Posted on 09/24/2005 9:58:36 AM PDT by Howlin
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:
Hurricane Rita Freeper CHECK IN THREAD
FReeper Sign In Thread (LOCKED) 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 VII
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
We're getting some guesstimated 25 mph wind gusts here in Huntsville. Send some of that rain this way please.
Houston is, IIRC< the only major city that doesn't regulate land use via zoning; so yeah, I agree to an extent.
I still think government in general needs to be kept in check, and that people in governmnet positions tend to look down their noses at the little people.
Regarding the Feds, after Katrina and having to deal with the incompetence and corruption in LA, would *you* want to trust local government?
Having dealt with government on many levels, I wouldn't count on it to do anything right. They might, and they might not. And no, I certainly wouldn't trust Blanco of Nagin. They are a pair of shysters from the get go.
The reporter had no idea what they were talking about, as usual.
Nobody I know from Galveston that's going back expects that at all. One of them is renting a chopper and pilot to bring supplies back in with him, including a huge diesel generator that can power his entire neighborhood with enough fuel for two weeks.
Texans are going back home with aid, supplies, and no illusions about what they're going to find. They want to get started on the cleanup.
By the end of the week, it will be all but impossible to tell that a hurricane hit the area in 90% of the strike zone.
Why are they mad? If you are from Texas, you know how fickle hurricanes can be. If this hurricane had gone west and stayed huge, it would have been devastating.
The only reason why it wasn't as bad as everyone feared is because it hit an area that is not as populated as Houston.
Also, people that evacuated on Wednesday didn't have the traffic troubles.
Sheila Jacka**-Leeeeeeeeeeee is one of our few whiners. I have no idea how she got into office.
I strongly suspect that the current Houston mayor is going to get her seat the next time around.
Hopefully no tornado activity. One hit my street Thanksgiving 1994, don't ever want to do that again.
Grim report this morning.
Cameron and Audrey are forever linked in my mind. Just awful.
All those lovely soutern parishes. I love driving down there with the local radio stations, some still have DJ's speaking French. The sites of the wonderful Dave Robichaux books, Jamie Burke is such a fine writer. It is sad. I hope they recover.
I hope you're right.
But I just saw Rick Perry say not to go back until the majors give the okay.
Hope you can do that. The rest of the country cringes at the mention of her name.
Yes, he did say that. But Texans will decide for themselves what is best and take the consequences.
The vast majority *are* staying put. Those that are going back are going back heavily laden with weeks of supplies, gear, fuel, and consumables. They could legitimately be considered part of the relief efforts.
You don't honestly expect *all* of Texas to sit on our thumbs while there's a job to do, do you?
"It appears the refining industry, the oil and gas industry (suffered) a glancing blow at worst. Hopefully they'll be back in production very soon," Perry said during an interview with CNN television.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9464364/
post 1402,,I am intrigued. Was wondering myself about the mode of response. Everyone focuses on letting people in or out and criticize Nagin for "letting people in" and yelling that some texans are "going in without permission".
Isn't that what we did in this country at the beginning? We went to wild dangerous places and settled.
I can see those Cajuns down in the southern part of the state, going in if the watere receded and building just like they did so long ago. And people will go into Orleans and squat, build and make the place habitable.
I guess lawsuits and big govt think they can change the nature of people. Heck, we fought the Indians, the wilderness, wild animals, weather, drought, famine, bugs once upon a time. Without FEMA and the Red Cross.
This, in my opinion is the biggest, most under reported story of the hurricane. I just don't think people realize how much water 80,000 CFS is. 80k CFS is only 20k less than what the mighty Mississippi is flowing right now through St Louis and the Mississippi is over a mile wide at that point.
Not that it would ever get like that in Texas, but isn't that attitude just what caused all the problems in New Orleans?
The Trinity is just now reaching flood stage at Goodrich:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv/?site_no=08066250&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060
Trees are probably one of the reasons northwest Houston lost so much power...Lots of tall pine trees...
20'+ storm surges, 120+ mph winds, and falling trees killed a lot of people in MS. Not listening to warnings to evacuate killed even more in NO.
Galveston was never excluded entirely from the cone of potential landfall, at least not on the Weather Channel or Fox. They were worried up to the last few hours that the storm would keep on moving west rather than turning in.
When officials have to make an evacuation decision on Tuesday they can't base it on what they know on Friday; they have to use what info they have then.
There's some 100-footers swaying in the wind near here right now.
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