I think this storm will weaken to a Cat 4 before landfall.  There is a lot of dry air to the north and west.  The storm will likely injest it causing it to drop its intensity.

It now looks to be heading to Chambers county.  That is 15 min south of here.

Quoted: FOX just said that winds are gusting up to 212 mph!!!

what would that even sound like?

You ever work as a sanblaster?

Quoted: Quoted: FOX just said that winds are gusting up to 212 mph!!! what would that even sound like?

you wouldn't be there to hear it

I've done 105+mph winds in a vehicle. I thought I was going to die

tagg  

I'd like to see a turn due north,  they haven't spent much money rebuilding NO yet,  might as well wipe it out twice.

NOAA has yet again another small turn to the North as reported by KVUE in Austin.  KVUE has dropped rain chances IN AUSTIN Saturday from 80% to 20% at this time.  

NOAA indicates more towards the Beaumont/Port Arthur area as their best guess for landfall.

Looks like they're still calling for a strong 4 at landfall.



If it makes landfall at the current forecast position Beaumont is in for a world of trouble.

Galveston might only see severe damage oposed to catastrophic damage.

Well we didn't make it.  After 8 fuckin hours on the road we turned around and are now back at the house.  We made a U-Turn just north of Baytown and were home in 27 minutes.  Thats correct and no typo there.  What normally was a 27 minute trip (doing the speed limit)....took us right at 8 hours.  At that rate we would be on the road all night.  Fuck that.

So now we are back home in League City (Galveston County).  Plan B is in effect.  We've got plenty of food, water, propane/white gas, etc. to hold us down for several days should the proverbial defication hit the bladed oscillating machine.  Double checked the battery supply, one box of Copperheads and .38spl rounds.  On the way back home I passed only a couple of cars.  Police cars.  My bro works for the local PD and they are ramped up for the worse.  Several officers in the district will be at my house tonight for a pre-Storm Steak.  Gonna go ahead and eat some of the frozen stuff since it will be the first to go if/when the power goes.  The house is boarded up and ready to go (for whatever its worth).    I'll stay in touch as long as I can stay awake (for tonight) and/or when the power goes.  

stay safe bro... we are praying for ya

It is now turning back to the west.

tag

Take care bro and post when you can just so we know you and your family are okay. I shiver to think what you may go through over the next couple of days. Seriously.

Quoted: Well we didn't make it.  After 8 fuckin hours on the road we turned around and are now back at the house.  We made a U-Turn just north of Baytown and were home in 27 minutes.  Thats correct and no typo there.  What normally was a 27 minute trip (doing the speed limit)....took us right at 8 hours.  At that rate we would be on the road all night.  Fuck that. So now we are back home in League City (Galveston County).  Plan B is in effect.  We've got plenty of food, water, propane/white gas, etc. to hold us down for several days should the proverbial defication hit the bladed oscillating machine.  Double checked the battery supply, one box of Copperheads and .38spl rounds.  On the way back home I passed only a couple of cars.  Police cars.  My bro works for the local PD and they are ramped up for the worse.  Several officers in the district will be at my house tonight for a pre-Storm Steak.  Gonna go ahead and eat some of the frozen stuff since it will be the first to go if/when the power goes.  The house is boarded up and ready to go (for whatever its worth).    I'll stay in touch as long as I can stay awake (for tonight) and/or when the power goes.

Quoted: Take care bro and post when you can just so we know you and your family are okay. I shiver to think what you may go through over the next couple of days. Seriously. Quoted: Well we didn't make it.  After 8 fuckin hours on the road we turned around and are now back at the house.  We made a U-Turn just north of Baytown and were home in 27 minutes.  Thats correct and no typo there.  What normally was a 27 minute trip (doing the speed limit)....took us right at 8 hours.  At that rate we would be on the road all night.  Fuck that. So now we are back home in League City (Galveston County).  Plan B is in effect.  We've got plenty of food, water, propane/white gas, etc. to hold us down for several days should the proverbial defication hit the bladed oscillating machine.  Double checked the battery supply, one box of Copperheads and .38spl rounds.  On the way back home I passed only a couple of cars.  Police cars.  My bro works for the local PD and they are ramped up for the worse.  Several officers in the district will be at my house tonight for a pre-Storm Steak.  Gonna go ahead and eat some of the frozen stuff since it will be the first to go if/when the power goes.  The house is boarded up and ready to go (for whatever its worth).    I'll stay in touch as long as I can stay awake (for tonight) and/or when the power goes.

  Thoughts are with you.

Useful Rita radar link:

weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_se_loop.html

Hopefully for Houston, this northward trend will continue.  Being on the SW side is much better than the NE side  (like NOLA could be).

