September 22, 2005

Are You Kidding Me?

UPDATE: Remember, all historic hurricane posts are (mostly) inoperative when a new hurricane post goes up.

The latest prediction puts landfall closer to Galveston/Houston. No place to run, I'm afraid, if you haven't left the state, according to one of the possible models explained by a meteorologist at the Weather Underground group weblog:

The latest runs of two key computer models, the GFS and GFDL, now indicate that the trough of low pressure that was expected to pick up Rita and pull her rapidly northward through Texas will not be strong enough to do so. Instead, these models forecast that Rita will make landfall near Galveston, penetrate inland between 50 and 200 miles, then slowly drift southwestward for nearly two days, as a high pressure ridge will build in to her north. Finally, a second trough is forecast to lift Rita out of Texas on Tuesday. If this scenario develops, not only will the coast receive catastrophic damage from the storm surge, but interior Texas, including the Dallas/Fort Worth area, might see a deluge of 15 - 30 inches of rain. A huge portion of Texas would be a disaster area. We'll have to wait for the next set of model runs due out by tomorrow morning to know better.

The current forecast from the National Hurricane Center has 12-15 inches of rain over the coastal areas (plus the gigantic storm surge) and another 5-10 inches over East Texas, but this assumes it doesn't stall out.

As for preparations, let's put it this way: there was no bottled water in the Randall's I went to tonight. In Austin.




Posted by Norbizness at September 22, 2005 12:19 AM
Comments

Dude. I am soooo unprepared.

And I'm so stupid, too. I went to TWO grocery stores today, and couldn't figure out why it was so DAMN crowded in the middle of the afternoon.

Posted by: drublood at September 22, 2005 12:02 AM

Jeezm, what's next for the Gulfsouth? A locust swarm?

I know how y'all feel-- stay safe.

Posted by: oyster at September 22, 2005 01:01 AM

That's not good. My house backs up to Williamson Creek. That's also not good.

But, come on, a huge portion of Texas would be a disaster area? Like it isn't already?

Posted by: The Venerable Ed at September 22, 2005 07:29 AM

So are you sticking around?

Posted by: john @ blogenlust at September 22, 2005 09:03 AM

Goddammit. I decided to send my wife and kids up to Austin so they'd be safe. Now you're telling me that's not going to cut it?

I'm staying in Houston. Come get me, bagel-boy.

Posted by: HWRNMNBSOL at September 22, 2005 09:34 AM

Damn.

Okay, you probably know all of this and I'm just being over-protective and obnoxious, but so what, right?

Fill every container you have with tap water and make sure you have some Clorox bleach. It has to be plain old Clorox bleach, not a generic or a lemon-scented version. I hope they're not sold out of that. Here are the official directions:

"First let water stand until particles settle. Pour the clear water into an uncontaminated container and add Regular Clorox Bleach per the chart. Mix well. Wait 30 min. Water should have a slight bleach odor. If not, repeat dose. Wait 15 min. Sniff again. Keep an eyedropper taped to your emergency bottle of Clorox Bleach, since purifying small amounts of water requires only a few drops. ...Ratio of Clorox Bleach to Water for Purification:

2 drops per quart of water
8 drops per gallon of water
1/2 teaspoon per five gallons of water

If water is cloudy, double the recommended dosages ..."

Posted by: larkspur at September 22, 2005 09:41 AM

My Mom just called (8:00a.m.pst) to say they'd arrived in Austin to catch their flight. They left Houston at 1:30 in the morning. She said the I10 is not moving at all.

Posted by: shayera at September 22, 2005 10:00 AM

"Come get me, bagel-boy."

Thanks a lot. I just busted up in the middle of a quiet office.

Posted by: vachon at September 22, 2005 10:33 AM

This morning, I went out and got some bottled water at Target, and filled my gastank with the still $2.69 gas at Citgo. I have spent the rest of the morning explaining to my children that Austin is not going to be like New Orleans.

I just hope my $40 of gas doesn't float away with my car if the flood hits Austin.

Posted by: drublood at September 22, 2005 11:07 AM

Best of luck. I feel like I live in the only place in the nation that isn't receiving but actually deserves a holy smack-down.

Posted by: Kriston at September 22, 2005 04:45 PM