Here we go again: Hurricane Rita

[Zardoz]

Thank God it's down to a Cat 4 now...

Yeah, it's "only" a Cat 4:

Measly little puffs of 195 or so...

They're really in for it in Texas. A lot of Houston was built in low-lying terrain:

We are estimating landfall between Freeport and Port Arthur close to daybreak Saturday, probably as a Category 4 hurricane. After Rita makes landfall, it will slow its forward movement and may stall across northern Texas causing catastrophic flooding. We expect hurricane-force winds to spread over a large area of eastern Texas after landfall. In fact, high-rise buildings in the Houston area could experience wind gusts to over 100 mph. This will cause windows to shatter. In addition to possible damaging hurricane-force winds, tornadoes might be spawned by the cyclonic rotation from Rita mainly east and northeast of the center of circulation. Storm surge as high as 20 to 25 feet is possible along the coast near and to the right of landfall.

Gulf of Mexico Satellite View

 

[dropzone]

I was looking at the weather(or news?) channel and mentioned that it could possibly go down to a Cat 3 by the time it hits shore. I hope this happens. I'd rather see it be nothing at all by the time it hits but that's not realistic.

 

[Swift]

I was looking at the weather(or news?) channel and mentioned that it could possibly go down to a Cat 3 by the time it hits shore. I hope this happens. I'd rather see it be nothing at all by the time it hits but that's not realistic.

No, but it certainly would be nice.

 

[Pupik]

The folks in florida are used to this kind of thing though. It'll take a lot to make them want to leave.

Forget the hurricanes, home prices are still skyrocketing; that's reason enough for an exodus from the Sunshine State.

Compared to the rest of the country, I think much of south Florida is quite well-prepared to deal with a Category 4 hurricane. There's an elaborate system of canals (basically just drainage ditches) that can be lowered and raised. There's a huge lake to the north if us (Lake Okeechobee), but unlike Lake Ponchatrain, it's got a 40-foot high leeve, thanks to a 1928 hurricane that killed 2,000 people and permanently destroyed the huge sections of several towns surrounding the lake. It's not as affected by storm surge, since it's a good bit inland (40+ miles from the nearest coast).

I feel like we're in a stronger position since we've dealt with hurricanes for over a century now. Hurricane Andrew was a Category 5, but we dealt with it, athough flooding wasn't as big a deal (compared to New Orleans), the destruction you see of the Gulf Coast states gives you an idea what Andrew did to low-lying areas that were still 10+ miles away from the coastline. Building codes were heavily modified after the August 1992 disaster, yet the human toll was much less than what Katrina did elsewhere.

Unfortunatley, Hurricane Charley and Ivan (2004) hit sections of the west coast and Panhandle sections of Florida that hadn't really changed their building codes, despite the fact they are areas that have been stuck before (it had been over 40 years, though). A lot of people still had existing wooden-frame houses, and lots of lower-income people live in mobile homes in those areas compared to southeast Florida. Businesses and commerical structures didn't have any hurricane-proof codes to be built on, either.

Of course, if a Category 5 hurricane stikes, it's almost impossible to predict what will happen because we haven't been through many of them. It's still predicted that the worst would still affect this area. Another problem is that Southern Florida is in the nation's worst possible location for mass-evacuation...nowhere to go but north!

Welcome to the "Cone of Error":

 

[JohnBM01]

Let me tell you something. I was born in 1983. During that year, Cat. 3 Hurricane Alicia was around here in Houston. Houston got screwed real bad. Now, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to be online during this weekend. Things are really scary around here. I'm not around any bayous or watery areas, thankfully. Still doesn't mean I will be completely safe from all of this. The good news is that the Houston Galveston area may not likely have the eye of Rita directly impact Houston and Galveston.

For these reasons, I may be unable to do my usual college football report this Saturday. By then, the rain and winds will be catastrophic. Getting real tense here. Pray for all of us.

 

[Zardoz]

...Getting real tense here. Pray for all of us.

We will.

NOAA Gulf of Mexico Infra-Red Animated Satellite View


EDIT: A Weather Channel pundit just said some areas could conceivably get two or three FEET of rain...

 

[JohnBM01]

Thank you. Muchas gracias. Domo arigato. Merci, merci, beaucoup. Can't say "Thank You" in any other languages, nor can I express this any further. We're just hoping that things don't get too extreme. Houston and its surrounding areas may never be the same again.

If Hurricane Alicia was any indication, it will be a 22-year reminder of the ugliness Hurricanes can provide. And for my sake- a 22 year reminder that's basically almost all of my life. This happened sometime in August or something. I was born in January, 1983.

As a small joke, Hurricane Rita may just be Hurricane Katrina's daughter. She's a bad girl, Rita is. All jokes aside, southeast Texas usually doesn't get severe hurricanes, especially in the direction of the Houston-Galveston area. I fear for these cities (among others):

* Kemah - a beautiful seaside town
* Webster - my favorite mall outside of Houston, Baybrook Mall
* Texas City - a nice city with the rather quiet Mall of the Mainland
* Pearland - beautiful small city just maybe 20-30 minutes south of Houston
* Pasadena - another down-home style city
* Baytown - features Houston Raceway Park and the wonderful San Jacinto monument and mall.
* Beaumont - I used to attend Lamar University, and this is a wonderful city. Lamar University is the center point of the city.

So let me say this again. Please pray for all of us on the "Third Coast."

