Hurricane Rita - Shelter Options and more
 

Greetings everyone,

As you already know Hurricane Rita is heading our way with ever growing intensity. As many of you may already know finding a safe place to land in the post-Katrina environment can be difficult if not impossible.

We have been extended an offer by Chris Taylor of Taylor Rotorsports. (http://www.taylorrotorsports.com/) Chris has generously offered RXClub members across the state safe refuge at his compound near Austin. Chris has 17 acres of land and has offered to provide a place to store your vehicles and what-not during this possible catastrophe.

I wish everyone best wishes and much luck over the next few days and hope everyone emerges unscathed, safe and dry.

Once the storm has passed we will evaluate the feasibility of having the October 4th Houston Club meeting.

Many thanks to Chris Taylor for extending this offer to our club, good luck everyone.


-- Chris can be contacted via myslef or directly via his website listed above.

HURRICANE RITA PROBABILITIES NUMBER 16
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 10 AM CDT WED SEP 21 2005

PROBABILITIES FOR GUIDANCE IN HURRICANE PROTECTION PLANNING BY GOVERNMENT AND DISASTER OFFICIALS

AT 10 AM CDT...1500Z...THE CENTER OF RITA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 24.3 NORTH...LONGITUDE 85.9 WEST

CHANCES OF CENTER OF THE HURRICANE PASSING WITHIN 65 NAUTICAL MILES OF LISTED LOCATIONS THROUGH 7AM CDT SAT SEP 24 2005

LOCATION A B C D E LOCATION A B C D E

25.0N 90.0W 41 X X X 41
25.7N 92.0W 19 9 X 1 29
26.6N 94.0W 1 18 4 1 24
MMSO 238N 982W X X 3 5 8
MMTM 222N 979W X X 1 3 4
PENSACOLA FL X X X 3 3
MOBILE AL X X 1 3 4
GULFPORT MS X X 2 4 6
BURAS LA X 2 4 4 10
NEW ORLEANS LA X 1 3 6 10
NEW IBERIA LA X 1 6 5 12
PORT ARTHUR TX X X 7 7 14
GALVESTON TX X 1 9 6 16
FREEPORT TX X 1 10 6 17 <-- Highest Landfall Probabilities Currently
PORT O CONNOR TX X 1 11 5 17 <-- Highest Landfall Probabilities Currently
CORPUSCHRISTI TX X 1 9 6 16
BROWNSVILLE TX X 2 9 5 16
GULF 29N 87W X 1 1 2 4
GULF 28N 89W 3 7 2 2 14
GULF 28N 91W 2 12 3 2 19
GULF 28N 93W X 12 7 2 21
GULF 28N 95W X 5 12 3 20
GULF 27N 96W X 6 11 3 20
GULF 25N 96W X 8 6 3 17


COLUMN DEFINITION PROBABILITIES IN PERCENT
A IS PROBABILITY FROM NOW TO 7AM THU
FOLLOWING ARE ADDITIONAL PROBABILITIES
B FROM 7AM THU TO 7PM THU
C FROM 7PM THU TO 7AM FRI
D FROM 7AM FRI TO 7AM SAT
E IS TOTAL PROBABILITY FROM NOW TO 7AM SAT X MEANS LESS THAN ONE PERCENT

Hurricane Rita Advisory Number 16
Nws Tpc/national Hurricane Center Miami Fl 10 Am Cdt Wed Sep 21 2005

...rita Remains An Extremely Dangerous Hurricane...winds Now Estimated 140 Mph Winds...

At 11 Am Edt...1500z...the Tropical Storm Warning For The Florida Keys From The Marquesas Keys Westward To The Dry Tortugas Has Been Discontinued.

A Hurricane Watch Will Likely Be Issued For Portions Of The Northwest Gulf Of Mexico Coast Later Today Or This Evening.

Interests In The Northwestern Gulf Of Mexico Should Monitor The Progress Of Dangerous Hurricane Rita.

For Storm Information Specific To Your Area...including Possible Inland Watches And Warnings...please Monitor Products Issued By Your Local Weather Office.

At 10 Am Cdt...1500z...the Eye Of Hurricane Rita Was Located Near Latitude 24.3 North...longitude 85.9 West Or About 260 Miles...
West Of Key West Florida And About 755 Miles East-southeast Of Corpus Christi Texas.

Rita Is Moving Toward The West Near 13 Mph And This Motion Is Expected To Continue During The Next 12 To 24 Hours.

