BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 06:39 PM

sorry-correction:

Unfortunately, just as with Hurricane Katrina, there are a host of problems with federal, state and local coordination in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 06:38 PM

Unfortunately, just as with Hurricane Katrina, there are a host of with federal, state and local coordination in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita.

See this article:

HoustonChronicle.com: Hurricane Rita Aftermath

Here is an excerpt from that article:

County Judge Carl Griffith said today he has become so frustrated with the federal relief effort that he has instructed all local officials to use police force if they have to to take supplies from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"If you have enough policemen to take it from them, take it," Griffith said.

His frustration comes as squabbling continues among federal, state and local over what some characterize as a woeful lack of communication.

R. David Paulison, acting FEMA head, was scheduled to visit the federal headquarters in the region, while local officials met across town to express their anger.

"We are very short on food and water, and the FEMA trucks that were supposed to be here just aren't here," Griffith said.

Commenting on the lack of help from FEMA, Griffith said, "We can't help it if politicans come here and just want to be seen by the media."

Deb Schmidt, a U.S. Forest Service official, attended the meeting and tried to catalog all the needs around the county, but she mostly ended up observing anger from the local officials.

"We hit the ground running with our own commodities and our own facilities, but we have no support," Griffith said.

City officials cited a lack of water pumps, generators, food and water, and they complained about federal relief teams failing to show and fuel deliveries not happening as promised.

Andre Wimer, city manager for Nederland, said he was tired of getting the runaround from federal officials. "We spend the day faxing and talking and we don't get any feedback. We need somebody helping us."

All is not well between local and state officials either.

According to the local officials at the meeting, state troopers were not allowing city employees crucial to the relief effort back into the county.

"I realize that there is a significant logistics issue and I appreciate that," Wimer said. "But there is a significant amount of equipment and manpower sitting at (local FEMA headquarters) and for whatever reason, it has not been released and that is a bunch of (nonsense)."

-snip-

Thos article also reports the death of a five members of a Texas family and notes that "Tempers also are flaring with local residents" who are being blocked from going back to their homes to see the damage and retrieve any possessions that might not have been damaged.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: GUEST,rarelamb
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 11:04 AM

Could someone please explain to me how Bush or any president is supposed to have greater expertise in emergency management than FEMA?

Everyone is patting W on the back for taking days out of his schedule, hang out at northern command and saying it's good to visit the damaged areas. What exactly is he doing that is making things better than if he simply let the pros do what they are paid to do?

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 10:44 AM

If he hadn't decided to send all of the National Guard troops to fight a war in Iraq he'd have had plenty of local troops to work on the local problem. The governors call them out, and has less of a feel like martial law.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Amos
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 10:21 AM

His latest BRight Idea is to have the Pentagon take charge of national disasters.

This of course flies right into the teeth of a long tradition of not using the military on internal problems, which Bush in his short-sighted and under-educated miasma is more than willing to ignore. He may not have noticed that when national governments start deploying military forces inside the nation, it increases the risk of fascist control and suppression of civil rights. On the other hand, these are two things that appear to be under Bush's gang's list of "summum bonum" virtues.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Donuel
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 10:11 AM

Joke:

I called FEMA to enquire about a job and they asked me if I had any experience with Arabian saddle horses.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Donuel
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 10:03 AM

Regarding FEMA, There are countless examples of how FEMA DID NOT PERMIT "authorized relief: food, water and clothing as well as rescue workers and trauma medical staff into the Katrina disaster area for the first 10 days.

The reason is not a racist conspiracy or a premeditated political conspiracy of any kind.

The reason is that FEMA was entirely set up to respond to small pox and radiation attacks - not a natural disaster.

The department was downsized and all the emphasis went into containment, quarantine and news conferences to give a sedatitive effect and minimize panic.

Some of the few groups that did side step FEMA to give relief was the search and rescue teams from Canada and a local Sheriff who had to send armed police to take back the diesel fuel that FEMA had confiscated from the Bernard Parish emergency response center. FEMA eveh cut down that Sheriff's emergency broadcast antenna, supposedly to make room for a FEMA antenna.

