Hurricane Rita thread

[Buzz Mills]

It hasd been raining on, and off, all day, in New Orleans. They said that some of the areas which were dry yesterday, are beginning to flood again. The integrity of the levees are in question, With Rita appearing to drift more East towards Louisiana, they could be in big trouble within a short period of time. Their Governor asked for 30,000 more troops.

 

[JBean]

Other nightmares can include having not enough gas to get out of the city, but clear freeways due to contra flow; all kinds of bad things happening (unable to evacuate hospital and nursing home patients) because emergency personel could not enter the city; too few police because they are trying to manage the contra flow rather than evacuating people and maintaining order; etc.

I don't know what is best, but I do know that they've usually done some thinking about these kinds of issues in disaster planning. And every choice has it's faults. I just don't feel comfortable saying they're complete idiots not to have put contra flow into action earlier without understanding the whole system. I can easily see several problems with doing contra flow, and I'm sure there are many more that disaster planners are familiar with.

They're up against human nature (hoping the hurricane will miss, delaying to get another day's work in, another day less of hotel stay, denial, etc.), and nature itself, and it's not an easy task.

Good post Details. I think the human nature factor is one of the most serious to contend with.

 

[Buzz Mills]

Rita is 340 miles East/Southeast of Galveston.

The radius of the tropical winds is up to 205 miles

340-205 = 135 miles

135 miles divided by the speed of 10mph

means that in about 13 hours, Galveston will begin getting hit by the tropical winds. So at about 9:00AM CDT, the winds will begin picking up in Galveston.

 

[Details]

Good post Details. I think the human nature factor is one of the most serious to contend with.

It's one I'm familar with - similar problems in computer programming - if only people would act like computers, and do what we want them to do, life would be so much easier. But we can't go with that, we have to program with human nature in mind, so life is a lot tougher. And this is just about such simple things as how they choose to use a form or clipboard. Trying to get them to do what you want when their life and all of their property is on the line is much more difficult.

 

[poco]

I just saw the sadest story on CNN. There is a lady who has horseback riding on the beach in Baytown,TX. She has 30 horses in a pasture and is trying to evacuate them but is running out of time. She has only managed to get 6 out so far. She is afraid that she is going to have to leave them

Duh - get people to ride 'em out and bypass all the traffic that is sitting still going nowhere! Probably a whole lot easier to get water than it is gas, too.

 

[Beyond Belief]

msnbc just said the pressure was up to 916

I guess the 7 oclock reported 913 so its coming up.

 

[Details]

Duh - get people to ride 'em out and bypass all the traffic that is sitting still going nowhere! Probably a whole lot easier to get water than it is gas, too.

Can they go 100 miles? I really don't know enough about horses there.

 

[concernedperson]

Duh - get people to ride 'em out and bypass all the traffic that is sitting still going nowhere! Probably a whole lot easier to get water than it is gas, too.

i think maybe you have a clue.

 

[JBean]

It's one I'm familar with - similar problems in computer programming - if only people would act like computers, and do what we want them to do, life would be so much easier. But we can't go with that, we have to program with human nature in mind, so life is a lot tougher. And this is just about such simple things as how they choose to use a form or clipboard. Trying to get them to do what you want when their life and all of their property is on the line is much more difficult.

I agree with you. I am in the building industry and often hampered by weather conditions. So, as a matter of course I always have to plan on things not going as planned..because that's the way they always go.
In this case, I am the type that would have been gone at the first hint of Hurricane and would have been long gone by now. So I guess I have personal frustration that so many wait until the last moment. Even my son came in and watched coverage with me for awhile. He said, Mom, you would have forced us out of here days ago wouldn't you have? I said you betcha babe.

ETA: don;t mean to sound as though I fault all these people. I mean they would have had to start evacuating last week to get that many people out orderly..but I can only speak as to what I would have done. no more no less.

 

[deanws]

I wasn't referring to the loop, though. I was referring to the 100 miles of standstill traffic on I-10 and I-45.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/special_packages/spcl/12713101.htm

From what I understand..they are still backed up on the loop also.

 

[Shadow205]

Duh - get people to ride 'em out and bypass all the traffic that is sitting still going nowhere! Probably a whole lot easier to get water than it is gas, too.

I hope that they do something. I can't stand to see them just standing there, helpless.

 

[Buzz Mills]

msnbc just said the pressure was up to 916

I guess the 7 oclock reported 913 so its coming up.

The 7:00PM report is an intermediate report and mostly an estimate. The 10:00PM CDT report will have more accurate numbers. Most of the information available about Rita comes directly from the National Hurricane Center

 

[Shadow205]

LA coast will start getting Tropical Storm force winds later tonight according to Max Mayfield.

 

[poco]

Can they go 100 miles? I really don't know enough about horses there.

Obviously you didn't watch many Westerns, did ya???

 

[Buzz Mills]

"Well, it looks like Texas, and Louisiana, are about to get screwed."

Hurricane Rita Tropical Winds Forecast (in % of highest wind speed)
http://tinyurl.com/b9vap

(Sorry, I just couldn't resist that comment after seeing that chart).

 

[Buzz Mills]

Obviously you didn't watch many Westerns, did ya???

I have seen horses that galloped across three states during one two hour movie.

 

[JBean]

"Well, it looks like Texas, and Louisiana, are about to get screwed."

Hurricane Rita Tropical Winds Forecast (in % of highest wind speed)
http://tinyurl.com/b9vap

(Sorry, I just couldn't resist that comment after seeing that chart).

Good grief! That sums it up.

 

[tybee204]

Considering traffic according the the Weather Chanel is moving at a 4/10ths a mile per hour eveyone could abandon their vehicles and walk out faster.

 

[Buzz Mills]

Considering traffic according the the Weather Chanel is moving at a 4/10ths a mile per hour eveyone could abandon their vehicles and walk out faster.

If they walked they could improve their distance by about 700%. In 24 hours they could get about 70 miles further North.

 

[tybee204]

I think we are learning that evacuating a Major City is virtually impossible.