Hurricane Rita

[PrincessFiona]

Has anyone heard anything? I was listening to the news while I folded laundry and heard that it could end up in New Orleans again as a category 3 or 4 Say it isn't SO!!!!

[PrincessFiona]

Here's an article from CNN's website. It sounds like it may hit Texas...

Florida Keys evacuating as Rita nears hurricane strength
Storm heads toward southern Florida, Bahamas

Monday, September 19, 2005; Posted: 3:07 p.m. EDT (19:07 GMT)


(CNN) -- Officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for residents of the Florida Keys on Monday, as Tropical Storm Rita neared hurricane strength.

At 2 p.m. ET, Rita's maximum sustained winds were clocked at 70 mph -- just 4 mph short of hurricane strength -- as it churned toward the Keys and the Bahamas.

Rita's center was about 165 miles southeast of the Bahamian capital, Nassau, moving west-northwest at nearly 14 mph, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center reported.

A hurricane warning is in effect for the Exumas and for Andros Island in the Bahamas and in Florida from Golden Beach southward to Florida City and westward to East Cape Sable. The warning also includes the Keys from Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas.(Watch preparations for Rita in Florida Keys -- 1:07)

Tourists were told to leave on Sunday. There are about 80,000 residents of Monroe County, which includes about 27,000 residents of Key West.

Miami-Dade County is also under a hurricane warning; hurricane-force winds are expected there by Tuesday morning.

Rita could become a Category 1 storm in the next 24 hours, the center said. Category 1 hurricanes have winds of 74-95 mph.

In Key West, Mayor Jimmy Weekley said Monday that although tourists already had been ordered to leave, residents might not be so willing to follow.

"Conch is a mussel and it's a very tough mussel," Weekley said. "So, a lot of the old Conchs here, as Key Westers are known, will not evacuate at all, they will stay and ride the storm out, for various reasons."

Key West International Airport was to close at 6 p.m. Monday.

National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield said Monday that people in some areas still recovering from Hurricane Katrina should be watching Rita. (Watch the video of where Rita might be heading -- 2:23)

"This is definitely becoming a concern for the northwestern Gulf of Mexico," Mayfield said. He said the storm could threaten Texas and Louisiana within five days.

"What will determine the steering there is this high pressure system that currently is anchored over Louisiana and Texas -- but with time that's forecast to erode and move to the east and that may let Rita turn up more towards the north. So at this point in time the folks in Texas and even the Louisiana coast need to monitor this very carefully."

Lyda Ann Thomas, the mayor of Galveston, Texas, called Monday for a voluntary evacuation should the weather forecast remain the same.

The evacuation would begin Tuesday at 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET), the mayor said.

Galveston is on the Texas coast, about 50 miles southeast of Houston.

President Bush: 'Deep concern'
As recovery efforts from Katrina continued along the Gulf Coast, the possibility of another storm prompted reaction from President Bush.

"There is deep concern about this storm causing more flooding in New Orleans," Bush told reporters Monday during a Homeland Security council meeting.

Rita is the 17th named storm of this year's Atlantic hurricane season, and with water temperatures in the Florida Straits in the high 80s, it has plenty of fuel.

Forecasters predicted the storm would move over the eastern and central Bahamas on Monday.

In the Bahamas, Earnel Brown, manager of the Baycaner Beach Resort, told The Associated Press that few people on Mayaguana Island had bothered to board their windows or stock up on emergency supplies.

"I don't expect that much trouble," Brown told the AP. "I don't think we're going to have that much damage from it."

[Rapunzel]

I haven't been on the computer very much lately because I'm on vacation in Texas right now (Dallas). However, we have been planning a trip to San Antonio for many months now. We are supposed to drive down there this Thursday morning. When I heard this earlier today the first thought that came to mind is that anyone evacuating from Houston and Galveston will be going north to San Antonio, Austin, and maybe as far as Dallas.

And this after Ophelia just cancelled a Cape Cod fun day that all my friends back home were going to do at a friend's cottage on the beach!

You can bet I'll be watching the news a great deal in the next few days! The Texas cable news channel was broadcasting the Galveston evacuation plans being discussed among the city council there live today. It was boring so I didn't watch much of it. But, everyone there seemed to be very serious and VERY concerned (thus the voluntary evacuation Tuesday at 2pm).

I'll pop back in when I can!

Jennifer

[HeartRN]

DD, DH and I are in Boca Raton right now for a conference DH has....the winds are picking up, but that's about it. I think the Keys are going to get it the worst....Broward county is asking trailers to evacuate, but that's it. I am *hoping* we will just get rain!!!!

[twinsmom]

This really hit home yesterday. My SIL lives in Galvastin - 1 block from the ocean . They were basically told to take anything they would like to see ever again and GET OUT! They started driving north yesterday at noon and it took them 12 hours to get 50 miles. They are trying to eventually make their way up here and then take it one day at a time to see where this storm will take them.
They only have a toyota corolla, and they had to fit 2 kids, a dog, 2 cats, and all of her husbands coast guard supplies in it. All that they had room for after that was for pictures. She is kind of in shock about the fact that she left her house and may never return to it - along with everything inside.
He husband just got back from helping with the hurricane Katrina aftermath, and has been put on call for the aftermath of Rita, so he may be having to go back right after it hits.
This has suddenly taken a whole new perspective for me as it has hit WAY too close to home. I just spoke with her this morning and she is kind of in shock, not really knowing what is going to happen in the near future.

Jen B.

this is being predicted to be one of the worst storms ever. Its a cat 5, might even top that.

I have friends in the Houston area. They are either hunkering down or heading out, depending on location.

[PrincessFiona]

Wow...it's amazing to see the pictures of the hurricane! Hopefully, as it approaches the more shallow coastal waters it will become less destructive???

The whole gulf coast may need to be rebuilt..it's absolutely awful. I feel horrible for the people having to leave and take their most personal belongings with you. I can't even imagine what I would do if I were told to get out and take my valuables with me....Family photos would top the list....but wow!

Jen, I hope your family members have a safe evacuation.

kris

dh was supposed to go to Houston yesterday for a CAP lab inspection, returning Saturday. Thankfully someone at the College of American Pathology had enough brains to cancel the trip.

[DCJenn]

I'm half tempted to call my old secretary and review provisions for the group homes with her. I just have a feeling that they're not going to be as prepared as they're going to need to be. San Antonio floods with a LITTLE bit of rain. This is going to be tremendous amounts of rain...

Must restrain myself though. If they follow the Y2K plan that I was forced to do, they should be fine.

Jenn

[SuzySunshine]

My sister and her husband are in Houston, I'm not sure what they've decided to do. I haven't heard from her since yesterday. She's a nurse so its hard for her to just leave if the hospital thinks they might need her. Of course with the highway traffic like it is she probably couldn't get there if she tried.

A friend left Housten this morning at 3, and was in Cleveland, TX at around 4 pm. Thats about 3/4 of an hour away, normal traffic.

Other friend in H said it was taking 9 hours to go from one side of the city to the other.

They have turned all lanes into northbound on the highways. No more rooms in DFW, folks are being told to hear NW, as far as OK if needed.

Friends were digging through their records to make sure they had the rect for their flood and h.o. insurance.

They are being really proactive and have been evacing hospitals and nursing homes since a day or two ago.

People who have never evaced before are going this time.