 

[blargonator]

I definetly will^ im sure a lot of the the GTPlanateers will be too <8- )
p.s. i am a ivan, but i try not to destroy stuff <8- P

 

[Danoff]

I definetly will^ im sure a lot of the the GTPlanateers will be too <8- )
p.s. i am a ivan, but i try not to destroy stuff <8- P

No use praying, because there is no God... and even if there were he wouldn't be answering prayers.

 

[FoolKiller]

No use praying, because there is no God... and even if there were he wouldn't be answering prayers.

You just couldn't let them spread a little hope could you?

 

[kyle]

I have good news and bad news.
First the good. According to the Weather Channel, it's now down to a cat 3. The winds(at last check) were around 125 mph. The pressure has risen to around 930mb. It has also had a little bit of dry air coming into the eyewall, entering into some shear, and is thus weakining.

Now the bad. Levee breach on industrial canal in NO. Water was coming in at 5-10 in. a minute in the lower 9th ward. Engineers are uncertain whether or not the levees will hold. I guess we will find out.

 

[James2097]

According to my Aussie news radio, they're pretty much saying that hurricane Rita won't do anything really, that its all ok.

I won't be praying as that won't do anything, but I will be hoping that the outcome isn't one where stuff gets busted. At least there has been adequate notice given to residents who live in the projected hurricane path this time. So hopefully any loses (in a worst case scenario) will only be monetary, not lives.

 

[FoolKiller]

According to my Aussie news radio, they're pretty much saying that hurricane Rita won't do anything really, that its all ok.

I won't be praying as that won't do anything, but I will be hoping that the outcome isn't one where stuff gets busted. At least there has been adequate notice given to residents who live in the projected hurricane path this time. So hopefully any loses (in a worst case scenario) will only be monetary, not lives.

I think saying it won't do anything is an understatement. It won't take as many lives because the towns were properly prepared. However even at cat 3 it is still bad. It is already reflooding New Orleans. Monetary damages will still be high. It is a hurricane and saying that any hurricane won't do anything is an understatement.

It is safe to say that New Orleans rebuilding efforts may need to be restarted from scratch. Fortunately no one is there this time.

 

[sicbeing]

At a time like this, chiming in just to say you won't be praying even I found offensive. If you aren't praying just keep that fact to yourself for a while ok?

Sorry, had to say it.

 

[Duke]

INow the bad. Levee breach on industrial canal in NO. Water was coming in at 5-10 in. a minute in the lower 9th ward. Engineers are uncertain whether or not the levees will hold. I guess we will find out.

No, this is not true. There have been no breaches I know of. The water is overtopping the levee by about 3 inches a minute, but is structurally sound as far as I've heard.

 

[blargonator]

i was not including anyone specific with the praying comment, sort of like when how it says him/her on things instead of one or the other. im not about to help start a religious argument here either.
if you don't believe in it, then pay the comments no heed.

 

[Zardoz]

New Orleans is re-flooding, and the worst of the storm surge, rain, and wind hasn't even arrived yet. They'll be pretty much back to Square One by Saturday afternoon. They're being kicked while they're down, now...

Meanwhile, they're predicting a 20-foot storm surge to go way inland from Port Arthur and east a long way.

 

[James2097]

At a time like this, chiming in just to say you won't be praying even I found offensive.

Since when did being non-religious affect my ability to feel empathy? maybe your statement makes ME offended! Of course I feel for anyone in the way of Rita as much as any religious person does, my reaction just happens to be that I don't believe praying will help in any real tangible way. It doesn't mean I don't care. I hope and WISH that things work out as best they can. And it doesn't mean I'm taking away from those who do wish to pray. Its a personal thing, I was just stating my position. If praying is your way of showing support, by all means go for it! The main point is we all want this hurricane to have minimal impact.

I think saying it won't do anything is an understatement. It won't take as many lives because the towns were properly prepared. However even at cat 3 it is still bad. It is already reflooding New Orleans. Monetary damages will still be high. It is a hurricane and saying that any hurricane won't do anything is an understatement.

Obviously my radio was being incredibly blase, thats why I posted the comment, to give a view from a different source. I was amazed that they were being so lax about the whole thing! Of course I am still concerned greatly about the hurricane!

 

[JohnBM01]

For one thing, I am especially glad that Hurricane Rita's worst attributes failed to attack my neck of the woods. Even if we did get the worst, let me be the first to say that it is a great blessing for Hurricane Rita to miss my area. Counting myself, Houston is about 2.5 or 5.2 million people. A whole lot of them evacuated. We prayed for the best and didn't get the worst.

Having said this as a Texan, I am saddened to see Beaumont, Orange, Port Arthur and such take a serious pounding. On top of that, Louisiana didn't need any more rain. Sadly, two big hurricanes in one year. I am quite saddened and quite concerned for all of Louisiana affected by Rita.

From a different standpoint, the key issue I hear being discussed was that people prepared for this one, unlike the Katrina deal. So let me ask you all not so much from a standpoint of weather, but in terms of preparation and response. How does preparing for Hurricane Rita compare to preparing for Hurricane Katrina? What can we, the U.S. Government, and others learn from both natural disasters?

 

[ledhed]

No use praying, because there is no God... and even if there were he wouldn't be answering prayers.

I have no idea why but that just had me rolling and holding in my pee.

 

[colton19911]

I had to stay out of school for 2 days...