Hurricane Rita Live Thread

NHC - NOAA ^ | 20 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Hurricane Rita is in the Florida Straits, impacting the Florida Keys and South Florida Peninsula. Hurricane watches and warnings are in effect for numerous portions of South Florida. Check local weather statements for updates.

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 SE Florida
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Florida

Images:

Storm Floater IR Loop
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop
Florida Radar/Sat Loop Caution: Broadband users only
Extra Large Miami Radar Broadband only
Extra Large Key West Radar Broadband only
Miami Long Range Radar Loop
Key West Long Range Radar Loop
Miami Experimental Radar Still Image
Key West Experimental Radar Still Image

Streaming Video: (coverage may be intermittent)

WTVJ-TV/DT Miami (NBC6)
WFOR-TV/DT Miami (CBS 4)
WSVN-TV/DT Miami (Fox)

Other Resources:

Florida East Coast Surf Reports Lots of great info here, including surf cams
Central Florida Hurricane Center
Hurricane City

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:
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[CindyDawg]

Not right now but we are watching her closely.

[geopyg]

I'm not a computer person at all - so someone hopefully will correct me. But with the laptops now they have a wireless connection without a cellphone. You have the base in your house and you can be out on the deck or in your car parked on the street. And many people have the same connections. And although I believe it's illegal - you can drive around a neighborhood until you get a signal and check your emails. I imagine most cities are pretty well setup for this in the downtown areas (and legally then?)

[CajunConservative]

""Yall think we can say He's not much of a Saints fan?""

I was agreeing with you. When the saints lose we call them the Aint's here. They lost Monday Night and well God's not much of a Saints fan. ;-)

[AggieMom x 3]

I think CC is pretty much on pins and needles too. They are within the realm of possibility although its not as probable there. And yeah, all those places you mention flood like crazy! When Alicia hit Houston, our family almost went to Austin to stay with my aunt but we stayed in Kingwood. No power for two weeks and four pine trees on the house but my aunt's house in Austin had all the damage from about 36 inches of water running through it!!

[Xenalyte]

You ain't kidding!

I will never forget the time we were visiting our friends down in Sargent, very near Matagorda BTW, and a mosquito SWAT team tried to make off with the Dread Boston Salty.

And as Bostons go, at 27 pounds he's a hefty one, so you KNOW those things were about buzzard-sized.

[Xenalyte]

And I grew up in Quail Valley, about seven minutes off 59 down Wilcrest! Small world indeed.

[fatima]

Amen and I agree.

[raygun]

I'm not disputing it was Cat 5 at FL100, but not at the surface. The highest winds Biloxi reported was 60kts sustained with a gust to 79 KTS. Then the storm surge hit.

If you some other evidence to provide, I will be glad to concede.

How is it that right now Rita is reported off of Dry Tortugas, at 110 MPH, but the DRYF1 buouy is only reporting 59KTS? How strong was Rita when it passed Sand Key? And yet, the highest winds the SANF1 buouy reported were 60 KTS (with a gust to 69KT)?

I'm being generous with 80KTs (115KT gusts). There's no evidence for it.

You guys just don't comphrend what sustained straight line winds are capable of doing. A severe thunderstorm by definition begins with winds in excess of 60 KTs, and hail in excess of one inch in diameter. Severe thunderstorms have caused $10's of millions in damage.

Cat 5 winds on the surface are absolutely not required to do what Katrina did.

[CajunConservative]

The Southwest side of the state needs rain. We haven't had much since before Katrina, we just don't need the CAT 4/5 storm surge and winds.

[Jaded]

More like 5M give or take, give.... there are officially like 4 evacuation routes. 45 North is as bad as Xena's nearby intersection. It will be hellish at best.

Did I tell you that Nagin is an a$$hat/moron? If he had one more functional brain cell it would be lonely? He's on Nightline.

[Liberal Classic]

From http://brazoria-county.com/Hurricane-Rita.htm:

Press Release

County Judge John Willy
Date: Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Time: 7: 07pm

Brazoria County Judge declares a Local State of Emergency

Based on information from the State of Texas Emergency Management and current weather predictions, we have activated our Emergency Management Plan for Brazoria County. The Emergency Operations Center was activated today at 5:00pm.

Voluntary Evacuation:

A voluntary evacuation of Brazoria County began today (Tuesday, September 20) at 2:00 pm. Those individuals evacuating with boats, trailer, and livestock need to begin moving those items at this time.

Evacuation Routes: SH 288 & Hwy 36

- If you reside East of the Brazos River, please utilize SH 288 as your evacuation route. - If you reside West of the Brazos River, please utilize Hwy 36 as your evacuation route.

