Here Comes Rita!!

[brerrabbit]

I had my weekly bowling league tonight and on the way home every gas station in town was packed. Wal Mart as well as every other store in town is completely out of water, as well as most canned food, ice chests coolers and batteries. We are preparing in earnest for the storm. No plywood to be had anywhere. Home Depot and Lowes say they should have more in the morning but I am sure it will disappear fast. Most schools and colleges have already cancelled classes for Wednesday through Friday. The biggest question asked by everyone you talk to is "are you staying or going?" A suprisingly large number are staying. The fear of flodding in our area is pretty good, but most are not worried, the biggest fear is the wind and what damage that will do if we stay. Evacuation of the fourth largest city in America plus all the outlying communities in the greater Houston area make the thought of evacuation pretty scary. We have spent most of the afternoon and evening picking up potential projectiles and moved everything in the gargae or the house. No its the worse part, the waiting, the watching, the constant questioning of where is it going. My DW works in the school district so she is off the rest of the week. I on the other hand have to go in in the morning but am sure we will be sent home pretty quickly. Am watching the news but no annoucements of companies being closed. I will let everyone know how things are tomorrow.

[bsnyder]

brerrabbit, please stay safe!

From the NHC 11:00 advisory on Rita:

STRENGTHENING INTO A CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE IS A DISTINCT POSSIBILITY

[Boston Tea Party]

YOU are brave! I am getting the hell out of here! As soon as the school district closes and DH's job release him, we are OUT of here! :scared1:

[catherine]

Everyone in the path of Rita please stay safe. My thoughts and prayers are with you! :grouphug:

[TXTink]

DD and I (and our two puppies!) are evacuating this afternoon, DH will join us after work tonight. We need to get situated for the storm so we can head to Baton Rouge early Saturday morning for LSU's home opener (that is where our youngest DD goes to school). I feel like we have been avoiding hurricanes this whole semester!

Keep safe everyone! Our thoughts and prayers will be with everyone in the storms path.

[ThAnswr]

I had my weekly bowling league tonight and on the way home every gas station in town was packed. Wal Mart as well as every other store in town is completely out of water, as well as most canned food, ice chests coolers and batteries. We are preparing in earnest for the storm. No plywood to be had anywhere. Home Depot and Lowes say they should have more in the morning but I am sure it will disappear fast. Most schools and colleges have already cancelled classes for Wednesday through Friday. The biggest question asked by everyone you talk to is "are you staying or going?" A suprisingly large number are staying. The fear of flodding in our area is pretty good, but most are not worried, the biggest fear is the wind and what damage that will do if we stay. Evacuation of the fourth largest city in America plus all the outlying communities in the greater Houston area make the thought of evacuation pretty scary. We have spent most of the afternoon and evening picking up potential projectiles and moved everything in the gargae or the house. No its the worse part, the waiting, the watching, the constant questioning of where is it going. My DW works in the school district so she is off the rest of the week. I on the other hand have to go in in the morning but am sure we will be sent home pretty quickly. Am watching the news but no annoucements of companies being closed. I will let everyone know how things are tomorrow.

Stay safe and that goes for anyone in Rita's path.

Rita's in the Gulf now and where she'll land is anyone's guess.

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I cannot even believe people are questioning what they should do.

It really is la la land when it comes to hurricanes and goes to show that nothing can be done about complacency.

Stay safe!

[brerrabbit]

Evacuation is happening in a big way. I take IH 45 to work some days but avoided it today because the radio said it was an hour drive to go 17 miles from my entrnce into downtown Houston where I work. I did drive the last couple of miles on 45 and there were vehicles fully loaded and headed inland. Hope they all have places to go as the news is reporting most hotels are booked in Austin, San Antonio, Waco etc. Our plan is if it looks bad enough to head to College Station where our DS is a student at Texas A&M. He has a small house that he and another guy rent there. I also have an Aunt that lives on the family land north of Bryan but am somewhat worried about her because she lives in a mobile home. If needed we have friends in Dallas, and San Antonio as well as a cousin in Dallas. Later today we plan to try and board up some windows on the back of the house and then make our decision to go or stay. The back of our house faces Southeast and thats 30 miles as the crow flies to the Gulf of Mexico so that side of the house will face the brunt of the storm. We are 37 feet above sea level but the real fear is with the storm surge the creeks and bayous will back up and not let any of the rain drain out which can cause flooding all over the area. I know we should probably leave but the thought of leaving everything you have in your life to the mercy of the weather and anyone who might come in after the storm before we can get back is hard to take. Our next door neighbor is a Sheriffs Deputy so he will be riding out the storm somewhere and his wife/girlfriend has two younger boys and is thinking she will stay since he has to. He will be working 24/7 before and after the storm and I can't imagine her being alone there. Will keep everyone posted as this thing progresses here.

