Sept. 19, 2005, 1:58PM Galveston asks residents to leave By RHEA DAVIS and KEVIN MORAN Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory/3360091 GALVESTON - With the National Hurricane Center's official forecast naming Galveston as Rita's most likely Gulf Coast target later this week, island officials are calling for a voluntary evacuation. Activating its emergency management plan this afternoon, Galveston asked residents to voluntarily leave in preparation of Rita, which is a tropical storm now but is expected to strengthen into a hurricane when it moves into the Gulf later today. By the time it hits the Gulf Coast on Saturday morning, it is expected to be a Category 3 hurricane. The evacuation is to begin Tuesday afternoon if the weather forecast holds. Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas urged residents to fill up their gas tanks and gather essentials such as a three-day supply of medicine, valuables and important papers. She said those who need transporation should call 409-797-3710. Galveston is lining up 88 buses to take out evacuees Wednesday morning. Although the Hurricane Center is projecting that Rita will turn into a hurricane and hit the Texas Coast Saturday, five-day forecasts are often off by hundreds of miles. "It could hit anywhere in the window of Brownsville and New Orleans,” said Lance Wood, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "The Houston area is in the center of that window." He said it is too early to tell exactly where the hurricane will land. “It would be wise for everyone on the Texas and Louisiana coast to pay attention and watch this storm,” he said. Rita comes on the heels of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Louisiana coast three weeks ago and revealed the serious inadequacy of Gulf Coast evacuation plans. At a town hall meeting called in response to Katrina, Galveston officials said there's work to be done before they can assure that everyone who wants a ride out of town will get one.
I bought flood insurance this year. Personally, I live in NW Houston with no trees tall enough to hit my house nearby. I wouldn't leave unless it was mandatory evacuation. My area is also outside of the 500 year flood plain.
Yeah, I'm in west Houston so hopefully flooding wont be an issue all the way out there. My house didn't flood during Allison, and from what I understand Allison dumped more rain than most hurricanes would. It's just the people that live in path of the storm surge that need to be really concerned with flooding.
Storm surge is highly dependent upon the exact landfall location. Ten miles can be the difference between a 15 and a 30 foot surge. Worst case scenario is a landfall at Freeport and a track north. That would put Johnson Space Center under 10 feet of water and flood the ship channel. 610 would only see a surge near the ship channel areas, but none of the central Houston area would be effected DIRECTLY by the surge. Now, bayous would be held back from emptying, which would cause extensive flooding en par with Allison. But, that is absolute worst case. Move the hurricane 100 miles to the east of Freeport and we get some wind, some rain and that's about it.
In the case of a large storm, best bet is Huntsville. Conroe won't get clobbered, but it will still feel the impact and unless you really want to sit through it. I'll stay with friends in Austin. If anyone knows of any pet boarding places in Austin, I need a place for 13 cats.
You're in Nottingham right? I'm a couple miles or so from you. If it's that strong and heading towards us I'm outta here.
yep. kirkwood/memorial area. i grew up in this area. when alicia hit in 83, a twister spun off and hit my home. tore part of the roof off and started raining in my home. we had to live in a hotel for nearly two months. i have two kids...one 5 and one not yet 1. can't afford to play around with it.
The forecasting models for strength are so iffy. It's interesting that the models are showing a hurricane of around 95 knots in strength (around 100 mph) late Friday with an increase to around 100 knots (about 115 mph) by Saturday. That would be much better than something up in the 140-150mph range.
we don't know yet...won't know until more time passes who will really be affected. just keep watching.
Wow. If true, that's amazing. I've lived in clear lake my whole life - I have never once seen any serious flooding outside of a few roads being impassable. For the record, I work at JSC and 10 feet of water would be an incredible amount of damage.
This is just a hunch, but you can probably still get Renter's Insurance from Allstate today. I picked it up right after Katrina- $150 buys you 25k in coverage, with a 1% deductable from Allstate. That doesn't include flood insurance, but I live about 25 feet off the ground, so that wasn't an issue for me. It does cover fire, wind, theft, etc. Buy quick if you are going to buy!
Hurricane Alicia hit and the ship channel flooded, and the neighborhood next to us got wiped completely out. DD
They should be thankful. If Rita hits us on Saturday, it will save UH and Rice another certain gridiron loss.