Mandatory Evacuation Times:

- Healthcare facilities, hospitals, and the infirm - Evacuation to begin Wednesday at 6:00am.

- Zone A (Low-Lying Coastal Areas & Areas south of FM 2004) - Scheduled to evacuate beginning Wednesday at 6:00pm.

** Please note: DPS Troopers will enforce direction of traffic evacuation routes beginning Wednesday at 6:00pm.

- Zone B (Areas south of CR 171) - Should plan to evacuate beginning Thursday at 2:00am.

- Zone C (Areas south of SH 35) - Should plan to evacuate beginning Thursday at noon.

- Alert! - In case of a Category 4 or 5 - All areas in Brazoria County should be prepared to evacuate no later than Friday.

Shelters are reserved for Brazoria County residents in the following areas:

- Brenham

- Bryan College Station

** Please note: As mandated by the State, no Shelters are located in Brazoria County.

School buses will be available at designated locations for those individuals requiring transportation to designated Shelters. Brazoria County Sheriff's Office will be escorting the buses to the designated Shelters. Individuals requiring transportation to the bus loading locations can contact their local Police Department.

Buses are scheduled to begin loading Wednesday at 9:00am at the following location:

- Sweeny High School - Traveling to Brenham Buses are scheduled to begin loading Wednesday at 12:00pm at the following location:

- Alvin ISD Bus Transportation Center - Traveling to Bryan Buses are scheduled to begin loading Wednesday at 1:00pm at the following locations:

- Freeport Intermediate School - Traveling to Brenham

- Clute Intermediate School - Traveling to Bryan

- Lake Jackson Intermediate School - Traveling to Bryan

- Angleton Middle (East & West) School - Traveling to Bryan

- Brazoria First Baptist Church - Traveling to Brenham

- Columbia High School - Traveling to Brenham

- Danbury High school - Traveling to Bryan

Brazoria County residents evacuating to the Bryan/College Station Area:

- Route - 290 to State Hwy. 6 - Exit at the Gateway Reception Center - Texas World Speedway Exit.

- All evacuees will go through triage at this location.

- Shelter ASSIGNMENTS will be given at this time.

- Any evacuees with large -or- small animals will also be directed to service locations for pets.

Brazosport, Angleton, Alvin, and Columbia-Brazoria Independent School Districts have indicated they will be closing as of this evening.

County Offices will be closed except for essential safety personnel beginning today (Tuesday, September 20) at 5:00pm thru Friday, September 23. County Offices are anticipated to open Monday, September 26 at 8:00am.

Dow Texas Chemical located in Freeport released personnel, that are not essential to safely and orderly shutting down the facilities, today at 4:00pm

I am urging citizens to do the following: If you are on medication, call your physician and ask for a three months supply of your medicine. You should also ask for your treatment plan if you are on chemotherapy, dialysis, any of those kinds of consistent treatments.

Please take your valuables, any deeds to your properties, any insurance information that you may need in the future .

For more information, please contact the Brazoria County Courthouse at 979-864-1801 or 979-864-1200 and stay tuned to radio station 740AM KTRH in Houston.

[Revel]

JR has already put up a "Rita" topic at the top of the page. All the individual article on this hurricane can be searched for very quickly from that link.

[hummingbird]

Seems to me that you could be looking at no power for a time. Who has generators that will allow for refrigeration and a home for people to come to and use computers - watch TeeVee, etc?

Do you have to have a carbon monoxide detector for all the different types of generators?

[Wingsofgold]

Looks lik i need ta go ta Houston an get my shi! and get.

[DrewsMum]

well i thought about that too,,,but i want to be able to access when i'm sitting still on the interstate,,,i'm really picky hehehehhe

[blam]

"If you some other evidence to provide, I will be glad to concede."

I just saw that info on the History Channel on a program called The Katrina Catastrophe.

[Oystir]

regular, wine, cider...vinegar?

[DrewsMum]

i always used regular white,,,,don't know about the others,,,it is also a good deodorant if need be,,,

[raygun]

It sounds like you're describing Alaskan mosquitos, you know, the kind who's legs drape out over the sides of of a deck of playing cards they got smushed in between.

Texas mosquitos need landing pads big enough for helicopters to use.

[DouglasKC]

Do you have to have a carbon monoxide detector for all the different types of generators?

If you run a gasoline generator inside your house you will die. The only thing a detector will do is warn you before you die. Even running it inside an attached garage may kill you. You should only run a gasoline generator outside.