[ducklite]

My heart is breaking for everyone in the path of this one. I hope it "burns out" before it makes landfall again. God Speed to those of you who are evcuating.

Anne

[brerrabbit]

An interesting story. Here at work we are all talking this morning about what our plans are and trading cell phone numbers to get in touch after the storm (if they work). The girl that sits next to me lives in Pearland as I do but shes on the west side of town. She is beginning to feel that someone is out to get her family. Her parents are in China where her father works for a textile company. At Christmas the went on vacation and met one of her sisters in Thailand or some place like that and..... you guessed it they were there when the Tsunami hit. Her sister and Father were getting ready to get on a dive boat when all the water in the harbor got sucked out and the boat captain said "run" Her sister made it to the hotel and to an upper floor where her mother was and her father actually had to hold on to a rope tied around a tree to survive. They were all okay and made it home safe. Then Katrina hits and she has cousins in New Orleans and we all know about that. Luckily they are in Riverridge and its high ground so not much damage and no flooding. Now she sits here talking about Rita and the fact that its coming to the Houston area. She feels like her family has a target on their back. Hopefully she as well as all the other folks here fare as well as her family has.

[novajeanjellybean]

Well it looks like i'll be signing off too as my family is leaving tonight or early tomorrow. I live in SW Houston but am too close for comfort to the areas being told to leave. Everything is being cancelled for the rest of the week so I am outta here. Please keep me in your prayers. :grouphug:

[BoyLovesBuzz]

You know what I wish, I wish that the many many many Hurricane forecast maps would start putting at least major cities on them. I have no idea where Galveston or Houston is in relation to the long range forecast.

Same with Katrina, I would have like to have known exactly where NO and Biloxi were, but you never saw that until that strike day. Anyone know why?

:confused3

[brerrabbit]

Look at the NOAA Hurricane warning map. Find the Texas/La border. Move southwest along the coast till you see a big bay that goes inland. Galveston is on the Southwest edge of that bay on the coast. At the north end of the bay is the entrance to the Houston Ship Channel. Northwest of that bay starting at its shoreline is Kemah, Seabrook, Pasadena, Deer Park and more to the west is League City. All are manditory evacuation areas. The latest path predicted by NOAA has the storm track crossing Matagorda Bay. That would be the next significant bay on the coast to the southwest. It is about 100 miles from Houston down the coast. Further southwest on the map would be Corpus Christi Bat and the city of Corpus Christi. Hope that puts it in perspective. Oh one last thing Houston is 45 miles Northwest of Galveston Island.

[bsnyder]

You know what I wish, I wish that the many many many Hurricane forecast maps would start putting at least major cities on them. I have no idea where Galveston or Houston is in relation to the long range forecast.

Same with Katrina, I would have like to have known exactly where NO and Biloxi were, but you never saw that until that strike day. Anyone know why?

:confused3

Check out this and the other weather maps at skeetobite. They'll update with more zoomed in focus as the area of landfall becomes more clear.

www.skeetobiteweather.com

http://skeetobiteweather.com/archive/forecast/AL182005ltsz.gif

[DemonLlama]

I am currently 200 miles inland in College Station where I work. We live about half an hour closer to Houston and closer to the storm if projections hold.

My college has annouced this morning we will be closed as of noon tomorrow. All classes cancelled for the rest of the week. Texas A&M is likely to announce the same later today. Many students need to get out if they live north, or help family if they live south of the area.

