Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VI

NHC - NOAA ^ | 23 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Dangerous Hurricane Rita is expected to make landfall in the northeast Gulf of Mexico within 24 hours. Tornados have spawned in Louisiana. Water is filling the Ninth Ward of New Orleans again. A bus carrying elderly evacuees was gutted by fire this morning outside Dallas, with multiple fatalities. Television crews have positioned their hurricane reporters throughout the region to attain maximum drama effects. Whoooooa.

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:

FReeper Sign In Thread 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 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

[cake_crumb]

I wasn't able to find out for sure that both my family and hubby's has got out of the way. A lot of mine are around Beaumont. Hubby's are Dallas.

[TXBubba]

Hi! It was so still when I went in that it was very noticeable when I came out. I can't tell from what I'm reading if Rita is still on the same course or has shifted at all? We've gone from "the eye of the storm being over Round Rock" reported Wednesday morning to "you probably won't get any rain" today. Not sure what to believe anymore.

[LA Woman3]

Blanco is giving a news conference. She said, "I've asked Rita" Instead of "I've asked FEMA"!
Now she is consulting the hurricane!

[Rightly Biased]

Thanks for the great loop

[oceanview]

port arthur/beaumont and western LA are going to get the worst of it. Galveston and Houston will be in the western part of the storm.

[Miss Marple]

Blanco on TV now, trying to impersonate a governor. Get this: she is asking for all sorts of money, including complete pay for police and fire from the Feds, instead of just overtime. Also she wants more money so that people of Louisiana can come home (translation...get those Rat voters back now). She also is confusung Rita and Katrina, and Rita and FEMA.

[markman46]

does that include a disasembled gun?

[TN4Liberty]

Is anyone watching Gov Blanco? I think she said she has asked FEMA to pay for evacuees to stay in full service hotels IN LOUISIANNA, not in MS or TX or elsewhere! Get them closer to their real home, she said. Amazing.

[Revel]

"Yep you sound like a REAL responsible gun owner gun owner "

Why not.

At least he did not threaten to shoot you.

And I would love to get my butt kicked by her...LOL

[CharlesWayneCT]

You should never point guns at people. I can only hope they aren't loaded. And those fingers are too close to the triggers.

It was funny, but most people think it is funny right before they put a bullet into somebody by accident.

[Spktyr]

Good, her disintegration has proceeded apace.

[IamConservative]

Wasn't Alicia a 2?

A Category 3 Hurricane the size of Rita is like an F2 Tornado 125 miles or so wide that could last for 6 hours or more.

Sounds weak to me..

[Heatseeker]

Any FReepers still left in Port Arthur or Beaumont? Hope everybody got out.

[dfwgator]

This is the worst part about Rita hitting Louisiana, now we have to deal with Blank-Oh again.

[Wneighbor]

Not sure what to believe anymore.

Same here. I'm just west of Waco. Just waiting to see what happens.

[Eaker]

If any idiots from a blue state shows up and wants to mouth off in person there will be plenty of pics.

Try yer luck uncb00b.

I'll make you famous.

[Lemondropkid31]

Ok, thanks for all the help! I have never been in a hurricane before and you guys were very patient. I am going to be heading off to work in about 15 minutes or so, so I am going to go ahead and sign off. Bye!!!

[geopyg]

---"....but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence..."----

I recall reading somewhere that when the constitution was written the phrase "well regulated militia" did not mean "some guys with a bunch of rules" but "some guys that are well prepared".

[Dog Gone]

The funny part about Texas is that the citizenry is better armed than any of the goverment agencies, save the active military.

I talked with the neighbors in my part of the subdivision this morning. Sort of an impromptu block meeting.

The subject of looting came up. None of us expect a problem, and we all expressed the willingness to help anyone, even from out of the area, who has a legitimate need. But we also decided we would not allow any looting. We talked about who had guns and who didn't. Most of us did.

It's not going to be a problem.

[Patriot from Philly]

Another drama king. The best reporting on Katrina was a CNN reporter Jean Mansur, I think her name is. She was professional, appropriately emotional and her response was proportional to what was actually happening. She was the first one to report the extent of the flooding in NO and explain it to viewers.

It's a shame CNN goes so political because some of their reporters are good. They lost me when they went into full blown Bush Bash but their early Katrina reporting was so good.