Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VIII

www.freerepublic.com | September 24, 2005

[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

[AFPhys]

"Thinking of a bumper [sticker] JEALOUS OF TEXAS"
----->

I would bet that if you were to get someone to make about a hundred of those for, what - $100?, you could sell them for $2 easily to your friends and churchmates and make yourself a nice little profit to boot... No explanation necessary.

[kenth]

Yep. What was it, just a couple of days after the people had gotten to the Astrodome and Blanko was already sending her kids in to try to make sure her votes were going back to LA. Not going in as liason to their momma, to be a direct line to the governor's office for help, but going to make sure their momma was reelected.

Anyone want to make bets on the dems call for distributing LA absentee ballots to just about every state in the union, regardless if there's anyone still in those other states?

[kenth]

"Would you care to bottle this attitude and export it to every other state in the Union? It would restore this nation's greatness to previous levels."

I don't know that you could water it down enough for the sensitive palates of Massachusetts et al. They'd probably go into convulsions.

[Brad’s Gramma]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1490933/posts


Thread with pictures, and LINKS to pictures...lots of them.

[Spktyr]

We've been having problems bottling it - seems it doesn't like being 'fenced in' by a bottle.

[tx_eggman]

Very late Wed. nite, the NOAA Website showed the possible strike track move from Matagorda to Freeport,

So, very late Wednesday there was a strong Cat 4/5 storm with a Freeport landfall predicted ... that, my friend, is when I left.

Here in Austin hindsight is a wonderful thing .. but at that time not getting my wife and daughter out of Pearland would have been (dare I say it) STUPID. As I've posted elsewhere, I was working out of Venice, La in 1969 when Camille blew through ... I haven't not left for one since then.

Had the storm come in at Freeport you'd be singing a different tune. I'll opt for "well, that was an unnecessary trip" over "I've risked my life and the lives of those I love" every time.

[ekwd]

No offense meant, but if that were entirely true, Shiela Jackson would not be in congress.

[Spktyr]

Make your own, no initial investment: http://www.cafepress.com

If you want, I can do the art for y'all.

[Spktyr]

We're all *still* trying to figure out how she got there. There *are* going to be anomalies, even in Texas, but that one's a puzzler.

[ekwd]

We still have a few puzzlers left here too.

[Spktyr]

1. Why should we care?
2. How, exactly, would that be bad anyway?

[laz]

They are Texas citizens, not serfs

And to Blanco and Nagin, especially Blanco, NOLA citizens are most certainly serfs.

It is amazing that two states right next to each other offer such a stark contast. Two different worlds entirely.

[ekwd]

Hit that nail dead on the head with this post.

[MAWG]

" Did Mayfield start telling people from Galveston and Houston there was no need to evacuate?"

No, of course not. Weathermen dont do that.

" If you want to make a serious point about hurricane fatigue then do it.Just spare me the tinfoil hat conspiracies."

Haven't the foggiest idea as to what you are talking about with regard to fatigue. As to your second statement, you obviously dont live in Houston and you werent here for the last week. ALL 3 of the local stations including their weathermen were INTENT upon pushing the idea of evacuating. Had they given us ALL of the weather data available , like Max, like NOAA and like MSNBC, a lot more people could have made an informed decision and I think a lot more would have decided to stay home. THEN, those who decided to evacuate would have had a much easier time of it.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Annoy the Euro's? I worked over there for over a year (just doing the telecomm work that the Euros could not), and when I spoke with a Texas drawl after a few beers; the first question was- Are you from Texas? How many guns do you have? Pat answer is always "yes. And not near enough!"

[Spktyr]

Mayor White has been surprisingly adamant (all along) that this is a free society, and that the government cannot simply order free citizens around. He shut the media down cold on their idiot idea of going house to house and forcing people to leave before the storm by cramming that idea down their throats. After hearing that, I'm not surprised that he used the same reasoning on the return plans.

I predict a bright future for him in Texas politics, unless he does something totally stupid. Texans in general have a very good grasp of the difference between "free citizen" and "serf".

[tarheelswamprat]

I may be tinfoilish on this but I wonder about this monopoly.

No, you're not. Here's another one for you: Guess who is the founder and one of the principle owners of Entergy?

Answer: Erskine Bowles, former White House Chief of Staff under Clinton, and recent unsuccessful candidate for North Carolina governor. Need a few more? Check-out and correlate the origins and timeline histories of Tyson chicken and Alltel from Arkansas, and the associations of their principals with government officials either currently or recently in power.

As much as I love my country, I fear that the (bi-partisan) culture of corruption in our politics may be too far advanced for recovery.

[Revel]

That is an eye awakening thread. It just goes to show the you cannot trust the mainstream media. Not even FOX.

[Spktyr]

The price of a free republic (no pun intended) is the blood of patriots. Texas paid that price in 1836 and we remember what it costs.

Louisiana was bought (like a slave) and has never had to pay for its existence (Civil War aside).

This is probably the major factor in the difference between the two states and societies.

[laz]

When I drove cross-country last year from Los Angeles to Miami along I-10, exactly a year before Katrina hit, I spent three days in Texas and four days in Louisiana. Four days in Louisiana because I had to wait for Hurricane Frances to move out of Florida. Three days in Texas because it's so big.

While driving through Texas, I could feel a sense of American majesty and history. When I crossed the border into Louisiana, I felt I had entered a Central American country.

After reading the last several posts made here by Texans, I have to stand up and say, "I salute you, Texas".