I advised my classes that if they were staying here this weekend to try to find batteries, flashlights (most college students don't have this stuff in their apartments) and bottled water.

However, bottled water is gone at every store DH checked this morning. We bought some supplies last night, but thought we should get more just in case but it is too late.

The local paper said if it reaches Cat. 5 before landfall, our 200 mile inland position would mean even we would be experiencing very high winds and resulting damage, massive power outages, and severe flooding, particularly if it has slowed enough to dump many many inches over the area each hour.

There are highway signs directing highway drivers where to exit for shelter, so my guess is many of our coastal folks may be weathering the storm around here, hoping for the best.

Galveston and surrounding areas have mandatory evacuations in effect. As of this evening, I-45 will have all lanes running north out of Houston. They have learned much from Katrina. Buses are taking people without transportation out TODAY and getting them up to Huntsville, which is about are far inland as where we are.

With Houston's known flooding issues and the fact that it is a city with more than 3 million people, if it reaches Cat. 5 . . . I can't really finish that thought.

Please keep those in the storm's path in your prayers.

Maybe this map will help "see" these places in relation to each other:

http://www.aggieathletics.com/nonsports/VIS/maps/BCS_locator.gif

[ThAnswr]

This storm makes me very uneasy. It could still go anywhere. It could even take a wild hop and hit Florida. My DH took the emergency radio out of the boat just in case.

[safetymom]

Stay safe everyone. Don't be stupid and try to ride it out if they tell you to evacuate. Hurricanes are nothing to mess around with.

[Thea]

CNN just reported that Rita is now a cat. 5 hurricane :earseek:


Thea

[bsnyder]

She's just about "perfect" looking now:

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/float-vis-loop.html

ThAnswr, I don't think we have any worry of a Florida landfall with this one. But we're still only in September.

:( :( :(

[Talking Hands]

Get out! Evacuate. You do not want to experience at category 5 storm. Keep safe.

[Tigger_Magic]

Category 5 -- :earseek: Prayers for everyone in Rita's path.

[lyeag]

Please be safe everyone.... I can't believe it is happening again so soon. I will be saying prayers for everyone in harm's way.

[chadfromdallas]

We're Texans, we can handle this :3dglasses

[chadfromdallas]

And When I say handle, I mean run like the wind north :earseek: 165mph! Yesh :earseek:

[wvrevy]

From a Tropical Storm to a Category 5 in a little over 24 hours...and it will strengthen before it starts to weaken right before landfall, due to the water temperatures in the gulf. (Warm, deep water is fuel for the storm...it will weaken when it reaches more shallow water.)

Anybody else ready for winter to get here already ? :sad2:

[theSurlyMermaid]

And When I say handle, I mean run like the wind north :earseek: 165mph! Yesh :earseek:

Run, Chad, run!!!

That's good advice for all of you in Rita's path...I cannot believe this either! I cannot wait for winter, that's for sure!

[bsnyder]

Pressure now is 904. That's the 5th most intense Atlantic hurricane. :earseek:

Hurricane watches are now up from Port Mansfield Texas to Cameron Lousiana. East of Cameron to Grande Isle a tropical storm watch is up. And south of Port Mansfield south through Texas into San Fernando Mexico.

[sodaseller]

Pressure now is 904. That's the 5th most intense Atlantic hurricane. :earseek:

Hurricane watches are now up from Port Mansfield Texas to Cameron Lousiana. East of Cameron to Grande Isle a tropical storm watch is up. And south of Port Mansfield south through Texas into San Fernando Mexico.
That would be better than 5th, I think

NCDC (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2005/katrina.html)
Hurricane Katrina was one of the strongest storms to impact the coast of the United States during the last 100 years. With sustained winds during landfall of 140 mph (a strong category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale) and minimum central pressure the third lowest on record at landfall (920 mb),

Other storms have had stronger sustained winds when they made landfall including the following:

The Labor Day Hurricane, Florida Keys, September 2, 1935, Category 5, 892 mb, Approaching 200 mph
Hurricane Camille, Mississippi, August 17, 1969, Category 5, 909 mb, Approaching 190 mph
Hurricane Andrew, Southeast Florida, August 24, 1992, Category 5, 922 mb, 165 mph
Hurricane Charley, Punta Gorda, Florida, August 13, 2004, Category 4, 941 mb, 150 mph

[bsnyder]

That would be better than 5th, I think

NCDC (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2005/katrina.html)

That's not pressure at landfall, just overall lowest pressure recorded. Katrina actually hit 902 at one point, before weakening some prior to landfall.