Certainly in the case of a viral outbreak many of these FEMA strategies would be understandable. In the case of a biological attack, FEMA is empowered to quarantine, disable communication and allow for the eradication of certain populations should the need arise.

In an attack scenario, Homeland Security is prepared to make tough choices that seem heartless, ruthless and Machavellian.

So it was not just inaction by FEMA but a confused inappropriate response by an agency that is now restructured to have no business reponding to a natural diaster.

In short it was like you having to call the fire department and instead they sent a SWAT team - with forms that needed to be be signed in triplicate, forwarded, reviewed, approved and sent to commitee for recommended action.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: beardedbruce
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 07:50 AM

dianavan,

"Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, told a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday that we're in a period of heightened hurricane activity that could last another decade or two.( See scientists collect data -- 1:33)

"The increased activity since 1995 is due to natural fluctuations (and) cycles of hurricane activity driven by the Atlantic Ocean itself along with the atmosphere above it and not enhanced substantially by global warming," he testified.

Mayfield's colleague at the National Hurricane Center, meteorologist Chris Landsea, said two recent studies about global warming and hurricanes raise more questions than they answer. He added that the impact of global warming is "minimal for the forseeable future."

Landsea said the studies indicate global warming could increase hurricane wind speeds and rainfall by about 5 percent --100 years from now. But, he added, more study is needed, looking back at historical data and making it more compatible with modern reporting techniques."

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/09/23/hurricane.cycle/index.html

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: GUEST,H
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 08:59 AM

The homework assignment for today; everyone go back up and red the posts' from "Q". This means to read the links and understand them. This will be part of the final

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 12:07 AM

During WW2 I remember the interurban between Dallas and McKinney, north of Dallas. Rail lines need not be bullet-speed, but intercity rail transit seems neglected in the west.

A favorite of mine, when I was in the Ottawa-Montreal area, was a morning train to Montreal. Gave me time to read the paper or notes and no worries about rush hour traffic.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Sep 05 - 11:25 PM

I agree. New roads aren't the answer. They've been talking about high speed rail between Texas cities for years and years, but I don't know if anyone in the post-Rita political cadre will make the connection between Rapid Transit and Dollars Well Spent.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: dianavan
Date: 24 Sep 05 - 10:02 PM

SRS - Lets hope they don't spend money to build more roads!

The sensible thing to do would be to stagger the evacuation times and evacuate one section at a time.

But of course thats way too logical for the bureaucrats.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: CarolC
Date: 24 Sep 05 - 01:56 PM

Article on the president's response to Hurricane Rita...

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2149&ncid=1856&e=3&u=/cpress/20050924/ca_pr_on_wo/wea_rita_bush

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Sep 05 - 01:41 PM

Rita seems to be scouring East Texas and West Louisiana. We (North Texas around Fort Worth and Dallas) haven't seen a drop of rain, no wind, and only high clouds here. That's good for all of the Houston and Galveston folks who evacuated to the Metroplex, and easier on the Katrina folks who are already here. Our yards could have used some of that rain, though.

We're now at a situation of All Dressed Up and No Place to Go, but the preparations for a heavy storm won't go to waste. Everything I did to make it easier to leave if I had to (I live on a creek) or bought to use as emergency supplies will stay in place. They needed to be up to full strength anyway.

It had to be the Roadtrip from Hell for all of those folks stuck on the freeways headed north from Houston, but important lessons need to be learned from this. Is it reasonable that it should take that long to travel the distance when that many people are all trying to go at the same time? It was slow and miserable, but they did get out. Is money going to be spent to build more roads, or to devise a better evacuation system, or is it going to be determined that bugging out is always miserable work and spend the money on other services or technologies in this gulf region to restore wetlands or build barriers?

Lots of Monday morning quarterbacking soon to follow.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: pdq
Date: 24 Sep 05 - 01:19 PM

Q,

Thanks for your hard work. Searching for facts and "the truth" proves much more diffcult than blatting-out personal opinion. Your posts often stand out as gems in a field of slag.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Bill D
Date: 24 Sep 05 - 12:52 PM

just looked at this thread again after several days...and what do I find? The funniest cartoon title in ages!!

"Row vs. wade" I want to see that one, Donuel!

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: dianavan
Date: 24 Sep 05 - 11:41 AM

Azizi - "...does global warming have anything to do with this?"

