Hurricane Rita heading to Dallas area???

Starswipe · Sep 22, 2005

*UPDATE*
My friend in Dallas informs me that gas stations are empty and traffic has been crappy with all the people coming in. Things not looking so good.

I was planning to drive to Dallas on Friday night (Staying with a friend) or maybe Saturday morning and make it a one day trip. But I do not want to be caught in a tropical storm on I-35 so I'm going to take the wait and see approach.

Racer_J · Sep 24, 2005

I haven't heard anything about all gas stations being sold out. I'm sure plenty ran out along 45 for those coming up from Houston but Dallas should be ok as its Suburbs that are directly on the way from east Texas are and plenty of people have been leaving that area as well. Anyway, hurricane updates:

Well, Rita is finally fixing to hit.

September 24, 12:53 AM EDT
Storm: Rita
Location: About 40 Miles South-Southeast of Sabine Pass Along The Gulf Coast At The Texas/Louisiana Border.
Max Winds: 120 mph
Category: 3

Apparently they want thir statements to make an impact this time as they were somewhat disreguarded with Katrina:

There has been an ominous warning from the director of the National Hurricane Center.

Max Mayfield said Hurricane Rita's storm surge is going to "clobber" the area near the Texas-Louisiana state line and that people will die there.

An estimated 2.8 million people have evacuated a 500-mile area after authorities told more than 3 million residents along the Texas and Louisiana coasts to head out. In Houston, maddening traffic jams have finally eased.
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That is a ton of people that have evacuated. BTW all the shelters that can house evacuees in Dallas are full so they're having to move on.

A hurricane warning remains in effect from Sargent, Texas, to Morgan City, La.

Rita is weakening slowly. It's now a Category 3 hurricane, but it's still whipping wind at 120 mph as it heads toward the Texas and Louisiana coasts.

A Texas emergency official is predicting the loss of nearly 5,700 homes and more than $8 billion in damage from Rita.

But Texas Gov. Rick Perry said, "We're going to get through this."

Forecasters said Rita could continue a gradual weakening before making landfall early Saturday, but that it's still expected to come ashore as a dangerous hurricane. They said Rita will pack "large and dangerous battering waves" and a storm surge that could reach 15 feet over normal tide levels around where Rita hits shore.

At 11 p.m. EDT, the center of Hurricane Rita was about 50 miles south-southeast of Sabine Pass, along the coast at the border between Texas and Louisiana. Rita is moving toward the northwest near 13 mph. On that track, the core of Hurricane Rita will make landfall along the southwest Louisiana and upper Texas coasts near daybreak Saturday.

Earlier, it looked like Galveston and Houston might get a direct hit.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 85 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 205 miles.

There are concerns the storm could cripple oil production. Some refineries have shut down.

Rigs in the Gulf have been evacuated. An elevated platform on Isle Denieres near the south-central Louisiana coast reported sustained winds of 58 mph.

The threat of Hurricane Rita has sparked a gasoline shortage in Texas.
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And finally:

Conditions are worsening in New Orleans, with tropical storm conditions -- high winds and rain. After major repairs and extensive pumping, floodwaters are returning to some sections of the city.

Hurricane Rita is to blame. Its wind-driven storm surge topped a battered levee and created holes in another. That sent water gushing into already-devastated neighborhoods just days after they had been pumped dry.

The first surge of water washed over a patched levee protecting the impoverished Ninth Ward, flooding the abandoned neighborhood with at least 6 feet of water.

Leaks beneath another levee that was repaired with rock and gravel left at least 6 inches of water in homes. Wind-whipped waves pushed water from Lake Pontchartrain over a seawall, and rain runoff with no outlet pooled in city streets.

One National Guardsman says, "Our worst fears came true."

A resident of the Ninth Ward, watching the flooding on TV from a shelter, said, "It's like looking at a murder. The first time is bad. After that, you numb up."

Earlier, resident Glynn Stevenson said, "You can't do nothin' about it." He's from New Orleans and he's evacuating again.

After Hurricane Katrina, Stevenson had to swim out of his house with some belongings taped to his body. Now with rain falling from Hurricane Rita, he's bailed out of his Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer in New Iberia, La.

Officials pleaded with people still in New Orleans to pack up and leave. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said anyone who stays in threatened parts of the state should maybe "write their Social Security numbers on their arms with indelible ink."

The Crescent City could be soaked with 3 to 5 inches of rain from Rita. The Army Corps of Engineers said that's about the tipping point for levees that are still holding, but were weakened by Katrina. The Corps said it would take only about a half foot of rain to flood through them again.
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Hurricane Rita heading to Dallas area???

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Hurricane Rita heading to Dallas area???

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