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
WDSU.com live (N.O. area):
LA 39 north & south is flooded & impassible (St. Bernards)
US 51 ditto
Slidell - Palm Lake Subdivison is flooding, streets & homes
Chest high water in some houses
Water across LA 433
US 11 closed at foot of bridge
I-55 offramps to US 51 closed
LA 315 closed
LA 56 closed South of 51
LA 1, including Grand Isle closed
St. Bernards 4-7 feet, Terrebone 8-10 feet
From the last thread:
Perry called the National Guard and Feds in on Monday, which is why they were in place by Thursday. That's where I got my Monday thing from.
Does anyone have a link to the evidence on when Blank-O called in the Feds? I need to ram it down the throat of a liberal.
Jarjar Binks (D-Mars) blathering on about the Fed responsibility for the fuel situation.
In any event, the logistics of responding to such a large scale disaster make it impossible to have the equipment, material, people and supplies there instantly from the feds in any case. That will almost always take 72+ hours for such a large disaster.
The Federal government did well. Brown, who despite his background did excellent last year with the several hurricanes that hit Florida and gained invaluable experience that could have been used here...he was used as a scapegoat and that was one thing I did not like.
OMG, now Shela Jackson Lee is repeating everything the others repeated 10 times.
End this thing!
Looked closed.
Because in the south there are more fire ants than either of the former. And for some reason, they like electric power lines.
(Answer only partially facetious)
Storm Surge is upon us, with some rain flooding, I think.
A whole lot of fire ants.
My guess is they were showing some of the sheet steel pilings; either at the 17th Street Canal (where the water looks to be a couple feet below the top of the temporary "sandbag" repair); or the London Avenue canal.
The sheet steel pilings are temporary devices to keep the canals below the level of lake Pontchartrain.
Guess what happens to power lines that are underground when it floods.
Lines on poles are a lot easier to replace.
I'm having a problem with the second pic - the group shot. Took 3 mins. to load on DSL.
Another news conference in 4 hrs?? Man, they love these news conferences.
NO idea why this moron was allowed to speak at this conference, other than for political purposes.
Lines on poles are a lot easier to replace.
----
plus, where would birds sit? :-}
Likely follows the same pattern as in the US. Buried in the cities, overhead in rural settings.
The river usually stands at 14 feet above sea level, while Lake P usually stands at 1 foot above sea level. To move a ship from one to the other you need a lock, a box with doors on both ends. Ship sails in, doors close, water is pumped in or out to match levels with the far side, the door opens, and the ship sails out. One of the locks between the river and Lake P is broken, per anecdotal live news reports and per the NO Times Picayune, with the doors in the open position. Trying to find out which one.
Got a point there - they make great dove gathering points. :-D
I finally was able to get the image on post 11
Am running broadband and seemed to take forever.
Came out at 811.99K
Kinda in excess of the reccomended 50K
I'm not having a problem loading, with post #11. Though I do have a cable connection...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
