Rita will be a category 3 or weaker by 3pm Friday, according to my friend at NOAA. He also said it wont come close to Galveston, but hit almost directly on Port Arthur. Stocks should have a huge rally on Friday.
866 posted on 09/22/2005 8:29:18 PM PDT by montag813 [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
Montag, your friend at NOAA was basically correct and joe bastardi of Accu-Weather has egg on his face.
Not to downplay the destruction and woe Rita has caused, but it is much less IMO, than the media was playing up.
It's kinda of a tough job, to tell people there is danger on the way, but the media uber hypes it, and when the next one comes, people may not listen.
Muleteam1
Thanks folks. We're really proud of all the folks who've shown grit, teamwork and untold kindness in the Lone Star State tonight. The stars are shining bright here in the hill country tonight...a great night to be alive! [:o)
The stars at night, are big and bright,
deep in the heart of Texas,
The prairie sky is wide and high,
deep in the heart of Texas.
The sage in bloom is like perfume,
deep in the heart of Texas,
Reminds me of, the one I love,
deep in the heart of Texas.
Blog To Watch for Details About Getting Back Home
FYI,
"The Road Home
- What you need to know for a safe return"
Houston Chronicle Blog
http://blogs.chron.com/roadhome
: Once officials have given the OK to return to your community, let
: this blog be your guide home. We'll post information on road
: conditions and fuel availablity here. On the road and want to tell us
: about conditions along your route? Call 713-362-7060 and leave a
: voice message, or send a text message to 832-215-0811.
Welcome to Memphis Rita remnants. My yard need the rain!
FR's KRISTINN Support the Troops rally now LIVE on C-SPAN
Should add KRISTINN is the host for the event.
Rent payments offered for Katrina evacuees
But Blanco wants them to have La. housing
More red tape involved with trailer communities
By Robert Travis Scott
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE - Launching a new program to provide temporary living assistance and to clear shelters nationwide of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina, the federal government in the next few days will begin making lump-sum payments of $2,358 toward three months rent for each qualified evacuee who obtains housing anywhere in the country.
The news Friday took Gov. Kathleen Blanco by surprise and opened a new rift between her administration and President Bush on the critical issue of how Louisiana will lure back its citizens from the dramatic New Orleans diaspora caused by the storm. It also placed Blanco and Bush at odds over the option of erecting large trailer parks in Louisiana for evacuees.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the lump-sum payments, made by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will cover temporary housing costs for "several hundred thousand" homeowners and renters whose homes were destroyed or are uninhabitable. After the initial lump-sum payment, further assistance will be available for up to 18 months depending on the circumstances, he said.
Low-income evacuees who before the storm received federal housing vouchers through the Department of Housing and Urban Development will continue to get financial support through local public housing authorities wherever they choose to live across the country.
"We're going to make sure that victims of this disaster, whatever their economic circumstances, get the necessary financial assistance to ensure that they can obtain a temporary residence for the time being," Chertoff said. "These programs have been designed to give families the maximum amount of flexibility and freedom to decide where they want to relocate and what they want to do over the next few months."
The issue of interim housing has become one of the most controversial among the debates on post-Katrina government policy. Federal and state officials want to get evacuees out of shelters and uncomfortable living conditions as soon as possible, but there is disagreement on where to place them until they can find permanent housing.
The longer evacuees become integrated in places outside Louisiana, state officials say, the less likely they are to return. If they find some form of housing in the New Orleans area, even temporarily, they can fill jobs and help restart the region's economy, the officials say.
Blanco has been pushing for a program to place evacuees in hotels and newly established trailer parks with community services in Louisiana, but she learned of the new federal initiative late Friday morning, just before Chertoff and HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson made the announcement in Washington, D.C.
"The announcement today from HUD and Homeland Security about rental assistance and housing vouchers may certainly address the needs of our friends in Alabama and Mississippi," Blanco said. "But it does little for Louisiana citizens who want to come home, and we'd like our citizens to be able to come to Louisiana for this interim period."
The FEMA rent payments will be a further inducement to keep Louisiana citizens out of state because, practically speaking, few of the payments can be used locally, Blanco said. Hurricane Katrina decimated the housing stock in the New Orleans region, and what was left there and across southern Louisiana has been bought or rented, she said.
Blanco on Friday asked FEMA to accelerate the purchase of blocks of hotel and motel rooms and to "dramatically speed the delivery of trailers for our transitional communities." These would be supplemented nearby with services for health care, education, child care and transportation.
"The path that I've outlined - moving our people from shelters or the homes of in-laws or friends and into hotels and transitional trailer communities here in Louisiana - gives our people hope," Blanco said. "It gives them a clear path that they can see, a path that will help them get their lives together and get them home to Louisiana."
Trailer and mobile home communities have been slow in coming, partly because of the complicated logistics of finding suitable sites that can handle the temporary villages.
Chertoff said FEMA continues to move forward to establish trailer villages in Louisiana and acknowledged that some towns and parishes want them because of the labor force they will provide. But if people decide to live in a FEMA-supplied trailer or mobile home, Chertoff said, they will not be eligible for the new rent subsidy.
"So it's not meant to substitute for the trailers, but it's meant to recognize the fact that as we speak not everybody can or necessarily wants to get into trailers," Chertoff said.
