Here's a map. Jean Laffite's at the star:
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
Thanks, looks like folks will have a fair in Tyler afterall.
Lafitte is just SW of New Orleans.
No, I don't think 200b will do it and will defer to the old saying, "What's the first thing you do when you find yourself in a hole"?
My map says that RR bridge is 11 feet ASL at the west end, 14 at the east end.
Now that Houston didn't take a direct hit, they're losing interest
I'll always remember that. Shepherd Smith saying that NO dodged a bullet.
But there are big differences bewteeen Houston and NO.
Houston is not located in a bowl below sea level and throw in a corrupt and incompetant govt. of NO and LA and you have a disaster in the making that we all saw.
That's surge. Lafite went under several hours ago. Now the surge has pushed about twice that far north.
no, this is a friend of mine that lives here in town.
He told his normal customers that he was gonna contribute to the effort in NO and called FEMA and got a contract to haul whatever they needed.
He has been under this first load ever since...
Well, 60 km/h is in the neighborhood of 40 mph. Windy, but tolerable.
Not only that, but nobody is blaming anybody for anything -- that makes it a double snoozer. Even good ol' Tony Snow was asking some Fed if there weren't any jurisdictional issues in the traffic jams on the way out, and the guy was like we just wanted to do whatever we could do to get the people on their way.
big sigh...really hard to say much else:(
AR-15 with a 30 round mag - just the thing for picking off looters and other varment.
The first photo said Lafitte...which is many miles north..Jean Lafitte is near NOLA...tons of water around there! Makes SENSE now.
Thanks!
Well hopefully we get a little cool weather sometime in October, makes it harder for them to move in, even if the gulf hasn't cooled off as much yet. But we have yet to see even a hint, even a whiff of cool air. North winds this week and highs of only about 90, so we may have a little relief. I think Rita moving off to the east opened the way for some cooler air to come on down.
You're right. If they can't find controversy then that makes the whole LA debacle look worse by comparison, and it shines the light squarely upon where the biggest LA problems were. They're probably hoping something else comes along soon to take the spotlight off of it.
It's scary to say the government of Kathy Whitmire and Lee P. Brown is not incompetent and corrupt, but we've had a couple of decent mayors too. Rats but grown ups.
Civilian
Currently in Arlington at "Ameriquest Field" (a car parts swap meet is going on here, among other things). Wind's kicking up here, 30+mph gusts.
Got some good pictures of Rita's remains coming in over Dallas and Arlington. I'll post those in a little bit. Right now, I'm going over to the Dallas Trinity River area to take pictures of what *Dallas* did with all our Federal levee money (which should explain part of why I hold NO, the Dems there, and the greenies in such contempt).
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