My wife and son left Wed. morning at about 4am bound for Huntsville. They were following her mother and father. My father in law ran out of gas around 3pm and they had to abandon their car and they all piled into my truck. They finally made it to Huntsville around 10:15 pm on fumes. My brother in law met them with gas so they could make it to his house. I have to work for the duration on 12 hour night shifts with the PD. Oh yeah, did I mention my wife had a frigging mental breakdown

well the house(townhome) is secured and my evacuation time was at 6pm thurs night, while I was finishing the boards over the windows and the front door is sealed from the outside and is way too over odne so looters won't come; well they started wed night driveing thru scoping it out, well I've turned three looters away so far. I was followed home tonight from my friends house by hpd, he followed me to my house and blocked me in. He said congratulation, I was of course HUH?!?; he said that I was the first car that he ran tonight that belonged there, everyone else had been from the northside scopeing us out, he said it had been more than a dozen!!!, I told him to keep safe and that was that.

Yesterday I worked most of the day preping items for rapid deployment down there.  Company learned a thing or two from Katrina.

all of HPD and GPD are staying, it looks so scary around here, I got my house boarded up like a zombi movie

I heard on the news that its down to 135 mph winds
We will be on the West (better) side of the storm as the current track appears.
Got to do some last minute things that I failed to do when we attempted our bug-out.
Also got a few good IM's from members w/ advice.  We are still staging to stay but have things in place for an immediate bug out.  

I hope that the looters are shot on sight this time! The message needs be sent: If you try to profit while others loose their lives and / or property, you will be shot down like the oxygen thieves you are!

Ain't but one thing worse than a dead looter.....

From what my brother told me they are not to arrest anyone (nowhere to put them) but to severely discipline them.    

All quiet out here in indian country.

There was a tragic bus explosion around 6am near the Dallas area, 24 are persumed dead.

All were elderly from Bellaire. No one could enter the burning vehicle due to oxygen tanks exploding, feeding the flames.

Hearts goes out to those who were killed in the blast.

Rita is now Cat. 3 with 125mph winds.  

338 Winmag  .....im sent, W.B.

We are starting to get substantial wind.  I can post some pics easily enough but vids will exceed my bandwidth.  Anyone like to host them I can email you while we are still up and running.

Here are some real-time news feeds of Rita.  

http://www.houstonpodcasting.org/phpnuke/

http://www.khou.com/perl/common/video/yahooPlayer.pl


My brother is HPD and working right now.  If you come across any scanner feeds for them, post it here.


ETA - Web page here for radio comms via scanner for the greater Hurricane Rita area.

http://www.radioreference.com/wiki/index.php/Hurricane_Rita



Chris

Quoted: From what my brother told me they are not to arrest anyone (nowhere to put them) but to severely discipline them.  Well while my bro and cousin were out patroling last night they ran into the first looters in our city  ..... as I understand it my cousin took a head shot at one of the perps and took off his baseball cap.

I've been fighting looters since wednsday, a cop told me last night that all the people they were stopping in my area are from the north side of town to loot, said he got more than a dozen himself. Don't you live by me, near Ellington?

Just a note to let everyone know that I bugged out of the Port Arthur area and am now in Temple Texas with a friend.  We played 18 holes of golf this morning and I will head home in a few days.

Thanks to those that sent IM's.  I am fine.

All I left in Nederland is just "stuff"

God gave it all to me and He will give me more if I lose it.

Thanks for the notes of concern.

OP

Quoted: Just a note to let everyone know that I bugged out of the Port Arthur area and am now in Temple Texas with a friend.  We played 18 holes of golf this morning and I will head home in a few days. Thanks to those that sent IM's.  I am fine. All I left in Nederland is just "stuff" God gave it all to me and He will give me more if I lose it. Thanks for the notes of concern. OP

I am glad to see you are OK.

Just reported: multi-structure fire in Galveston near the Strand.  Intersection of 20th and Post Office St.  fire Dept on scene.

Chris

Rita has officially made landfall.

Houston 2:50am cable went off for about 30 seconds, wind is picking up, storms here

Stay strong TX, and LA  brothers!

So far so good.  Got some slight rain and some wind gusts from time to time.  

Man I'm going to move out of hurricane area.  But I can't go west due to earthquakes, can't go to the midwest because of tornado alley, can't go up north becase I'll freeze to death...

Isle of Capri casino split in half in Lake Charles.  Hangars at Lake Charles airport gone.  Part of I-10 overpass collapsed.

Vermillion Parish of LA underwater.  Thousands trapped in their homes waiting for rescue.  LA appears to have been harder than Texas.

Apparently Rita did more damage than initially thought.  Thankfully, the death count was extremely low.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/25/rita/index.html

CAMERON, Louisiana (CNN) -- Towns near where Hurricane Rita made landfall have had all but a handful of buildings destroyed, including nearly all homes in Cameron, Holly Beach and Creole, officials said Sunday.

Though less destructive than Hurricane Katrina, Rita's extensive damage became evident a day after the storm struck Saturday morning near the Texas-Louisiana border with 120 mph winds.

Along the state line, Louisiana's Cameron Parish was under as much as 15 feet of water, and thousands of homes were destroyed, said Freddie Richard, the head of emergency preparedness for the community of 10,000 residents. (See video on Cameron residents' resilience -- 2:18)

About 45 miles south of nearby Lake Charles, every home was destroyed in the town of Holly Beach, Richard told CNN.

In the parish seat of Cameron, 90 percent of homes were destroyed, he said.