Many scientists are saying that global warming does not create the hurricane but that it increases the strength of the hurricane and also produces more rain during the storm.

They are saying that the use of fossil fuels are warming the earth and most especially the seas where the the hurricane gains its strength.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: GUEST,reggie miles
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 09:46 PM

Have you ever written a topical song and had it's impact fade due to the subject becoming somewhat outdated? Now that the current administration has placed David (Duct Tape) Paulison in charge of FEMA I figure they've just given my song a new lease on life. With a character like this guy now in charge of FEMA, I'm certain that I can look forward to years of great inspiration for even more songs. ;o)

for more info about Duct Tape Dave click here   

Duct and Cover Reggie Miles © 2004

The threat of war is loomin',
Anthrax bombs may soon be zoomin',
To your bedrooms in the suburbs but don't despair.

From deep within his mountain bunker,
Where Gee Dubbya's gonna hunker,
A solution to our dilemma he's sure to share.

Our best scientific minds,
Were charged to seek and find,
An all American answer to our plight,

And with the billions spent,
On defense research by government,
They finally discovered one that works just right.

Yes they've found it girls and boys.
Protection from those evil toys,
Affordable and available throughout the land,

Yankee ingenuity,
Has triumphed once again you see,
Providing safety to every woman, child, and man.

And what miracle is this,
That secures our freedom bliss,
And ensures all our blessed liberties?

What treasure is it, made by man,
That can do, what no other can,
This creation of our modern techno-lull-ogies?

It's the simplest things they say,
That can always save the day,
And it's oh so very true in this case too.

You needn't build a big bomb shelter,
You can avoid the helter skelter.
Listen closely here is what they say to do.

Just duct tape and cover your windows and your door,
With plastic sheeting you can buy at any hardware store.

It's an easy thing to do no matter if you're rich or poor,
And much cleaner than crawling 'neath your desk down on all four.

It's a lesson we've all learned in school, fifty years ago.
When we feared that the idea of droppin' A-bombs would grow.

They've changed the words to suit our times.
Yesterday's duck and cover rhymes.
Are now just duct tape and cover instead.

It kind of makes you wonder,
Why Gee Dubbya's way down under,
Neath the mountain in his little hidy hole.

When all he needs to do,
Is just follow me or you,
To buy some plastic sheeting and some duct tape by the roll.

Then he could duct tape and cover the Whitehouse windows and door,
With plastic easily bought from any hardware store.

No need to kiss his ass goodbye,
When missiles fall down from the sky,

When he can duct tape and cover instead.

They've changed the words to suit our times.
Yesterday's duck and cover rhymes.
Are now just duct tape and cover instead.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 02:30 PM

Sorry- my eyes are glazed going through all that stuff. Don't know what is wrong with the link to Title 33

Lock article-
Questionable projects

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 02:21 PM

Responsibility for the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal is Federal.
This is the canal leaking again into the Ninth Ward of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish. It is part of the Navigable Waters of the United States.

I became interested because changes to a drawbridge over the canal were published in the National Register (federal government). Also found was discussion of the construction of a controversial new lock on the canal, being built by the Corps of Engineers at a cost of 748 million. NO money was provided for flood control. The lock is a pork-barrel project of the Louisiana federal congressional delegation and the Corps of Engineers.

It takes a bit of searching because of the circuitous and gobbledegooked compilation of regulations, but see "Navigation and Navigable Waters, Title 33."
Three Federal Agencies are involved:
Department of Transportation
Corps of the Army Corps of Engineers
Coast Guard, Dept. of Homeland Security

Others marginally involved in arriving at decisions on this particular waterway, besides the federal government and the Congressional pork-barrellers, are the Port of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana. The City of New Orleans is at fault to the extent that they didn't holler loud enough for the Federal Government and Congress to take action on flood control long ago. There was some discussion of the possibility of jobs to the denizens of the Ninth Ward.

