stormdigest

Rita: Damage Extensive

Hurricane Rita apparently did a number on Cameron, Holly Beach, and Creole, LA. Apparently 90% of the homes in Cameron and Holly Beach there are destroyed, and Cameron Parish appears to be under 15 ft of water. Lake Charles, LA flooding is receding, but some buildings there are just obliterated. Traffic was backed up getting back into Houston; a large number of homes are without power there. And in New Orleans, they're saying it may take until June of next year to fully repair the levees there. And then there's this from the Washington Post:

Still, the response was not trouble-free in the worst-hit areas. In addition to Beaumont, authorities blocked Port Arthur, Orange and other towns, and Louisiana officials in hard-hit areas across the state line made similar pleas for patience, painting a bleak picture of the storm's havoc.

Those returning have also faced lack of gasoline, which means people who evacuated and had trouble will have trouble again.

And the fun of the hurricane season isn't over just yet - check this out from Accuweather:

A tropical wave along 77 west and south of 20 north is moving west at 15 knots and is causing a few showers and thunderstorms near Jamaica. Another tropical wave along 65 west and south of 20 north is moving west at 15 knots and is causing a fair amount of showers and thunderstorms over the eastern Caribbean. Some models are developing this wave across the northwest Caribbean later in the week so this will be one area to watch. Another tropical wave along 38 west and south of 23 north is moving west at 10 knots. This wave is encountering strong shear from a deep upper level trough east of the Lesser Antilles so development is not expected

Rita: Ron at Beaumont Enterprises Blogs

Friday we received a comment from Ron Franscell, a managing editor at the Beaumont (TX) Enterprise, who along with his team were riding out the storm in their company's building. Like us, you'll be relieved to know Ron and his team made it through hurricane Rita ok, although they did have some collapsed ceilings and other damage to their building.

You can read Ron's blog here, or visit the newspaper here.

Rita: Down to Category 2

Rita moves inland, now a Category 2 hurricane with winds of about 100 mph, according to National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Rita: Eyewall Hitting Coastal Areas of Texas

DANGEROUS RITA CAUSING MAJOR DAMAGE TO THE UPPER TEXAS COAST AND COASTAL LOUISIANA-Accuweather

Hurricane Rita's eyewall is coming ashore in Texas and Louisiana, the actual landfall location looks to be Cameron. Rita is a Category 3 with winds about 120mph at landfall. Tornadoes are possible and the storm is expected to stall and could drop up to 2 feet of rain in some places. Widespread rainfall of 8-15 inches. All of these factors will lead to significant flooding.