I think Gilbert has the record - 888, or something close to that.

[ducklite]

This is going to be catastrophic. I'm naseaus thinking about it.

Anne

[sodaseller]

A pre-Katrina listing is here (http://www.hurricaneville.com/all_time_storms.php) - don't know if these readings are at landfall or not. If not, Rita is #4 at 904

1 1122 GILBERT 1988-09-08 888
2 615 UNNAMED 1935-08-29 892
3 1045 ALLEN 1980-07-31 899
4 934 CAMILLE 1969-08-14 905
5 1234 MITCH 1998-10-22 905


Reading further at that site and others, those readings seem to be over water

[Luv2Roam]

Anyone staying in the path of a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane is nuts. Even inland (Orlando area) I think I would get the heck out if one was heading our way.

We all wish everyone in Rita's path the best and will be praying for you to be safe and sound. :wizard:

[bsnyder]

HURRICANE Rita TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
650 PM CDT WED SEP 21 2005

...RITA BECOMES THE THIRD MOST INTENSE HURRICANE ON RECORD...

DROPSONDE DATA FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE UNIT RECONNAISSANCE
AIRCRAFT AT 623 PM CDT...2323Z...INDICATED THE CENTRAL PRESSURE HAS
FALLEN TO BELOW 899 MB...OR 26.55 INCHES. THE DROPSONDE INSTRUMENT
MEASURED 32 KT/35 MPH WINDS AT THE SURFACE...WHICH MEANS IT LIKELY
DID NOT RECORD THE LOWEST PRESSURE IN THE EYE OF Rita. THE CENTRAL
PRESSURE IS PROBABLY AT LEAST AS LOW AS 898 MB...AND PERHAPS EVEN
LOWER. FOR OFFICIAL PURPOSES... A PRESSURE OF 898 MB IS ASSUMED...
WHICH NOW MAKES Rita THE THIRD MOST INTENSE HURRICANE IN TERMS OF
PRESSURE IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN. SOME ADDITIONAL DEEPENING AND
INTENSIFICATION IS POSSIBLE FOR THE NEXT 12 HOURS OR SO.

RITA CURRENTLY RANKS BEHIND HURRICANE GILBERT IN 1988 WITH 888 MB
AND THE 1935 LABOR DAY HURRICANE WITH 892 MB.

FORECASTER STEWART

[ducklite]

Anyone staying in the path of a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane is nuts. Even inland (Orlando area) I think I would get the heck out if one was heading our way.

We all wish everyone in Rita's path the best and will be praying for you to be safe and sound. :wizard:

I agree. If a CAT 4 was headed anywhere that it could plow straight over land and into the Orlando area (like the paths Charley took last year) I'd be very out of here.

Anne

[Luv2Roam]

:scared1:
Luckily TX appears to be taking this very serious;ly and preparing MUCH better.
We all feel so badly for TX. Esp after they have been so good to others. :guilty:

[Planogirl]

:scared1:
Luckily TX appears to be taking this very serious;ly and preparing MUCH better.
We all feel so badly for TX. Esp after they have been so good to others. :guilty:
It just occurred to me that we could be taking care of a lot of our own too if this keeps up. Yikes! :badpc:

[DemonLlama]

Local news here shows bumper to bumper traffic on I-45 this afternoon, with drive times 12-14 hours to get from Galveston to Huntsville, a drive I covered home to college at SHSU and back every weekend in under two hours.

The mayor of Galveston and crew were carried live at 5:30 here and they already looked shell shocked. They had just come from a meeting with the National Hurricane Center people and basically said, if projections hold, Galveston will be catastrophically devastated. They are out of buses now, so if those who wanted out hopefully got in line this morning.

