas? Just damn.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Decent rant.

[zot]

You're in Dallas. Wind should be from the East or Northeast. See where that circulation is coming from -- off the Gulf, across the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. So, I think you are smelling the present effects of Katrina. Like a wet compost pile 150 miles wide.

[Howlin]

Yep; I have one going......the other two look down.

Oh, they're all back up........start the players!

[LikeLight]

Outer eye-wall now coming into Lake Charles, LA . . . debris flying by . . .

KPLC

[spycatcher]

Just caught this on EWX forum:

kplctv.com has an official saying rumors of Lake Charles flooded under 10' of water are not true. Also saying this is a worst case scenario, high tide in 10 minutes.

Lake Charles reporter said a Harrah's gambling barge had broken from its moorings and was floating down the river.

[Howlin]

No, but she's Up and coming with a bullet.

[samantha]

Shep is immature and a self promoting egotist, a step above his former cohort at Channel 7 in Miami Rick Sanchez presently at CNN. Most of the Fox people are doing a good job, even Geraldo seemed to be holding his ego somewhat in check. Greta is good except for the Blanco interview, and she even looks cute in her rain gear.

[conservative cat]

Mom is German and lived there for a few years. Have had a few Korean friends. Your husband is right on the smell. We had a new from Korea girl come to my sixth grade class and she had a distinct smell coming from her pores and it was on all of her clothes. It might have been garlic.

[WoodstockCat]

"The Longest Day"

[Frank_2001]

Good!!!

[geopyg]

"It's water temps that do it...."

The life cycle of a lake. I've joked that God made up the rules for physics like cold fluids (air/water/etc) are heavier than warm fluids, solids are denser than liquids, etc.

UNTIL the first spring - when he realized that the solid water (ice) sank and killed all the vegetation and critters in all the lakes. Oops!

"Okay - all solids, EXCEPT water, will be denser than their liquids."

[Mo1]

.

[mrsmel]

She says they've asked for money for years and always been denied.

What a bald-faced liar she is. Edwin Edward's legacy lives on. Mary Landrieu,on some talk show about a week ago,even boasted unapologetically about inserting riders into a levee appropriation bill to divert money to something else. She actually said that she made no apologies for doing so. So obviously, there had to BE a bill,for her to divert the money from it.

[Tarheel]

Lived in Lake Geneva for 17 years--it is a smell you never forget--yuck! The lake was spring fed and relatively cold but still had that yuck smell every spring.

[steveegg]

Greta is good except for the Blanco interview, and she even looks cute in her rain gear.

I knew all Greta needed was enough blurring (though it would take a blackout :-)

[Squantos]

That's my story and I'm sticking too it !.....:o)