The indexes to sections of Title 33 may be searched for here (don't get lost- it's a morass):
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text-idx?sid=ff3f8550c6d45e5e8c101bd08678bf87&c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title33/33tab_02.tpl
Title 33 Navigation
(I hope that works)

A column on the construction of the lock is here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/07/AR2005090702462_pf.html"> Questionable Projects

The Port of New Orleans also seems to have been involved in pork-barrelling proposals.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 02:04 PM

Rita is now category 3.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Wesley S
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 01:47 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/23/nola.levees/index.html/

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Donuel
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 01:26 PM

There is some good news at least. President Bush flew into Texas breifly for a photo op in which he said "our job is to pray for and assist the hurricaine victims".




.............

If FEMA can't have it's cabinate post back, at least a new position could be created such as the secretary of federal prayer assistence.

Cartoons in the making:

Chickens come home to roost
Levee o 'matic
Row vs. wade

Hell - picture of burning gas atop the Port Arthur flood at night

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 12:15 PM

No levee breaks yet, one repaired break has water flowing over the point of repair in a 30' wide section. However, prolonged flowing will could result in further erosion.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Donuel
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 11:53 AM

The Army Corps has their own language; such as overtopping a levee is not a levee break.

Dewatering is pumping water out
Rewatering is a flood.

Just the 9th ward is under waist deep water so far but no remedy can be attempted for at least 20 hours.

So we have a small 30 foot overtopping resulting in a rewatering of the 9th ward which is already depopulated.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Wesley S
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 11:47 AM

And now more levee breaks in New Orleans have been reported.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Wesley S
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 11:24 AM

The news reports we've heard here on TV in Ft Worth say that the bus explosion was started by sparks from the brakes of the bus. And that's what touched off the oxygen tanks. At least 25 confirmed dead so far.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Donuel
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 11:22 AM

We all know who will get rich in the unbid contract political gold mines.

Meanwhile CNN did it again. Right in the middle of a tornado warning for Louisiana and the doppler radar pictures the weather person was cut off the air and a video of the Texas Govenor was shown explaining how successful the evacuation is and how he will no tolerate lawlessness.

CNN has to learn from its mistakes that tornado warning whould take precedent over political speeches.

3 Weeks ago CNN cut off weather reporters who tried to tell people how tools to cut through your roof might save their life.

CNN is a valuable resource in emergencies overall but defer too often to political feel good photo ops at inopportune moments.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 10:45 AM

Hey, SH, if the shoe fits. . .

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Susu's Hubby
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 08:51 AM

"The military fuel bladders are in Iraq."


This has absolutly nothing to do with anything, Donuel. There are fuel truck trying to make it up and down I-45 but the traffic is so congested, they're having trouble trying to make it through. Even the emergency personnel trying to get to the scene of the accident are having a tough time trying to get there through the traffic.

Stop trying to continue to turn a bad situation into a political goldmine for you and your buddies. It's been tried again and again and to no avail all it does is make you look like an opportunistic idiot trying to forward a specific agenda.

On second thought, go right ahead and continue what you're doing. You'll insure a republican administration for many years to come.


Hubby

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Donuel
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 08:36 AM

A bus of elderly evacuees had an explosion and burned 15 miles south of Dallas. I assume an elederly person had an oxygen tank and someone smoked. The traffic is at a standstill.
Yesterday I feared the decision to close all exits on the evacuation route would turn into this roadway nightmare.
The side of the highway is a mass of dead cars with empty tanks. A last minute plan to get tanker trucks or air lift fuel seems to have broken down. Trucks can't can't move any faster than 5 MPH in the traffic jams. The military fuel bladders are in Iraq.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Donuel
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 12:58 AM

Port Arthur and towns 30 miles inland of Port Arthur will be underwater by Saturday.

Jeez if the US loses six more large ports we will be out of business.

Pictures of the 60-100 mile bumper to bumper standstill traffic was more frightening than any video of those idiot reporters standing in high wind.

The mayor of Galveston claims that all the personal effects washing up on their shore is from the Katrina storm.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 07:00 PM

yep...Texas did MORE than their share last month. Ah, well...Bush has promised to reimburse them....(just as soon as the budget is balanced, I suppose)

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 06:03 PM

The highway was strangely quiet when I was out on I-20 an hour or two ago. I have this vision of a sea of autos descending on the Metroplex. I went to the pet store for an extra dog kennel (several folks from Houston have already stopped there, they said), stopped by Albertson (most of the drinking water is gone from the shelves), stopped by my other small grocery store--they're doing fine except they're out of rice. The big highway signs that usually alert travelers to accidents 20 miles ahead or to Amber alerts are posting a phone number for evacuees to find local hotels.