Maximum Sustained Winds Have Increased To Near 140 Mph...with Higher Gusts. Rita Is A Extremely Dangerous Category Four Hurricane On The Saffir-simpson Scale. Some Additional Strengthening Is Forecast During The Next 24 Hours And Could Reach Category Five Intensity In The Central Gulf Of Mexico.

Hurricane Force Winds Extend Outward Up To 45 Miles From The Center...and Tropical Storm Force Winds Extend Outward Up To 140 Miles. The Wind Field Associated With Rita Is Forecast To Expand During The Next Day Or Two.

Estimated Minimum Central Pressure Is 944 Mb...27.88 Inches.

Repeating The 10 Am Cdt Position...24.3 N... 85.9 W. Movement Toward...west Near 13 Mph. Maximum Sustained Winds...140 Mph.
Minimum Central Pressure... 944 Mb.

The Next Advisory Will Be Issued By The National Hurricane Center At
4 Pm Cdt.

Keith, are you heading up to Dallas this weekend? Fred and I are still thinking about going.

ugh...another one...enough alerady! go bomb canada or something, we sure could use a break from this constant ass kicking :(

If you bring your own food I have space for a couple of people.

Just give me a good heads-up so I can make sure everything is clean and set up.

No I was going to be in ATL for work, but now I am staying in Houston.

I can't be off having a wonderful time in DFW when I have responsibilities here. :(

Breaking News: Hurricane Rita is now a cat. 5. Hope all of you have a safe place to go. This one means business.

business is right, with any luck at all the water temp might cool and it will shrink a bit, but right now it's growing and has over 165mph winds :( 87 degree water is like gas added to a fire...sucks

Keith if the forum needs to be a conduit for connecting lost families, posting MIA blogs, member contacts, etc. by all mean make a sticky. We could even put it in the lounge.

I just left DFW after staying at a hotel with mostly N.O. homeless families. Very eerie with all eyes watching news/people camped out in the hotel lobby. The hotel was glad I checked out early to give up the room to N.O refugees and the Galveston/Houstonians already en-route(mainly elderly and patients at this point).

Guys..... be smart, safe and take care. This is an Andrew-sized behemoth.

Category 5 with sustained 165mph winds, omg!
:eek:

I think this thing might make andrew look like a cloudburst, my prayers for some relief.

The roads are just scary crowded right now. I just came back to the north side from Clear Lake which is normally an hour drive. (47 miles). It took me 3 1/2 hours!!! The estimated drive time from the Galveston causeway to downtown Houston is currently 10 hours. That's normally an hour drive.

Follow it at the real-time NOAA site.

I just spoke with my brother who is an Air Force weather forecaster. He thinks most likely landfall is between Galveston and Freeport. I'm only abou 45-50 miles inland from Freeport, so we might bug out tomorrow for a friend's in Spring. Stay safe everyone! Back to taping windows....

Thanks Toad' on the 7club site we made a temp subsection for Gulf Coast Hurricane Vicitms... don't know how many we have in here, sticky is a good idea though.

I'm worried about Tornados in Dallas.. :( as well as here... It doesnt seem like it is being taken very serious up there.

if anyone is coming to the DFW area my place is open...not sure how much that helps but just let meknow...

To anyone that can possibly help, it looks like Brillo and I are going to head up to Dallas today. He stayed here last night. It is a 14 hour trip from Houston to Austin right now so I'm not sure what it's like to Dallas. We are actually going to take alot of small back country roads and probably come up through Waco to avoid I-45. We need a place to stay and appreciate anyone who is willing to help. I can't promise arriving at a reasonable hour. It could be at any time of the night with the current situation. If you are willing to help us out, please leave your contact infor with Tiff (dazygirl). I have her number and will call her later on. Thanks to anyone willing to help out. It was going to be just a BBQ weekend. Now it's a BBQ and evacuation weekend. I'm a little too intimidated to stay here.

24 hours to Dallas right now..

Our work is evacuatiing as of now... and we are the disaster recovery people. DOH.

Anyhow, heading home to finish preperations and get everything locked down.

If your alone in Houston and need somewhere to be with freinds I live in the SW area of town.


Good luck and God Bless.

Rotarygod: Bring your folks if you gotta. we'll figure something out.
You should have my contact info, call any time.
I'm going to try to call brillo again, all circuits are busy.

I may have room, not sure yet. I'll know more later. Everyone should have my info.

BTW, I'm reading in the Dallas morning news that they're making I45 Northbound (in both north and southbound lanes) as of this moment.
They're planning on the same with 290.

i hope the best for all of you...God bless

They changed 45 around at about 8:00 this morning, heard it on the news. Good idea.