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

[jeffers]

Thanks. It shows rising water, but nothing catastrophic yet. That's below the dam.

[gpapa]

Mouse over and click anywhere on the map
Main page: http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/index.html

[SE Mom]

LOL! Like the governor-she's either getting too much, or not enough, Xanax.

Boy..seems like a thousand years ago we commiserated on the Runaway Bride..

[Flyer]

The flooding will reach Liberty on Tuesday or Wednesday, if I heard correctly.

[Cboldt]

It shows rising water, but nothing catastrophic yet. That's below the dam.

Check the forcast though, for below the dam. Also, the links that I sent have buttons to see "Upstream" and "Downstream" maps and charts.

[gpapa]

USGS 08040600 Neches Rv nr Town Bluff, TX above flood stage
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv?08040600

[Sally'sConcerns]

Flying J facilities in Houston and New Caney, TX escaped damage from Hurricane Rita and are currently being refueled by Flying J tankers. Flying J's facility in Orange, TX sustained some damage from the storm and remains closed currently. A team of electricians has been dispatched to assess the extent of the damages...

Good! The trucker's will be able to refuel and stores will be able to be restocked. Once Galveston and Houston ports are up and running, commerce can start again.

[janetjanet998]

New Orleans statment..

...STORM SURGE FLOOD AND STORM TIDE IMPACTS... EXTENSIVE STORM SURGE FLOODING OF LOW LYING COMMUNITIES HAS SPREAD NORTHWARD INTO UPPER TERREBONNE UPPER...UPPER LAFOURCHE AND UPPER JEFFERSON PARISH AND THE WEST BANK OF ST CHARLES PARISH NEAR BAYOU GAUCHE. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS REPORT LOCAL LEVEES ARE IN DANGER OF BEING OVER TOPPED. STORM SURGE FLOODING IS IN PROGRESS ON THE NORTH SHORE OF LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN FROM SLIDELL TO MANDEVILLE.

[the Deejay]

That reminds me of the ABC interview with the black people outside of the Astrodome. They really thought they were going to get them to chant President Bush hates black people. Instead they got honest answers from people wanting everyone to know that their local leadership failed.

Yep. That one played over & over in my mind since!

It was too good to let go of. B/c it's rare to see such an interview.

ABC couldn't have bought one of them to say anything good about the LA officials.

[jeffers]

It crested, but the volume is significant.

Gpapa, take a look at his link.

[janetjanet998]

WEST BANK OF ST CHARLES PARISH NEAR BAYOU GAUCHE...thats new..thats way north right?

[Cboldt]

STORM SURGE FLOODING IS IN PROGRESS ON THE NORTH SHORE OF LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN FROM SLIDELL TO MANDEVILLE.

Slidell was swamped by Katrina. Hopefully this is just overtopping and will halt before much water gets over.

[Michael Goldsberry]

Thank you for your kindness last night, Flyer, in agreeing to call my cell should my part of town get into trouble while I slept.

I owe you one.

Benji is waging his tail. He seems to agree.

(...then again, that could be the bacon ...)

[jeffers]

Interesting...gpapa's links led to similar results....soooo....do we have a wind event here instead? Debris hitting something important? A wind driven seiche? The other watersheds feedig that lake are minimal...but if Lufkin and Nacadoches got hammered, and they are 50 and 75 miles north north east of there....

That's all I can come up with, the flow down the Trinity isn't very impressive.

[BurbankKarl]

KPRC showing gas rationing at Texaco station in Katy....can an SUV make it from Katy to Galveston on $30 gas?

[Cboldt]

It crested, but the volume is significant.

Check the "Trinity River at Liberty" graph again. It is prospective, and shows flood stage prediction starting at 3:00 PM on the 26th, tomorrow. Likewise check the graphs for upstream sites. They aren't pretty. In fact, "at Liberty" is off the chart, because the chart stops at 70,000 cfs.

[gpapa]

Will do.

[Conservababe]

I just got through to my family in Breaux Bridge, La. My sister says that they suffered no damage except for a few downed pecan trees and minimal flooding of their yard.

But, they are still getting sustained winds of 45-50 from the bands. She stuck the phone out the door and let me listen. Whoa, Rita is still screeching.

[Palladin]

Are these areas that were spared by Katrina?

[oceanagirl]

Good info has been hard to come by, obviously. Notice that Nagin did not mention any locks and pooh-poohed anything going on near the London Canal.

Those "sand bubbles" sound like the natural spring at the bottom of my Mother's wishing well. Very beautiful, but capable of conveying much water to the surface.

Of course I saw the recent release addressed to you.