I have kennels for the cats and the dogs now, in case my creek floods and I have to leave for a while. We'll have some stuff prepacked and I'll load the computers and pets and head over to my ex's where the kids spend the weekend anyway. He's on higher ground.

I haven't been able to reach my Hurricane Katrina family at their shelter since early yesterday. The cell phones in the area are so jammed up that they're not working well and I think there are so many folks trying to use the landline phone at the shelter that they haven't been able to call. Today I have wrapped up my storm preparations, and I'll drive over and check on them tomorrow. They're looking for housing now that they've cleared the FEMA and Texas housing folks.

UT System is asking for folks to house other UT System folks if necessary. There is a campus in Galveston, and in Houston.

All of this leads up to the old adage Texans should have remembered: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: CarolC
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 04:45 PM

Good luck to all of you who are in the path of Hurricane Rita.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Wesley S
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 04:26 PM

We're on some high ground here in Ft Worth so I'm not concerned about flooding at our house. However we have a bigassed pecan tree in our back yard - and it's old too. I hope it doesn't end up in our bedroom after Rita gets through with us.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 03:49 PM

yep....and then, if all is 'moderately' ok afterwards, all those people will want/need to come BACK to Houston...that's, lessee..several million MORE auto trips at slow, tedious speeds, using MORE fuel. Some of these people may hardly get OUT of their vehicles for a week. 5 million is a lot of bodies to put anywhere,...even for a few days.

It is not a pretty picture. .....and New Orleans may well get enough rain and storm surge to undo a lot of the progress...and flooding up as far as Dallas as this thing dumps gulf water way inland.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 03:37 PM

By now, officials should know that mass evacuations over 2-3 days from large urban centers are impossible. Four million in metro Houston. 'Mandatory' evacuation from low-lying areas only ordered at 6:00AM today (Sept. 22).

Gridlock on the highway (and at the airport). Sad to see traffic frozen on the highways.
Cars running out of gas. Gas station tanks empty and shut down. Summer heat. Four lanes of Hell. Lanes in to Houston not changed to outward as of this hour, but that would just lead to gridlock further up the road. The police chief sounds optimistic, but we shall see.
How many will die on the road?

Thirty-six hours to landfall?

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 01:35 PM

It should be pointed out that "Weather Underground" articles are by Jeff Masters, who is a trained meteorologist.
Most blogs are full of garbage, but this source is informed.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: beardedbruce
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 01:11 PM

SRS,

YOU are the one who has stated that only facts that apriori supported your viewpoint could be considered valid. I fail to see where you have any complaint about my pointing out when someone says something is larger when all the rest of the world has agreed it is smaller.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: sapper82
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 12:05 PM

Bloody hope not Bill!

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Azizi
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 10:50 AM

I'm praying and sending good vibes of protection for all in the vicinity of this terrible storm.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 10:47 AM

(sapper82, that is Phillipe out there, not predicted to bother us much)

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Azizi
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 10:47 AM

Here's a repost from Weather Underground

"We continue to live history as this incredible Hurricane Season of 2005 unfolds more stunning surprises. Rita has peaked in intensity as the third strongest hurricane of all time, with a pressure of 897 mb and 175 mph winds. She is on the decline now, as the 7:30 am hurricane hunter mission found a pressure of "only" 907 mb and winds 5 mph weaker. The hurricane hunters also found evidence of a concentric eyewall forming outside of the main inner eyewall, and the inner eyewall had begun to take on an elliptical shape. All these signs indicate that Rita will continue to weaken today as her inner eyewall collapses and an eyewall replacement cycle begins. Additionally, Rita is about to leave the vicinity of a warm eddy of Gulf water called the Loop Current that has been aiding her intensification. Also, 10 knots of shear has developed on her south side, thanks to the fact that the upper-level high pressure system that was providing such excellent outflow for Rita has now shifted to the southeast of the storm. All these signs point to a substantial weakening trend for Rita that will continue through Friday and probably reduce her to a Category 4 hurricane. The GFDL forecast model predicts that this weakening trend will continue until landfall Saturday, when Rita will be a Category 3 hurricane.

