Yeah, he's like the Hunky Angel of Destruction. Hopefully he and Rita will wind up in Beaumont. Not that i have anything against Beaumont.

Hey Hou Gator...I noticed recently that Jim was no longer wearing a wedding ring. Is that still the case? Maybe he's OK being sent on assignment to the "danger zones" because he is no longer tied down with family concerns.....?

Not sure - I forgot to look. Guess I'm gonna have to run by JC's hotel tonight and find out! Just don't tell my squeeze. You think he knows how much the fellas love him? I did my best not to drool or embarrass us.

With respect to his family concerns, I believe that unfortunately he has two very ill children. I think JC goes out on these crazy assignments b/c he's just one of those crazy folks who really loves the weather.

It's gotten windy here. Kind of comes and goes every few minutes. No rain yet. There are still lots of homeless folks wandering around downtown - mostly the older folks. The city evacuated a lot of them yesterday, but some refused to leave.

[ September 23, 2005, 01:27 PM: Message edited by: Houston Gator ]

i'm stickin' it out here too. where do you live gator? i'm in the heights. didn't get flooded during allison (sp?) so we decided to stay and hope for the best.

Hogg Palace in the Theatre District. I'm told the 1st floor flooded during Allison. TWC reported a little while ago that there could be a "few inches of flooding." Doesn't seem that the pundits are worried about flooding in Houston even though that is probably the residents' biggest concern.

Sustained winds of 22 mph now in Houston and 33 mph in Galveston. Looks like Beaumont is going to get smoked.

Be safe, and stay off the roads. I made that mistake during Katrina....not a smart thing to do.

TWC just reported that Rita took a weird jog to the right, or due northward. Now they're saying she'll make landfall at the TX/LA border. If true, this is a HUGE relief for those in the Houston/Galveston area, but the poor folks in LA are getting hit again, with the New Orleans levees breaking again.

Rita's smacking us around a little right now - but my air conditioning still works! The rain is coming in sideways, and the wind is running fast through the downtown streets. Local 2 News is reporting 40 mph sustained winds and 55 mph gusts in the Bayou City. I would have guessed the wind was coming in a little harder. Looks like it would be strong enough to knock my 185-pound body to the ground were I standing outside. We're seeing lots of lightning to the southwest. My patio is under about 1 inch of water, but it tends to collect water during storms anyway. Houston's going to be dirty in the morning. Very lucky. But dirty.

Our biggest concern right now is what happens over the next few days. One of the models has Rita heading up toward Tyler, hitting the high pressure area over north Texas, and sliding back down over Houston. Cantore compared that situation to Allison earlier. Hope Rita will just go on her merry way.

Another big concern is gasoline (or will be a concern). There is no gas in the city. I wonder how long it will be before each station is gassed up. Fortunately, it appears that a lot of folks left Houston (unfortunately they are probably still sitting in their cars!), and hopefully those of us who stayed filled up our tanks Tues or Weds.

A fire in Galveston caused by a fallen electricity pole (is that what you call it? in my half-sleep I'm not thinking so sharply) has wiped out three buildings. One of my peeps is a firefighter down there and had to stay on the island.

TWC is repoting 112 mph wind gusts on the east side of the 'cane - close to Cameron, LA on the TX/LA border. Northern edge of the eye wall is about to come ashore.

Good night.

[ September 24, 2005, 12:26 AM: Message edited by: Houston Gator ]

They're talking about it stalling or turning east, and then maybe south and even back into the Gulf. Yikes.

The sun is out, the damage in Houston appears to be minimal, the streets are still quiet, and Jim Cantore is no longer within stalking range. Several traffic lights are out around town, signs are down, a few trees were blown over,and the IHOP on Westheimer lost half its roof. Houston was pretty lucky.

We ate at a local spot this morning that was serving only one plate - scrambled eggs, one slice of bacon, one piece of wheat toast, cheese grits, and two slices of tomato. It was a great breakfast. People were lined up out the door since just about every other restaurant inside the loop is still closed. Hell, even Katz's is closed.

Yesterday, we drove past one gas station that was open, and there were about fifty cars lined up waiting to gas up. Every other gas station I saw was out of gas. I'm guessing it will be a few days before we have gas again, but that hasn't stopped the evacuees from returning home.

Unfortunately, the evacuees are coming back in waves. Houston has been so quiet the past three days - at times I felt like I had the city to myself. I doubt I'll ever see a city of 2 million people so empty again. If you've ever seen '28 Days Later,' the empty streets of London in the movie kind of reminded me of downtown Houston since Thursday. It's kind of eerie, but awfully peaceful.

The Chase Tower, the tallest building in Houston (and I think it might be the tallest building west of the Mississippi), lost some of its windows. I assume someone will be checking the remaining windows to ensure they are secure. I'd hate to lean up against a window in Chase and discover too late that it was loosened during Rita.

