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

[Yaelle]

European visitors ask me the same thing. Power lines are not above ground in most of Europe.

[janetjanet998]

could you please sum up that you mean by the "river lock" being open...is that the lock on the canal that meets the MS river? if so do you know or can you link info about how the process works and what levels both are at? ..the good thing about the lower MS river is that it takes a TON of run over many days to flood and river levels no are really low becuase of drought

[NormsRevenge]

Take care, see ya soon. --- (FeevRishly starts to wad some spitballs)

[TheForceOfOne]

I'm streaming right now if that helps.

[No Blue States]

Live feed:

Officials encouraging people from Houston not to come back yet.
"no reason to return for fear of the security of your property"

Peoples property is being watched after. Zero tolerance for looters. I10 already backing up and I45 south looks to be filling up. The man is worried about getting 1st responders to where they need to be if traffic jams develop.

[cajungirl]

Geeze, I saw that about the river locks and had a sinking feeling.

[longtermmemmory]

It is amazing to compare TX with LA. Specifically Katrina vs Rita.

The very imporatant thing to point out is that NO CHANGE IN ANY GOVERNMENT AGENCY HAS OCCURED!

IOW: The same local and federal agencies are there. They are using the SAME PREPARATIONS.

With IDENTIAL RESOURCES compare Blanco and Nagin to ANYONE in TX.

CNN coverage is incompetent on this issue.

[No Blue States]

Im still getting KHOU stream also.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Yer images are makin the thread s l o w

[glock rocks]

Shhhh.

Are you trying to get us in trouble?

[Zacs Mom]

hmmmm - It now gives me an error message that reads "This session has been terminated locally"

[SE Mom]

Thanks:)

Just caught a bit of the press conf in Galveston. MSM is unreal.

Reporter to Mayor: When can people come back?
Mayor to reporter: Essential personel are being allowed into the city, but no one else is being let in.
Reporter to Mayor: So anyone can come back now?

[silentknight]

Something just SLOWED this thread down? Weird...

[SeaBiscuit]

We want NautiNurse.. We want NautiNurse.. We want NautiNurse..

LOL, just kidding, AND you are nice! :-) Thanks very much for taking over the thread in NautiNurse's absence.

(SeaBiscuit gallops for cover)

[LikeLight]

Please ask Mod to delete your graphic post - it's even choking my broadband connection . . .

[jeffers]

New graphics up, surge models for Beaumont, Lake Charles and Port Arthur.

Five images for each folder, normal sea level, sea level plus five feet surge, plus ten, plus fifteen and plus twenty.

The file names tell which is which once you're at the right folder.

Links:

Beaumont:

http://photobucket.com/albums/y138/jeffers_mz/Rita/Beaumont/

Lake Charles:

http://photobucket.com/albums/y138/jeffers_mz/Rita/Lake%20Charles/

Port Arthur:

http://photobucket.com/albums/y138/jeffers_mz/Rita/Port%20Arthur/

Talk to USGS about the missing roads in Port Arthur, give them some for me, they cost me hair with that screwup.

I was going to do Orange too, but the same problem exists for that area too, no roads, no points of reference.

[No Blue States]

At the top of each thread there are other options for live feed, maybe one of those will load. ;)

[SeaBiscuit]

I think it's the graphic in post #11.

[silentknight]

Galveston...building structural damage. Major damage in the downtown area - wind damage - glass and other. Big lots collapse...roof damage to a number of buildings. Flooding. Extensive window damage across the island.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

It is an image link. Maybe STAR can ask a mod to bust the link.