Rita... Here We Go Again (1 Viewer)

[Colin Dunn]

Robert -

Any links to articles detailing the risk of flooding in the Hill Country and around Austin?

My place is in an area with decent drainage (no flooding at my house even the time a few years ago with 12" of rain in two days), but I'm wondering what parts of Austin are at risk of "catastrophic" flooding. Does the scenario involve the Colorado River or Lake Travis overflowing and inundating the area???

I thought that Austin is far enough inland (>150 miles from the coast) that hurricane remnants just mean a couple of days of heavy rain, not widespread flooding and damage...

EDIT: I checked and it's more like 150 miles to the coast (Port Lavaca), not 200.

 

[David Brown Eyes]

What is going on is a natural cycle that has been going on for thousands of years. We are entering a period of high hurricane activity that would have occured with or without global warming.

There are periods of high and low activity that last on average 25 to 50 years. The 50 years of low cycle is up and now we are gonna get kicked in the butt for a few.

 

[george kaplan]

Almost all scientists who study it (climatologists, etc.), agree on what is going on - global warming. There is no debate about this in that scientific literature. Unfortunately, dealing with this would cost money, and those who don't want to see that money spent have co-opted a handful of fringe scientists, and are completely distorting the scientific record. Hell, it's really not much different from what the tobacco companies did for decades - distort and attack the credible science that everyone who read the literature knew the truth about.

 

[Cees Alons]

Global warming is going on indeed, but it's doubtful that it is the (sole, or even decisive) cause behind the current period of hurricane activity. See also this article in Science (Vol 293 of 20 July 2001) by Stanley B. Goldenberg et al.


From the article:

Unfortunately, this year the Gulf of Mexico path gets its share.


Cees

 

[JohnS]

Craig S,

I hope nothing bad will happen. But the news doesn't make it sound good. But I'm glad you have somewhere to go!

on a somewhat humerous note:
Maybe you should think about purchasing the Solar POwered charger for your PSP.

 

[Nathan*W]

Once they get past "z" it actually moves to the greek alphabet. I heard a report of major news organizations preparing the proper graphics (for the first time) in case they're needed this year.

 

[RobertR]

Ironic statement, considering you live in a city that was wiped out in 1906 on a scale comparable to recent events because it's in an area prone to natural disasters of a different type.

I agree that some people are far too eager to jump on the "it's all because of global warming!" bandwagon, ignoring the cyclical nature of hurricane intensities. Too bad for them they can't do the same with earthquakes.

 

[ThomasC]

That's not really necessary, but whatever. They can just spell it Alpha or Beta without using the Greek spelling.

 

[SarahG]

So strange how this one is heading right toward the very place that first opened up its doors to the evacuees of Katrina.

 

[Walter Kittel]

So much for karma. *sigh*

- Walter.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I suppose that depends on how you look at it.

 

[James St]

This storm is strengthening pretty rapidly. Pressure is down to 934 mb and winds nearing Cat 5 status. Models are starting to trend further west so Galveston/Houston may not get the full brunt of the eyewall winds but rather the storm surge.

 

[BrianW]

Not that I'm validating my own flippant comment (originally quoted), but that's not quite true. They move to the Greek alphabet after the letter "W", since there aren't enough names beginning with "Y" or "Z" to maintain uniqueness year after year.

I hope we get some rain in North Texas out of this, but certainly not at the expense of someone's life. If you're in this monster's path, please get out while you can.

 

[Chris Farmer]

Med student at UT Houston, making to College Station probably really late tonight to dodge traffic. Fortunately my brother is a student at Texas A&M. Lots of rain, but hopefully no flooding. Just need to get everything off the floor of my 1st floor apartment. :frowning:

 

[george kaplan]

I'm finding the local weather forecast here in San Antonio kind of surprising. Basically a 50% chance of rain on Saturday, and that's it.

 

[James St]

Latest recon: 908 mb 160-165mph

 

[DustinLC]

Category 5 it is.

Perhaps it's time to have a category 5.1!

 

[RichardK]

Poor excuse for humor...but I like it!

Also, my bro and some cousins are down at Rice and U of H. They are leaving tomorrow back up here to Dallas to stay with me and other family members.

CAT5 when it hits the coast will be nasty...Let's hope everyone is evacuated by then.

 

[Brian Perry]

Even the experts seem to be guessing wildly when it comes to these things. Dr. Jeff Masters, whose widely followed blog provides updates every few hours on www.wunderground.com said as recently as yesterday that Rita was "unlikely to reach Cat 4 status." Well, we're at Cat 5 now.

The conventional wisdom was that Katrina had sucked out much of the gulf's warm water, leaving them a bit cooler and not conducive to a Cat 4 or higher hurricane. The fact that Rita seems to be thriving in relatively cooler waters would seem to refute the global warming argument somewhat. We obviously have a lot to learn in predicting severe weather.

 

[JohnS]

And here Iwas about to use my "A Hurricane should "SOUND" good in 5.1"

WOW!, a CAT 5 already this storm is going to do some major damage.
Just glad they are doing a pre-evac