Things are emptying out quick up here, long lines for gas, no more bottled water, bread, etc.

This is still 48 hours before landfall, so anxiety is running pretty high. If you don't have your supplies by now, it's too late.

[Free4Life11]

My God I can't believe how quick everything goes!! The idea of going into a gas station and there being nothing is just weird to me.....good luck to everyone! I'm glad I live in Nebraska!

[Luv2Roam]

On CNN American Morning their weather specialist stated they hope Rita is a Cat 3, and anticipating a Cat 4 at this time.
Here's hoping for a 3 or less!

[ThAnswr]

Anyone staying in the path of a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane is nuts. Even inland (Orlando area) I think I would get the heck out if one was heading our way.

We all wish everyone in Rita's path the best and will be praying for you to be safe and sound. :wizard:

Sometimes, you don't have a choice. We had an hours notice with Charley, which went from a Cat 2 to Cat 4 in the blink of an eye.

When you get 1 hours notice that a Cat 4 hurricane is headed your way, hunker down, you're screwed.

But, I will agree with you. I'd been through hurricanes in NY, but I have never seen anything as powerful as Charley in my life. And Charley was half a hurricane as we never had the heavy rains or storm surge come the entire area. There was a storm surge at the marinas and in some parts of downtown Punta Gorda, but most of the damage was caused by the wind. Charley was hear and gone within an hour. When we opened our doors and looked, it looked like a bomb went off. Our double and 1/2 garage door was twisted as if it was a piece of aluminum foil.

On a lighter note, a downtown Punta Gorda Irish pub's claim to fame is that they never closed during Charley. I never got the full story, but by the time Charley was in full swing, the pub owner was host to about 20 storm chasers.

Anyway, anyone in Rita's path, get out of there.

[Geoff_M]

Nice to see that someone in Houston "gets it"...

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5610/158/1600/houston.jpg

[WDWBetsy]

Keeping everyone in Rita's path in my prayers. :grouphug:

[mickeyfan2]

Nice to see that someone in Houston "gets it"...

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5610/158/1600/houston.jpg

Me too. I am glad that the state and local leaders took note and fixed what went wrong during Katrina.

[DawnCt1]

Nice to see that someone in Houston "gets it"...

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5610/158/1600/houston.jpg

Have you noticed how proactive the state and local government is in Texas? The governor has been front and center.

[DawnCt1]

"When Rita Leaves, Rita's gone". (Delbert McClinton) Lets hope its soon!

[WDWBetsy]

Have you noticed how proactive the state and local government is in Texas? The governor has been front and center.

Of course, they're going to be proactive. I honestly don't believe it's just state and local though - the federal government is throwing more resources at this. They saw the screw-ups made by New Orleans local officials and the state (Blanco), not to mention the feds. It appears that everyone has learned from Katrina mistakes/response time. I expect no less. They are doing what should be done anyway ... and they don't want to have mud on their face like NO, LA, or federal officials. FEMA appears to be acting more proactively - and they're promoting how supplies and resources are standing ready.

I'd rather have serious overkill on disaster preparedness than lackluster response.

CNN article on federal preparedness (http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/21/rita.federalresponse.ap/index.html)

[Planogirl]

Governor Perry basically said that Texas fully expects to have to handle this on their own and anything else beyond that would be welcome. I guess that some people do learn!

I understand that Rita took a bit of a wobble to the north last night and it might come in slightly to the east of Galveston now. It would be murder on east Texas though but we'll see.

[Geoff_M]

Across the federal government, officials were advertising the Bush administration's stepped-up response plans for Hurricane Rita as it swept across the Gulf of Mexico toward the Texas coastline.I really question whether the preparation is really substantially that much different this time. What I do think is different is the recognition of the importance of "advertising" the preparation (as the CNN article points out). That wasn't done with Katrina. So when things turned ugly afterwards, efforts to try and explain what was done in advance made little impact on people watching the human drama unfold.

I understand that Rita took a bit of a wobble to the north last night and it might come in slightly to the east of Galveston now. It would be murder on east Texas though but we'll see.Perhaps more importantly, this probably means more rain for the New Orleans area.