Establishing trailer villages with economic and social support services will require a complex government effort. Chertoff said the lump-sum payment program will reduce red tape.
Sen. David Vitter said no temporary housing solution is ideal, but the key to getting people back to Louisiana is to develop economic opportunities for them to return. He said he needed to learn more about Blanco's and FEMA's proposals to form an opinion on them. But whatever the solution, he said, he does not want the government to make evacuees' lives so uncomfortable that they use their poor conditions as the reason to come back.
FEMA relief programs can give an evacuee up to $26,200 for the emergency needs of food, shelter, clothing, personal items and medical conditions. The agency has sought ways to get initial payments of that cash quickly to the Katrina victims without requiring extensive paperwork and proof of need.
Soon after Katrina, FEMA expedited evacuee checks of $2,000 as an initial emergency payment. More than 747,000 households have qualified for some kind of assistance through FEMA on an immediate basis, and 648,000 of those have received more than $1.5 billion in expedited funds, according to the agency. The new rent program probably will cost about $2 billion for the three-month period, Chertoff said.
To receive the lump-sum payment by check or electronic transfer, evacuees from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana must have registered through FEMA by calling (800) 621-FEMA or applying online at www.fema.gov. Applicants need to register only once, but should update their registration if their address has changed. The initial payment is calculated based on the national average fair market rent rate for a two-bedroom unit. The payment is portable and may be applied to temporary housing costs "for any location an evacuee determines," FEMA says.
Eligible households will receive a letter describing specific rules and guidelines on the eligible use of the funds. Eventually, the submission of rental receipts and other documentation will be required.
Chertoff said the lump-sum checks and bank transfers would start flowing this week, but that people should anticipate it will take a few days to receive them. Those evacuees who have registered for direct deposit will get the money sooner, he said.
http://www.nola.com
I'm de-lurking after several years in order to thank those who worked so tirelessly to provide support & keep everyone informed during Hurricane Rita.
Thanks to NN & Howlin for their fine work as Threadmistresses (for lack of a better word; I just made that one up ;-)) ... and to steveegg, jeffers, nwctwx, WxMan2000 (and anyone else I missed) who provided such outstanding meteorological information & analysis ... and to all the local folks who posted their own real-time observations and local info ... and to all (local or not) who did such a wonderful job of keeping everyone's spirits up.
My darling S.O. was unable to evacuate Houston due to work requirements ... and since I live over 1000 miles away, I was frantic & frustrated that there was so little that I could do to help him. He and I were in constant contact before and during the storm, and I was able to share so much valuable information with him, thanks to those who posted here. Not to mention that you all helped keep me sane and feel less alone & helpless during such a scary & stressful time.
I don't think what I've written even comes close to expressing the gratitude that I feel, but from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!
if you want to know what's really going on down here, turn to www.klvi.com and listen for a few hours to the live stream. Clearchannel claims to be streaming it, but I don't have the battery time to check. They're the only source of our news on what's going on in the world, and we're not expected to get power back for up to a month.
It's horrendous. Major loss of electrical infrastructure. Flyover surveys reveal approx. 30 to 50% loss of large trees. If you had a tree in your yard on the north side, it may very well be in your bedroom right now.
Entery has to rebuild main transmission lines all the way down the LA-TX border. Plus, the damn at Dam B (can't remember the official name... Steinhagen Lake?) is allegedly broken and they're having to release all the water, which may flood thousands downstream.
Situation is very disoriented. Many people did not leave and unless they were prepared with food and water (like us), they're running out. Anger beginning to build at officials, but they don't know exactly who to be mad at because of lack of news. I think it's because everyone is so isolated. The ONLY source of news on what's going on is coming from KLVI radio station, so everyone sits around and listens (and calls in) to this station all day.
Men with chainsaws have spent last 2 days clearing roads to make them passable. Huge majority of roads in Hardin, Jasper, Newton, Jefferson, and Orange counties had huge trees across them, but people are being self-sufficient and clearing everything except the trees on the power lines (about half of them. lol!).
DPS (state police) won't enforce blockade of Hardin County, so Hardin Co. officials said on radio tonight that they're letting people back in starting tomorrow. This should cause MUCHO tension, as other counties are still enforcing blockade (Jefferson, Orange).
Please ping people to this question: I have limited battery power left on laptop. Have a generator with 300 watt inverter and tractor battery. Question: Does that battery have to be a marine battery, or is tractor battery sufficient. I'm scared of plugging this thing into the inverter until I get some kind of idea of what I'm dealing with. NOTE: I will not hold anyone responsible if I fry my computer by doing something based on your advice or input. :-)
Will check back tomorrow to see if anyone has advice. The tractor battery only has the following info on it: Everstart 12 volt (from walmart). Inverter is "Travel Power 300 watt."
The WSJ has it right.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007314
I live in a coastal area and I pay for flood insurance. It is very expensive and I know if my house gets destroyed I get 250K and that's IT. PERIOD. If you CHOOSE to live by the coast you have two choices buy flood insurance or self-insure. Insurance companies have lots of warts but it is just not acceptable that people not living in flood zones pay for flood insurance through premiums or judgments.
Did you just see the woman on FNC demanding a bus to get her out of some place in Texas?!?
Phew.