Here's a pretty cool animation of the storm. http://adds.aviationweather.gov/satellite/displaySat.php?region=GULF&isingle=mult_big&itype=vis
We left for the Airport from around HP on 249 at 1:15 Thursday. We had NO traffic headed south on 249 but it was packed headed North. No traffic on the toll way either. Got to the Airport quickly found parking, and since we had pre-printed our boarding passes thought we were in great shape. Wrong. We stood in line for 3.5 hours to punch in our confirmation code and drop off our bags. Took us 2 minutes when we got to the kiosk, but a lot of people ahead of us had cancelled or missed flights. Then we went to get something to eat. NOT. Everything in the Airport was closed except Starbucks, Pappadeux and Pappasito's in E terminal. By the time we got to Deaux they were out of food. Stood in line for Sitos for 30 minutes but halfway through the line a guy came out to say they were closing after that customer. "Are you out of food?" No just closing at 6. Walking back to our gate, the fire alarm goes off. Everybody just ignored it. Our 7:08 flight was delayed until 8:20. Almost didn't take off becuase we didn't have three flight attendants (the minimum aparently to fly) but one was on the plane flying home and she volunteered to work. Now in Minnesota. Weather is beautiful. Good luck guys.
Anyone who still wants to come to Austin should be fine now. Looks like smooth sailing down I-10 and up 71.
Good news for us in Houston: 1) Rita looks like it's starting to fall apart. There is dry air coming from the northwest that is getting very close to the western eye wall. The eastern side is relatively intact. 2) Rita is moving more north than west. It could hit in LA if it continues that path.
Yeah. Rita hitting New Orleans would've been the best case scenario. The city's already destroyed and evacuated.
my dad's on I-45 around 80 miles away from Dallas...he says the traffic is flowing well now....though he will still have to wait 3-4 hours in line for gas. i had'nt heard from him since yesterday when he was supposed to go over to a friends house and drive with their family to Dallas.(though because of traffic decided to go solo without telling anyone )....i swear everyone should get a cellphone.....i have never been so worried in my life......i have been watching the news 24/7 up here in Canada and man do they make it sound like its the end of the world i hope everyone a safe trip....also everyone in Houston i hope you all the best....hopefully it will die down to a Cat2 by tonight.
To anyone living/staying in Austin; Is the gas supply scarce? Food/Water? Someone told me that stores were out of water in Austin? If I haul ass over there, I want to know that I'll be able to buy gas to come back down...
Helpful tip If you anticipate losing power to your home, do this right now: turn the temperature in your refrigerator all the way down to as cold as possible. This will increase the amount of time you'll be able to use the fridge after power is out.
Bottled water is gone, but there's plenty of beer and liquor. There's more than enough gas, although there's been a slight shortage of premium in NW Austin.
Thanks Baqui! I may just leave right now. I have a free 3 day pass to ACL and a pre-booked hotel room waiting...
Man, if you watch the satilite image of it, it really looks like the storm is just shredding apart. The whole left side looks like it is disinegrating (just like Jeff predicted) and you can't even see the eye anymore.
Just FYI, the storm isn't falling apart. It is being compressed from the northwest and dry air wind shear is coming in from the southeast. That shear appears to be increasing in intensity as forecast by the NHC. Remember that we are still looking at 60-65mph sustained winds with gusts to 75mph in central Houston and north to Conroe. This will be spread over an 8-hour period. If the storm wobbles a little north and east, that will decrease by 10mph or so. If the storm wobbles a little west, that could increase. Figure as much as a 30-mile variable area on either side of the current projected landfall area within the last 8-10 hours before it comes on shore.
One other thing to remember is that storms tend to wobble their way onshore. It will wobble north then wobble west and forth. We just saw a small wobble back to the northwest over the past hour. So, think of it like an S-shaped movement like a snake between its current position and the coastline. That wobble will control its movement but the general movement is still to the northwest and the storm is currently directly northwest of Port Aurthur. Also of note is the fact that the models for the first time are all in agreement of a landfall east of Galveston with a couple actually making landfall in extreme western Louisiana.