I guess it's back to the grind tomorrow. It's been a nice couple of days. In Houston anyway. It's been pretty crappy east of here.

[ September 25, 2005, 08:31 AM: Message edited by: Houston Gator ]

Stan, is that you? Stan...hello, Stan? Where are you?

Oh! Could that be you in the Caribbean in a few days? We wait with baited breath. Regardless, please don't bring Tammy along, OK?

Ok, I'm tired of hearing stories of how it took 10 hours to drive out of the city limits. wink But me and my Karmann Ghia are fine. My neighbor's bamboo tree was a bit threatening. I did feel stranded and I could definitely empathize with people in New Orleans that did not evacuate. Everyone in Houston is lucky and hopefully we can be better prepared for the next time.

As if the 2005 hurricane season can't get any weirder--Hurricane Vince (now weakened to a tropical storm) formed WAY out in the eastern Atlantic, southwest of Spain and Portugal of all places. In fact, it's predicted to come ashore there as a tropical depression or weak tropical storm.

Now when was the last time a tropical system formed way over there? According to TWC, never.

[ October 10, 2005, 03:24 PM: Message edited by: MIB ]

One more named storm to come (Wilma) before they break out the Greek letters....

Say hello to what is soon to be Hurricane Wilma, the last name on the list. Note that this storm, now only in its tropical depression state, is predicted to enter the Gulf of Mexico. Not again.

Click here for the map of TD # 24/Wilma.

[ October 15, 2005, 10:34 PM: Message edited by: MIB ]

There's a nice area of coast north of Port Charlotte here on the west side of Florida that hasn't been affected by a hurricane over the past couple years. I almost want to offer up our section of the coast to be hit so as to spare everyone else.

Well, you may get your wish. The Weather Channel says it could hook back around and affect Florida's west coast...

Looks like ABC could no longer resist the temptation to develop new programming. Home improvement + timely weather issues = Ratings Bonanza!

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/sjc...state1mq4sf.jpg


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[ October 17, 2005, 11:17 AM: Message edited by: m1 ]

Geez...I know it's early, but draw a line past the 5 day forcast and it looks like New Orleans again...

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT2.../145344W_sm.gif


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[ October 17, 2005, 11:18 AM: Message edited by: m1 ]

The big question right now is, who will be the first bimbo/himbo on TV to refer to Fred Flintstone yelling out the name of his wife: "WILLLLLMAAAAAAAA!!!!!" wink

oops...my bad.

Now it's looking like it is hooking back towards Florida again...

THAT BITCH!
She's getting stronger and is looking like she'll come right over South Florida again!
:mad:

This'll be the 4th storm that has affected us this year!

MS-

I was just thinking the EXACT same thing! I live on a canal 3 blocks from the Gulf of Mexico, just north of Tampa. I'm watching closely as I may have to take the boat out of the water, drain the pool, remove patio/yard items, pack the car, put the dogs in the car and take my insurance papers with me.

URGH! Just when the temps are getting nice. I guess the only thing good if you HAVE to get hit by Wilma is the temps are decent and surviving without electricity for days/weeks (read A/C) would be tolerable.

I'm supposed to head to Orlando on Sunday with my partner, and we're supposed to be meeting one of my sisters from Chicago...

We're also taking care of some neighbors animals, which means that we'll be sleeping with a dog, a cat, and 5 birds!
We're a mile from the Atlantic in a house that was gutted by Andrew's storm surge....
This really sucks. frown

The National Hurricane Center has taken a stab in the dark and predicted that Wilma could develop into a Category 4 storm before it even reaches the Gulf...and Katrina and Rita showed what happens this year when storms enter the Gulf...

You can always come up here to get away, MS, and spend some time with me at the World Series (got my tickets today!).

She's well on her way. The Air Force plane in there now is reporting rapid strengthening. I think she could quite easily reach cat 4 intensity in the next 24 hours. The computer models are almost unanimous bringing Wilma from west-to-east somewhere across the south half of the Florida peninsula on Saturday. Everyone from Tampa, Orlando, and Cape Canaveral southward through the keys should be aware and getting prepared. It's really tough right now to say how strong she'll be by the time she reaches Florida, but it seems pretty clear that the strong wind swath will be pretty wide and she'll be very fast-moving.

[ October 18, 2005, 07:13 PM: Message edited by: JASooner ]

We'd have to come up with some form of payment... wink

Indeed. Are you hot? Hairy?

Details, details!

Hot, but not hairy...


goatee and stache...been told muscular, too....

Wow! Wilma has exploded and is now a borderline Cat. 3 storm at 110 mph (111 mph is Cat. 3). She's expected to reach Cat. 4 status within 24 hours and may touch Cat. 5 shortly thereafter.

