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
Laz, those towns have been there for a very, very long time. Most of them now are basically staging and support areas for the oil services companies. My husband used to stage from Houma and Cameron when he would go offshore to work on the pieces of the rigs he designed.
People that live there know that they can get whacked by a hurricane. It's no different that people that live along the San Andreas Fault. It's just assessing how much risk you are willing to take. We haven't had a major hurricane in the upper Texas Coast since 1983!
I agree the fedgov.com does not owe them anything. Nonetheless where will the line be drawn? Sheila lee is already whining about who is going to pay the people for gas money and stuff.
Once the gov gives certain people money to rebuild their lives as in 9/11 and now Katrina, everyone will expect a handout. Many will say your disaster wasnt anything like Katrina and 9/11. But for those in the middle of any disaster its a "10" in their book and they will think their lives and their families well being just as important.
"Tracks over the west side of town and hits Katy and NW houston with 100-125 mph winds. That's really a no-brainer for most people."
What is the BFD about 100-125 mph winds if you are in a house or apartment building built to code? You might get some roof damage, but it is not going to blow down your walls -- unless your house is so shoddily built that you should not be living there.
I rode through Alicia in a General Home (building tomorrow's slums today) that was in SE Friendswood. That was a Cat 3. The eye wall came within a mile of my house. I have friends with houses in Dickinson and Galveston whose homes survived those winds -- and these are houses built in the 1960s and 70s, before the codes were tightened.
If someone lives in a trailer, mobile home, or other metal structure, yeah -- evacuating a your home in Katy makes sense. But you should do that *any* time tropical storm winds or tornadoes are forecast -- not just for hurricanes.
In a well-built permanent structure rising water and tornadoes are the real dangers in a hurricane, not wind. And you are just as likely to be hit by a hurricane-spawned tornado in Austin as in West Houston. (When we evacuated for Allen, we went to Austin. The shelter we stayed in had the roof taken off by a tornado spawned from Allen after it moved inland.)
Our first plan for Rita was to go to a relative that lived in Katy. Unfortunately he and his family were in California on vacation. So we went to the Hill Country because we were in an area that could be innundated. But a trade between the risk of 100-125 mph winds (absent flooding) on my home vs. the inconvenience and hazard of a 16-hr drive to dubious safety *is* a no-brainer. Safer at home than on the road.
LOL FOX News showing how some private people came out of cleared the roads with chainsaws. GREAT example of how the people can get the job done. Meanwhile the city is no-where to be found.
PERFECT example of what was stated above. People are not stupid and can get things accomplished.
I forget, have I said my Pop worked for FEMA for about 15 years?
Streets of Central Port Arthur under 2-3 feet of water.
With or without starch? Ouch!
You mean they didn't sit there griping and wait for FEMA to do it? Shocking, absolutely shocking! We can't have people displaying such self-determination. Why, they might secede from the Union!
Too bad economics is not a required course in high school. There are two ways to lower gasoline prices: 1) Lower demand; or 2) Increase supply beyond the current demand at the current price (in other words create an excess inventory). The only way to do number one in practical terms is to tank the economy as a whole. The only way to do number two is increase production.
If you try to set prices there will be waiting lines or rationing because demand will go up but supply will remain constant or go down. If you try to limit profits then supply will go down as producers find no incentive to produce more.
The way to produce more is technically and economically simple. We are floating in oil. Anti-capitalists, dressed up as environmentalists, simply want us to use less and they can only do this by jacking prices by constricting production.
"We can't have people displaying such self-determination. Why, they might secede from the Union!"
...or even worse, vote Conservative Republican!!
Oh, the horror!!! /sarc
Having lived in Los Angeles, I understand completely. There are homes out in the Antelope Valley north of L.A. that are built right on the San Andreas. In places like Elizabeth Lake, you can see the fault as a line of small hills, and these hills are dotted with homes. I hope the residents got a good deal. When the fault shifts, some of those homes are going to be ripped in half.
Hence the saying, "Hi. I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."
The government does not trust the people, but asks for trust (and votes) in return, and demands cash and obedience once in power.
It's probably illegal, but there's no way FEMA can prosecute all of the violators. </sarc>
Hurricanes always tend to cause vast depressions. Eye'd focus on the six-pack center of your attention, not the swirling cloudy masses around the periphery of the bet.
Replacements Limted, North Carolina has millions of old, antique, modern, and "extra's" of flatware and services. 8<)
Page 1 of photos/information about Lake Charles and surrounding areas
8<)
Well, on the other hand, it's not flatware he's interested in.
Lake Livingston dam is releasing 80k cfs.
(far short of the 110k record in 1994)
Have you heard what the damage was from that 117 mph gust at the dam on 4 am the morning of the landfall?
"WIND REPORTS INCLUDE...
POLK COUNTY WITH 60 TO 70 MPH COUNTY WIDE AND A WIND GUST TO 117 MPH AT THE LAKE LIVINGSTON DAM AT 545 AM..."
If the dam is damaged thank God Rita didnt stall upstream.
My German ancestors were draft dodgers from the old Prussian/Alsace (-1 sp) wars. Came in the mid 1840's (not from Galveston - the port that wiped out by a hurricane) and made their through TX to Bastrop area building chimneys and foundations for the first houses.
Family legend says the bases and chimneys are still standing as old barns and underneath renovated country homes.
Campron must be Cameron, surely.
Some eye-opening pics there. Too bad the people posting have to bash FNC and praise CNN and Anderson Cooper.
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