In Creole, 70 percent of residences were destroyed, with little more than the courthouse and an elementary school still standing, according to Richard. (City-by-city impact)

Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen told CNN that no deaths had been reported in Louisiana, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry reported no storm-related deaths in his state.

But a Rita-spawned tornado killed one person in Mississippi, and 24 people died Friday when a bus carrying evacuated nursing home residents caught fire and was riddled by explosions on Interstate 45 south of Dallas.

Water in Lake Charles was receding Sunday, revealing buildings smashed to bits.

"The lake has risen higher than I've ever seen in my lifetime," said Lake Charles Mayor Randy Roach. But, he added, "Everyone who wanted to got out." (See video of hard-hit area in Rita's aftermath -- 2:29)

Lake Charles Police Chief Donald Dixon said "sporadic" looting had taken place and will likely increase as food and water run out.

The city has no power, no sewer system, no open stores or gasoline stations, he said, while downed trees and power lines make the city "very unsafe."

But he vowed to protect the property of people who evacuated. About 15 people were arrested for looting, including some at an adult video store.

Lake Charles and surrounding Calcasieu Parish, on the Texas-Louisiana state line, was closed Sunday to returning residents because of damage to roads and infrastructure.

City and parish officials have set an October 3 target date for allowing residents to return, planning to let them return in stages, with business owners being allowed back earlier.

Farther west, in Port Arthur and Sabine Pass, Texas, officials were conducting house-to-house searches for victims or survivors, Port Arthur Mayor Oscar Ortiz said.

Ortiz was among many locals whose homes were destroyed. "It's all gone," he told CNN.

He said two refineries appeared to be leaking gasoline. Boats and ships were tossed onto roadways by the storm surge, and oil rigs ripped loose from their moorings had drifted ashore, he said.

"We've got a lot of damage," he said.

Steady return to Texas

Rita's approach prompted the evacuation of more than 3 million people from the Louisiana coast westward to the Texas cities of Houston and Galveston, triggering 15- to 20-hour traffic jams on some Texas roads.

But residents of the Texas Gulf Coast made a steady return to their homes Sunday, with authorities encouraging workers in key industries -- such as oil refineries and gasoline stations -- to return as quickly as possible.

But Perry said others who are safe and have food should "stay put."

"Don't come back into southeast Texas today," said Perry, who went on a helicopter tour of damaged areas on Sunday.

Perry said preliminary estimates of the damage in Texas exceeded $8 billion, a sum he predicted would be paid "fully" by the federal government.

The Houston area is home to a complex of refineries that process a quarter of the U.S. fuel supply. It suffered "a glancing blow at worst," Perry said.

"The most important part -- this time, other than the tragedy of the bus, there's been no loss of life from the actual hurricane," he told CNN's "Late Edition."

In Houston, officials divided the city into quadrants and asked residents to return to each section one at a time, beginning with the northwest. But there is no penalty for ignoring that request.

The top elected official in Brazoria County rejected that plan.

"I am not going to wait for our neighbors to the north to get home and take a nap before I ask our good people to come home," Judge John Willy said in a statement.

Bush visits

President Bush -- Perry's predecessor as Texas governor -- visited the stricken region Sunday after monitoring federal preparations and relief efforts from the headquarters of the U.S. military's Northern Command in Colorado.

Texas emergency operations director Jack Colley told his staff Sunday morning that about 1.1 million customers were without power in the state and that the Texas Air National Guard was coordinating the response.

Our basic goal, he said, is "really simple today -- food, water, ice and medical support to our communities."

Louisiana officials said Rita left 412,000 Louisiana customers without power, adding to the nearly 300,000 customers who remained powerless after Katrina.

Louisiana officials will ask Congress for more than $31 billion to rebuild and improve levees and major roadways damaged by the impact of two major hurricanes, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said.

"Louisiana has taken two tough hits in less than one month," Blanco said.

United front
Bush was sharply criticized for the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina, and some federal officials tried to deflect blame toward state and local authorities.

But Blanco and Bush presented a united front Sunday, with Blanco thanking the president for his involvement in relief efforts.

"I appreciate having him as a partner in this massive effort," she said. "This is not something that a small state like Louisiana can do by itself."

Bush was briefed on the response early Sunday at Randolph Air Force Base, near San Antonio, Texas.

He said whether and when the Department of Defense would become the lead agency in a disaster response would be a "very important question for Congress to consider." (Full story)

Search-and-rescue teams plucked more than 250 people from flooded homes or roadways Saturday and another 400 on Sunday, said acting FEMA chief R. David Paulison. (See video on rescues by air and sea -- 1:10)

Rita also caused a second round of flooding in New Orleans, but Allen said that would be addressed "much much sooner than the original flooding."

Rita overtopped by about 2 feet levees that had been provisionally repaired by sandbags from Katrina's damage, he said -- the day after the corps had pumped out as much of Katrina's water as it could with the city's fixed pumps.

Worst hit was the Lower 9th Ward -- the first section of New Orleans inundated by Katrina. Rita left standing water in other areas as well, he said, but in no area was it as deep as it had been after Katrina. (See video on repairing the levees again -- 3:21)

"We've just about got it under control," he said.