Look out Florida! eek!

Very unlikely that she would hold that strength for long though given several factors: 1) an eyewall replacement cycle 2) increased shear 3) slightly cooler SSTs.... we shall see though. All I know is that I'm getting slightly nervous, but the models have been fairly consistent in keeping it south of here by a good bit.

Wilma's incredible! The NHC reported that her eye has tightly compacted to just 4 miles in diameter, a pinwheel eye as they described it--something very rare and seen only in the most powerful hurricanes.

The central pressure went from 945 MB to 901 MB in just 2 hours--from 11:00 p.m. EDT to 1:00 a.m. EDT! Flight level winds were clocked at just under 180 mph. Yikes!

At present, she's stronger than Rita was at her strongest point. It's amazing how quickly Wilma has grown in strength in such a short period of time.

Oh my God! Wilma has just been upgraded to a Category 4 storm with winds of 150 mph! That's just under Cat. 5. eek! eek! eek!

Cool graphical display combining several computer model forecasts. They're often inconsistent in the longer range, as illustrated by this sequence of Hurricane Katrina's forecast models from August 24-28.

The 5 am ET advisory: "...AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE PLANE REPORTED 884 MB...THE LOWEST MINIMUM PRESSURE EVER MEASURED IN A HURRICANE IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN...THIS VALUE SHOULD BE USED WITH CAUTION UNTIL CALIBRATED..." Wilma is a 5 with winds of 175 mph. Yikes.

eek! eek! eek!
The Keys will start evacuations later today....and this weekend is Fantasy Fest, too. My partner is down there on business currently, but will be heading back later today...It is possible that we may have to evacuate, as well even though it is coming at us from the west.

Wow,talk about your woman scorned ... 24 hours ago, Wilma was a TS, now she's the most intense Atlantic storm EVER. I guess it's better to be that now instead of landfall as she is predicted to weaken some over the Gulf, still making landfall in the 3-4 range.

Look Out Punta Gorda!

From AccuWeather.com:



[ October 19, 2005, 12:22 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Fred must have done something REALLY BAD to piss her off!

I'm kinda nervous, my brother is in Jacksonville right now, and leaving for Orlando tomorrow for a week and a half....Is that right in the line of fire?

[ October 19, 2005, 12:47 PM: Message edited by: Merloni26 ]

It looks a bit north of where the storm is expected, altho it is really hard to tell with this one. We're supposed to be heading up to Orlando Sunday, but that may be put off, too...

Okay KWG, MiamiSpartan, and all of us other South Floridians, here we go again. How goes the planning?? Y'all ready for this?

KWG, MSFLGUY and all of you in FL: God bless and be safe. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
PS Take care of Dave.

Sitting tight right now. Luckily (and lazily) I hadn't taken my shutters down after Rita, so that part's already done. Will do the madcap grocery trip tomorrow evening.

It couldn't be at a worse time for us. Fantasy Fest was supposed to begin this Friday and go for 10 days. For now, it's set to start on Tuesday and be a compact version. Could be economically devastating for lots of people down here.

In the meantime, I'm watching my Astros and hoping they can close it out tonight. NO PITCHES TO PUJOLS!!!

Good luck to everybody dealing with this mess again.

You staying KWG?
Gonna start with the shutters tomorrow nite, so that Friday can be spent cleaning potential debris off of the patio, so it won't blow around...Watching the neighbor's animals, since they leave town in the morning (trip already planned), so we'll be riding it out with a black lab, a cat, and 5 birds...should be fun...
If it stays a 5, we would probably have to evacuate, but it still sounds like it'll decrease to a 3 hopefully...

Yep, MS, I'm staying through it. We don't expect a direct hit and the forecast is that it should be down to a 2 by the time it goes by. And with the slowing down, it still won't be here until Sunday now. Lots of time to hit the road if it starts to look super bad again.

I'm still avoiding that awful trip to the grocery store though. I just hate having to fight with that 80 year-old woman for the last dented jar of peanut butter.

But they make Skippy in those flexible plastic jars now anyway. That way, when you drop it on the old hag's foot, it won't shatter and will retain its original shape and form.

On the news they showed a bit of a presentation from Max Mayfield discussing where Wilma may be on Tuesday, five days from now. There were 3 scenarios: south of Cape Cod, off the coast east of North Carolina, or...still hanging around by Florida. eek!

A reporter down in Kew West tonight on CNN said there is some complacency going on down there tonight. She said earlier in the day that people we really taking things seriously, boarding up this and that and all, and now people are just kind of going through the motions and all.

Well, the shutters go up tomorrow, the trip to the grocery store is made, and the gas cans for the generator are full. Would love to leave, like I've done for some of the past hurricanes. Problem is that the entire state is in the projected path. So where do you go at that point??