Hurricane Rita hits Tex/La with water, wind

[DudeAsInCool]

HURRICANE RITA DISCUSSION NUMBER 20

NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL

11 AM EDT THU SEP 22 2005

RITA APPEARS TO HAVE REACHED ITS PEAK INTENSITY DURING THE PAST

12 HOURS. HURRICANES TYPICALLY DO NOT MAINTAIN SUCH HIGH INTENSITY

FOR A LONG TIME. INITIAL INTENSITY ESTIMATE IS 145 KNOTS. ALTHOUGH

SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN INTENSITY ARE LIKELY DURING THE NEXT DAY OR

TWO...DUE TO EYEWALL REPLACEMENT CYCLES...AN OVERALL GRADUAL

WEAKENING TREND SHOULD TAKE PLACE. THIS WEAKENING TREND IS BASED ON

LOWER OCEANIC HEAT CONTENT ALONG THE FORECAST TRACK AND INCREASING

SHEAR. NEVERTHERELESS...RITA IS EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL AS A

DANGEROUS HURRICANE OF AT LEAST A CATEGORY THREE INTENSITY.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATC...ml/221455.shtml

[moodyblue]

Amber- where in spring does she live? If you are familiar w/any of the streets names, I live off of Sawdust (not too far from I-45) We are going to get alot of wind and rain (hopefully no tornados) some people have left and some are staying. They havn't told us that we have to leave.

Thanks everyone. I have decided to tough this thing out. I MUST be crazy!! I went and stocked up on water and some food for me and the dog. Got some more candles. Now all I have to do is clean off my patio and pray the winds don't get to harry, which I know they can.

I plan on staying online as much as possible between now and sometime tomorrow.

Edited September 22, 2005 by moodyblue

[Amber]

I haven't the slightest idea lol, as soon as I speak with my mom I'll ask her. I believe the bar they have is called M&J's?

[moodyblue]

Never heard of M&J's. I hope she is okay.

[DudeAsInCool]

Houston Residents Struggle to Get Inland

GALVESTON, Texas -- Hundreds of thousands of people across the Houston metropolitan area struggled to make their way inland in a vast, bumper-to-bumper exodus Thursday as Hurricane Rita closed in on the nation's fourth-largest city with winds howling at 150 mph.

Drivers ran out of gas in 14-hour traffic jams or looked in vain for a place to stay as hotels hundreds of miles in from the coast filled up. Others got tired of waiting in traffic and turned around and went home.

An estimated 1.8 million residents or more in Texas and Louisiana were under orders to evacuate to avoid a deadly repeat of Katrina.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2200206_pf.html

[moodyblue]

Well, if I can talk myself into it, I might be going to a friend's house across the freeway from me with another friend and her mom. They have a generator over there.

So now all I have to do now is tape the windows and somehow protect the stuff I don't want messed up. (I know that may not matter.)

[Shawn]

I don't think it's been mentioned yet, but Beatfactory is right around there too.

[DudeAsInCool]

September 22,2005 | NEW ORLEANS -- In a grim opening salvo from Hurricane Rita, a steady rain began falling Thursday on New Orleans for the first time since Katrina laid waste to the city, and engineers rushed to shore up the broken levees for fear of another ruinous round of flooding.

The forecast called for 3 to 5 inches of rain in New Orleans in the coming days. That is dangerously close to the amount engineers said could send floodwaters pouring back into neighborhoods that have been dry for less than a week.

There was also the risk that the storm could take a sharper-than-expected turn on its way toward Texas and hit much closer to New Orleans.

http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?...=D8CPIMR0L.html

[DudeAsInCool]

global warming, says environmental chief

As Hurricane Rita threatens devastation, scientist blames climate change

Super-powerful hurricanes now hitting the United States are the "smoking gun" of global warming, one of Britain's leading scientists believes.

The growing violence of storms such as Katrina, which wrecked New Orleans, and Rita, now threatening Texas, is very probably caused by climate change, said Sir John Lawton, chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. Hurricanes were getting more intense, just as computer models predicted they would, because of the rising temperature of the sea, he said. "The increased intensity of these kinds of extreme storms is very likely to be due to global warming."

In a series of outspoken comments - a thinly veiled attack on the Bush administration, Sir John hit out at neoconservatives in the US who still deny the reality of climate change.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americ...ticle314510.ece

[slum_goddess]

live action

stay safe, everyone.

[DudeAsInCool]

Curious as to what people thought of how the evacuations were handled. I listened to a couple soundbites of people on NPR telling people to get the heck out of Houston, Galvestron, New Orleans... And then I saw all these pictures of traffic jams on the web. Wouldnt it have made more sense to organize the evacuation - ask people to leave in alphabetical increments, instead of all at once? I dont know, seems pretty stupid to just to tell everyone to leave at the same time...

[DudeAsInCool]

TEXAS BRACING FOR 'CATASTROPHIC EVENT,' EXPECTS ENTIRE CITY OF PORT ARTHUR TO BE FLOODED

TEXAS EXPECTS 5.2 MILLION PEOPLE TO BE AFFECTED BY RITA, 6,000 HOMES TO BE DESTROYED

SOUTHEAST TEXAS EXPECTED TO GET HURRICANE-FORCE WINDS FOR 16 STRAIGHT HOURS.

WATER FLOODS BACK INTO NEW ORLEANS

HTTP://WWW.THEDRUDGEREPORT.COM

[Kooperman]

New Orleans levee fails; water pours in again

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9438536/

[moodyblue]

I think this is going to be the last time I am online for awhile. In the next hour or so I am going to unplug the computer and take it with me. The winds were I am at are up to 25 mph right now.

I will get back online asap.

[Kooperman]

Good luck MoodyB...

[Potato]

It's seeming like we know a bunch of folks in these areas... my thoughts and prayers are with them now.

[The Hunter]

A friend by the name of fluffy couldnt make it, dont ask its a long story. Lets just say the reservations were fucked up, so now shes stuck there. Way too many friends in the path of this thing. :nope:

[slum_goddess]

good luck, moodyblue.

[Kooperman]

Widespread power outages, fires reported as storm weakens to Cat. 1

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9389157/

[slum_goddess]

dunno where to put this (apart from where the sun don't shine, lol) but the preznit dint go to san antonio yesterday cause it was too SUNNY! :lol: fair weather preznit :lol: (chug chug chug glug glug glug! image is um...glug glug...ever'thing) :)

[moodyblue]

I'm back safe and sound!! We didn't anything but wind and some rain in my area.

Thank Goodness that is over with!

[Potato]

I'm glad to hear you're safe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[slum_goddess]

really! :)

[DudeAsInCool]

Good for you , Moody blue...

Too bad about the folks in Port Arthur...

[DudeAsInCool]

This is Cameron, Louisiana - there used to be houses here...