While this is cause for some relief, Rita, like her weaker sister Katrina did, will still bring a Category 5 level storm surge along a 60 - 80 miles stretch of coast to the right of where the storm makes landfall on Saturday. Storm surge heights will peak at 20 - 25 feet in some bays, and bring the ocean inland up to 50 miles from the coast. Large sections of I-10 between Houston and Beaumont will be inundated, and the flood waters will reach the cities of Beaumont, Orange, and Lake Charles. Wind damage will be severe, and Houston can expect a hazardous rain of glass from its high rise building like was experienced during Hurricane Alica in 1983. If the eye passes just west of Galveston Bay, the storm surge will push 1 - 3 of water into some of Houston's eastern suburbs, such as Deer Park...

Where will Rita go?
The computer models made a modest shift eastwards this morning, calling for a landfall between Galveston and the Texas/Louisiana border. The Hurricane Center shifted their landfall point as well, but not as far as the model consensus. The models have been flip-flopping frequently, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that they will shift the landfall point 50 or so miles further west again this afternoon. However, a landfall within 100 miles of Galveston seems to be the the best call. Landfall will still occur sometime Saturday, but this may be afternoon instead of morning, as the storm is moving slower than before.

Most of the models now indicate that steering currents will weaken and Rita will stall and sit in place for several days once it moves inland. This will result in severe flooding problems for wherever Rita stalls, as 10 - 30 inches of rain could fall in the affected region. As is usually the case when steering current get weak, the model forecasts of Rita's motion are highly unreliable. Rita may stall over the Dallas area, or central Louisiana, or Oklahoma or Arkansas. It's too early to tell. Finally, on Tuesday, Rita's remnants are forecast to lift out to the north..."

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 10:45 AM

again I post the website for Lou's Weather Watch    ...more than you ever want to know about the storms and possibilities, with links to everything relevant.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 10:43 AM

I illustrated this quote from bin Laden 3 years ago that could fit the superstition that Guest referred to as "upstting Allah".

http://www.angelfire.com/md2/customviolins/judges.jpg


...................................................


Personally I feel that Rita is not going to obey the computer models for landfall. I think it will come much closer to Louisiana than predicted.


................

Now I know people here by in large do not believe that scaler energy exists, much less controlable by human technology, but if it does exist... the evidence for such energies are accompanied by a huge fireball.
Such a huge fireball was witnessed over the ocean by Florida residents yesterday. (there are many links to this incident)

*If the US has scaler transmitters to influence hurricaine behavior one would think we would try to steer it into Mexico. Short of that perhaps it would be a shorter route to steer it back into Louisiana and spare the Tesas Gas infrastructure.

(just a thought inspired by some peculiar conincidences)

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 10:39 AM

Beardedbruce, it is your general approach to anything remotely intellectual that rubs me the wrong way. Your choice of sources and your interpretation of them are so offputting that I don't read many of your posts at all or I'd be wasting my time all day long trying to get you to use reasonable sources, quote them correctly, interpret them reasonably, or to respond to the topic at hand and not attack the messenger.

I'm sure you'll spout off and attack now, using your own personal fuzzy logic.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: Susu's Hubby
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 09:39 AM

Being from Texas, I can say this.

Houston, being the place that it is, is probably one of the few places where you have to worry about contracting West Nile Virus on Christmas day. Saying that, the 1 million+ people currently trying to get out of the Houston area aren't fleeing from the Hurricane.

They all, yesterday, came to the realization that "OMG---I'm in Houston."   ;-)


Hubby

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: GUEST,G
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 09:33 AM

beardedbruce, any fact here will be falsified if it can be used to bash GWB. I am not his greatest fan but I do like hanging with facts.

People! Do some research, the hole in the Ozone is now much smaller than in previous years. This FACT is a result of surveys accomplished in the past few weeks.

Some of you are really getting screwed - you have "hot water heaters"
while here in the midwest our hot water has already been heated.

Subject: RE: BS: Hurricane Rita, Mother Nature, & FEMA
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 09:13 AM

Have you people done something to upset Allah?