Lovely Rita

[Mr. Harley]

Increased solar activity, natural weather cycles, manmade global greenhouse gases, cumulative effects of deforestation, desertification, and cities - choose none, one, some, or all as your political persuasion dictates.

[Dr Strangelove]

You forgot the wrath o' God!

[The Emperor Fabulous]

She's now a Category 4.

[Odin]

Originally posted by Park Avenue
BTW, why are the sea surface termperatures so high this year?

Global Warming

[SpencerH]

I'm so glad I didnt take a job in NO or Galveston (which is about to disappear). So glad!

[Kaak]

Galveston, for the most part, should be okay. After the hurricane of 1900, the city built a big sea wall, and that should protect the town itself. The south end of the island, however, may be in for a rougher show.

[SpencerH]

It's been a while since I was there but I dont think any walls were built to survive a 20ft storm surge.

[Mrs. Tuberski]

I havent been to galveston since i was a kid either. Tuber thinks this thing will hit cat 5 by the end of the week when it is supposed to slam the coast. I am not sure if texas has been slammed by a cat 5 hurricane before id hope to think measures are being taken to avoid the catastophic events that katrina caused

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Eli
Arent they over-reacting because of Katrina? Rita is not even a hurricane and everyone are talking about evacuation.

In some cases, yes. Our public services were shut down yesterday, even though the storm wasn't even that close. Went to the beach and saw some impressive waves, got a little rained on, but for the most part were unaffected. Cable went out, which means no internet or phone either. Power stayed on and didn't even flicker.

However, parts of the Keys were underwater, and that was only a glancing blow. A direct hit, even by a minimal storm is not something you want to experience on an island only a few feet above the high tide level. Also, there's only one way out of the islands by car; a very long series of bridges from Key West to Miami. Evacuations take a lot of time there.

[chequita guevara]

The last Cat 5 to hit Texas was the Galveston storm of 1900. Theben is correct, think of Biloxi, not NOLA. Galveston Bay is a wide area which narrows, meaning lots of water can be forced in, but it has no where to go. That means a big and fast surge.

If you are there, get out.

Ben, being inland will not help necessarily. Of the 400 people killed by the 1938 Long Island Express, 200 of them were inland, including some in Canada. Many people die insland from these storms because of flash floods and swollen rivers.

[Mrs. Tuberski]

I tried to explain that to BK guess he didnt get it. About the flooding that sa will see from this. Any how Imnot really worried so much of the flooding, though we will see some, the scary thing is the city doesnt close down for heavy heavy rains and the drivers out here dont know how to drive in the rain. My perdiction is if we get that much rain we will see more deaths due to car accidents then from flooding

[ajbera]

Originally posted by Odin

Global Warming

From a message board:

An even better argument against global warming and hurricanes can be found in the Aug 2005 edition of National Geographic (no global warming sceptics they). On pp. 78-79 there is a chart showing ocean temperatures from 1944 to present. Between 1944 and 1961 temperatures were elevated and this corresponded to an increase in the frequency of major hurricanes. Between 1961 and 1994, ocean temps dropped significantly with a corresponding decrease in hurricane intensity. Since 1995, temperatures have again increased to where they were in the 1944-61 time period with another increase in hurricane severity.

How this pattern argues for global warming being a factor is beyond me. As the article in National Geographic states: "...many scientists agree that the present hurricane surge is likely part of a 60- to 70-year cycle that changes the strength of ocean currents distributing heat around the globe."

[SpencerH]

Mrs T

I'd guess you're gonna get more than just rain and flooding. This thing will be bigger than Katrina (if not more powerful). We are about the same distance from the coast as SA (I think) and the eye was 100-150 miles west of us as it came north and we still lost our roof.

[Mrs. Tuberski]

You lost your roof from this rita hurricane??
or the katrina?

[Mrs. Tuberski]

Who is the actin idiot of fema??? he is on public confrence say **** like board up your homes take care of your homes put u patio furniture indoors like this isnt common knowledge, Most classic idiotic remark he says is "get you pets out of your yards and by the way dont leave them in your boarded up houses" Oh yeah like folks will leave fideo, with a 20 lb bag of dog kibble and a gallon of water, in a boarded up house in the middle of a hurricane.. How dumb is this guy?