Hurricane Rita (very powerful storm)

Maybe he needs to meet minstrel. lol

 

I swear ... that crap will never end ...

 

Thanks. It's shifted more east, which is bad news for me.

 

I think it's time you both kiss and make out.... I mean "up"

 

I'd like the second part, but the first one is more his cup of tea I bet

 

Sorry, let's get back to the hurricane topic. Google amazes me http://www.google.com/hurricane.html http://news.google.com/news?q=Hurricane+Rita

 

Hi folks.

I packed up the family and left Friendswood yesterday at 11:00am for Dallas. We made it at 8pm after stopping for dinner in Corsicana. 8 hours of driving for what is normally a 4.5 hour trip. We were lucky - we left early.

At the time we left, the forecast track had the storm (eye) hitting Matagorda Bay putting the Houston/Galveston corridor in the storm's NE quadrant (the worst part of the storm). They were predicting a storm surge of 4-5 feet in Friendswood (half-way between Galveston and Houston). Based upon the data available at the time, I was not sure if I was going to have a house to go back to.

Luckily for me, it looks like the storm eye will make landfall east of Houston/Galveston and spare my home the worst winds & storm surge.

Chaci, I hope you have a hotel room reserved because there is NO space left in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas or anywhere in between.

 

Yeah, I made plans 8 months ago...I am staying at a friend's house and have all of my tickets. I wish you the best and I hope that your home is spared any damage. To be honest I feel a little strange flying down there tomorrow to go to a concert all weekend while people's homes and lives will be turned upside down. But, I haven't really thought of a reason why me cancelling the trip would help anyone.

 

Have fun at the airport, Chach'!

Something tells me you'll be spending a lot of time there. Make sure you bring some good movies to watch!

 

CR, I think most people are going out while we will be going in. Silly really. I have a copy of Team America World Police on the laptop, might have to throw Stripes on there too.

 

If you get some recent news don't forget to update us here.

 

Thanks Shannon.

Latest computer models I've seen indicate landfall for the eye somewhere near the Texas/Louisiana border, but the eye is still wobbling, so it's path cannot be pinned down just yet. Even at that, I saw a projection indicating that Friendswood should get hit with sustained winds of 50 knots (~55mph).

They announced last night that it was too late for people still in the Houston/Glaveston area to try and evacuate. The freeways are a clusterf**k and not moving so there is no way to get out. It's a good thing the storm has turned to the east/north or there would be tremendous loss of life from people riding the storm out in their cars in a freeway parking lot!

 

This thing is going to stall out and flood parts of inland TX and LA.


..EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE RITA CONTINUES TOWARD
THE SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND UPPER TEXAS COASTS...

COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 15 TO 20 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE
LEVELS...ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...CAN BE
EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE EAST OF WHERE THE CENTER MAKES LANDFALL.
TIDES ARE CURRENTLY RUNNING ABOUT 2 FEET ABOVE NORMAL ALONG THE
LOUISIANA...MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA COASTS IN THE AREAS AFFECTED BY
KATRINA. TIDES IN THOSE AREAS WILL INCREASE TO 3 TO 5 FEET AND BE
ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE WAVES...AND RESIDENTS THERE COULD EXPERIENCE
COASTAL FLOODING. LARGE SWELLS GENERATED BY RITA WILL LIKELY AFFECT
MOST PORTIONS OF THE GULF COAST.

RITA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 12
INCHES...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 15 INCHES OVER
SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS AND SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA AS IT MOVES INLAND.
SINCE RITA IS FORECAST TO SLOW DOWN SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER MAKING
LANDFALL...TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS IN EXCESS OF 25 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE
OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS ACROSS EASTERN TEXAS AND WESTERN
LOUISIANA. IN ADDITION...RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES ARE
POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA INCLUDING METROPOLITAN NEW
ORLEANS.

ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE TODAY OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHEASTERN
TEXAS AND SOUTHERN LOUISIANA.

 

...CORE OF DANGEROUS HURRICANE RITA EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL NEAR
DAYBREAK SATURDAY...

RITA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 12 MPH. ON THIS TRACK...THE
CORE OF HURRICANE RITA WILL MAKE LANDFALL ALONG THE SOUTHWEST
LOUISIANA AND UPPER TEXAS COASTS NEAR DAYBREAK SATURDAY.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 125 MPH...205 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. RITA IS A STRONG CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE
SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN INTENSITY ARE POSSIBLE
BEFORE LANDFALL...BUT RITA IS STILL EXPECTED TO COME ASHORE AS A
DANGEROUS CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 85 MILES...140 KM...
FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP
TO 205 MILES...335 KM. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD
INLAND AS FAR AS 100 MILES NEAR THE PATH OF RITA. AN ELEVATED
STATION AT MARSH ISLAND LOUISIANA RECENTLY REPORTED SUSTAINED WINDS
OF 59 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 78 MPH.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5298559,00.html

 

60+mph winds where. I'm lucky my power hasn't gone out yet.....

 

You poor people. Wish yall the best of luck. I saw so many images from Katrina and it looked like the end of the world IMO. Maybe we all should move to someplace that stays sunny like San Diego lol.

What is Bush going to do to fund all these wonderful rebuilding projects. I hope Microsoft donates another $9 million like they did before.

 

I just got off of the phone with my friend in Houston. She has six people staying with her now. They tried to evacuate but went less than 10 miles in 13 hours. So they turned around and went to her house.

 

Taking Americans money and handing the re-building and construction work over to Haliburton, most likely. He he.

Gotta love 'em. Oh, they tickle me so.

Pete

 

I made it home this morning. All is well. Rita spared us and hammered east Texas/Louisiana instead.