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2005-09-23 -Short Attention Span Theater-

Rantburg Weather Center - Hurricane Rita Updates

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Posted by Steve 2005-09-23 08:34|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 8:40 a.m.: Dallas television station WFAA reports at least 20 people were killed in an I-45 bus fire, out of about 45 elderly evacuees on board. "The early indications are this is a mechanical issue. The driver did survive the accident," Dallas County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Don Peritz said. "It's my understanding he went back on the bus several times to try to evacuate people.'' He said there were indications that oxygen used by elderly evacuees could have had a role in the fire. The accident caused a 17-mile backup on a freeway that was already heavily congested with evacuees from the Gulf Coast.

Posted by tu3031 2005-09-23 09:16|| 2005-09-23 09:16|| Front Page Top

#2 The authorities in Texas have been forcing people off of back roads and into the interstates which have become parking lots. A friend of mine tried to cross from Texas to Louisiana in Port Arthur, but the authorities had closed the bridge and sent him BACK to Beaumont.

I haven't been able to reach him on the phone since then.

Posted by Phil Fraering 2005-09-23 09:35|| 2005-09-23 09:35|| Front Page Top

#3 Same thing being reported at NRO and other blogs. How stupid can you get.

Posted by Steve">Steve 2005-09-23 10:20|| 2005-09-23 10:20|| Front Page Top

#4 Wednesday night I tried to take US90 out but was stopped by the police from getting onto it in Dayton; ended up on SR105 to Beaumont, then I-10, without problem. Never heard the logic of it; perhaps part of closing entrance ramps to major routes in order to enhance through-flow, but that is the opposite of Phil's story.

Posted by Glenmore">Glenmore 2005-09-23 10:24|| 2005-09-23 10:24|| Front Page Top

#5 New Orleans 9th Ward Floods
September 23, 2005 09:42 AM EST
By Sher Zieve - As Hurricane Rita's rains began to come onshore, Friday morning, New Orleans' 9th Ward has begun to flood again. It is unclear as to whether or not the newly-patched levees will withstand the current storm. The original levees were constructed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane and the Army Corps of Engineers has not, as yet, had enough time to fully repair them. Rita is currently at Category 4 status.

If Rita continues to track eastward, there is the possibility that New Orleans will be hit with enough force to re-flood the city. However, this time Mayor Nagin arranged for buses to transport those still in the city or residents who had returned after Katrina out of the area.

Early reports are that they had another failure on Industrial Canal levee.

Posted by Steve">Steve 2005-09-23 10:36|| 2005-09-23 10:36|| Front Page Top

#6 Phil, this may explain your friends report:
BATON ROUGE -- State police issued a plea for Texans and residents of southwest Louisiana to head north, and not east into Lafayette and Baton Rouge, as they evacuate from the approach of Hurricane Rita. State Police spokesman Lt. Lawrence McLeary said troopers are âseeing a big influx (of drivers) from Texasââ and highways in Baton Rouge are âjam-packed.ââ
âThe tendency is for people to come east,ââ McLeary said. âBut lodging is at a premium (and evacuees) will deplete gasoline supplies.ââ
Baton Rouge is now home for many of the New Orleans area residents forced from their homes by Hurricane Katrina three weeks ago.
McLeary said State Police will work with Baton Rouge police and officials in nearby Denham Springs in Livingston Parish to rework traffic lights and other traffic flow to ease a growing gridlock on Baton Rouge streets and highways.

Posted by Steve">Steve 2005-09-23 10:39|| 2005-09-23 10:39|| Front Page Top

#7 Different Models tracks

Slide down to "track guidance" and look at the projected tracks with the different models. Its a bowl of noodles. I say flipping a coin is just as accurate.

Posted by 3dc 2005-09-23 10:40|| 2005-09-23 10:40|| Front Page Top

#8 Mobile Alabama, 10:20 CST, overcast, no wind, no rain, all is well here.

Posted by Redneck Jim 2005-09-23 11:11|| 2005-09-23 11:11|| Front Page Top

#9 Bad news in New Orleans:
Water Pours Into New Orleans' Ninth Ward
NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Rita's steady rains sent water pouring through breaches in a patched levee Friday, cascading into one of the city's lowest-lying neighborhoods in a devastating repeat of New Orleans' flooding nightmare.
"Our worst fears came true," said Maj. Barry Guidry of the Georgia National Guard."We have three significant breaches in the levy and the water is rising rapidly," he said. "At daybreak I found substantial breaks and they've grown larger." Dozens of blocks in the Ninth Ward were under water as a waterfall at least 30 feet wide poured over and through a dike that had been used to patch breaks in the Industrial Canal levee. On the street that runs parallel to the canal, the water ran waist-deep and was rising fast. Guidry said water was rising about three inches a minute.
The impoverished neighborhood was one of the areas of the city hit hardest by Katrina's floodwaters and finally had been pumped dry before Hurricane Rita struck. Sally Forman, an aide to Mayor Ray Nagin, said officials knew the levees were compromised, but they believe that the Ninth Ward is cleared of residents. "I wouldn't imagine there's one person down there," Forman said.
Mitch Frazier, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, said contractors were being brought in Friday morning in an effort to repair the new damage. The corps had earlier installed 60-foot sections of metal across some of the city's canals to protect against flooding and storm surges. Forecasters have called for between 3 and 5 inches of rain in New Orleans as Rita passes Friday and Saturday, dangerously close to the 6 inches of rain that Corps officials say the patched levees can withstand. Another concern is the storm surge accompanying Rita, which could send water rising as much as 4 feet above high tide. Already Friday morning, a steady 20 mph wind, with gusts to 35 mph, was blowing, along with steady rains.

Posted by tu3031 2005-09-23 11:28|| 2005-09-23 11:28|| Front Page Top

#10 I BLAME BUSH!!!!!

WHY HASN'T HE PERSONALLY FIXED ALL THOSE LEVEES ALREADY!!! THIS IS JUST MORE EVIDENCE OF HIS RACISM AGAINST THE POOR BLACKS!!!!!

Posted by AlanC">AlanC 2005-09-23 12:03|| 2005-09-23 12:03|| Front Page Top

#11 previous seems to have lost the /sarcasm=off tag in case anyone needed it.

Posted by AlanC">AlanC 2005-09-23 12:04|| 2005-09-23 12:04|| Front Page Top

#12 Gee whiz, 3dc, you mean they can't predict a chaotic system?

/sarcasm

Posted by mojo">mojo 2005-09-23 12:33|| 2005-09-23 12:33|| Front Page Top

#13 A surfer off the shore of Galveston, Texas, was arrested Friday for not adhering to evacuation orders and surfing the large waves created by an approaching Hurricane Rita, according to a Local 6 News report. The man, who was not identified, was taken into custody by police after coming out of the surf.

Police said he was apparently not taking Rita serously, attempting to surf off the shore of Galveston.

But, dooooooood, I was like totally serious! This was the Big Kahuna of set-ups.

Link to source

Posted by Jackal">Jackal 2005-09-23 13:43|| http://home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html]">[http://home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html] 2005-09-23 13:43|| Front Page Top

#14 Fox News is showing live video of the levee break. Looks like white water rapids, not that it can cause much more damage to that neighborhood.

Posted by Steve">Steve 2005-09-23 14:42|| 2005-09-23 14:42|| Front Page Top

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