Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VII

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

[NautiNurse]

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:

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 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

[BurbankKarl]

Large fire on KPRC2....

this is the one I heard earlier...Gulf Fwy at Nasa

[glock rocks]

I think it's in Harris County :o)

[Knitting A Conundrum]

You're right, it was amazing how long they were able to broadcast.

[glock rocks]

Nite Grannie. Sleep warm, sleep well.

[LibertyRocks]

Good night gramma! (o:

[ravinson]

Just lost KPLC feed...

I lost it too. They may be off the air. They said their tower was built in the 50's.

Are they simulwebcasting on any radio stations?

[newzjunkey]

Buenos noches.

[Heatseeker]

I don't know, but when I switched over to KSLA Shreveport, they are doing an infomercial. LOL!

[steveegg]

Good night, Gramma.

[bd476]

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 152 AM CDT SAT SEP 24 2005

Tornado Warning for...

Calcasieu Parish in South West Louisiana

Jefferson Davis Parish in Southwest Louisiana

Cameron Parish in Southwest Louisiana

Jefferson County in Southeast Texas

Orange County in Southeast Texas

Tornado Warning Lake Charles, Louisiana

[conservative in nyc]

Mainly Harris County. Small parts of the City of Houston sprawl into Montgomery and Fort Bend counties as well. It's a Texas-sized city.

[Revel]

Large apartment fire in Houston per Fox.

[ncountylee]

Halliburton been hammered yet?

[GOPyouth]

I just went outside here in Tyler, and the rain has started to fall. I got all loose items out of the back yard, got the dogs' food and water inside, and getting ready for several days of heavy rain.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Even if KPRC lost their power at the transmitter, those with Dish or DirecTV in the Houston area would still be able to see them broadcast, since both DirecTV and Dish Network have fiber optic lines connected right to the control room console.

I remember right after 9/11, the WABC tower (which was on top of the WTC) went out of service, but they were still broadcasting. Cable companies in NYC were getting their WABC feed from Dish Network.

[dancusa]

I am listening to reports on KPRC in Houston. Here's the link to get to KPRC and other radio stations:http://radio.findanisp.com/radio-shows-on-air.php

[steveegg]

3 am position estimate and landfall statement -

ZCZC MIATCEAT3 ALL
TTAA00 KNHC DDHHMM
HURRICANE RITA TROPICAL CYCLONE POSITION ESTIMATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
3 AM CDT SAT SEP 24 2005

AT 3 AM CDT...0800Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE RITA WAS LOCATED NEAR
LATITUDE 29.8 NORTH...LONGITUDE 93.8 WEST...OR JUST NORTHEAST OF
SABINE PASS ALONG THE COAST AT THE BORDER BETWEEN TEXAS AND
LOUISIANA.

THE CENTER OF RITA MADE LANDFALL AT 230 AM CDT ON THE EXTREME
SOUTHWEST COAST OF LOUISIANA BETWEEN SABINE PASS AND JOHNSON'S
BAYOU.

FORECASTER BEVEN

$$
NNNN

[newzjunkey]

Are you joining us tonight?

[steveegg]

Ping to vortex data message just before landfall.

[Revel]

The lake charle blog being updated by the weather service there has not updated in over an hour. I would say they are having serious problems. They made some comments on KPLC a while back that made it sound like they were worried about storm surge at there location.

The wind and water is blowing so bad in lake charles as seen right now on Fox and those street lights are STILL ON!