CHASING RITA

[Charles Kuster]

We are chasing Rita. Right now we are still driving south towards Texas. I do have a couple of questions for the other chasers. What is everyone doing about the mandatory evacuations? We are not interested in going into them, but they seem very big for this hurricane. For example, I heard that all of Wharton, Orange, etc. counties were under mandatory evacuations. Is this really for the whole county or just the areas closer to the coast?. Also, what is everyone doing about shelter? We want to stay in a motel, but I know that this will be very difficult if not impossible. We were lucky during Ivan, because we got a room, but I don't think that will happen this time. Do you guys go to parking garages or other places if no rooms are available? Right now I am hoping to find a room somewhere northeast or east of Houston (maybe even as far east as Lake Charles but hopefully closer to Houston). Thanks for the help and good luck to everyone.

 

[B Ozanne]

Originally posted by Charles Kuster
We are chasing Rita. Right now we are still driving south towards Texas. I do have a couple of questions for the other chasers. What is everyone doing about the mandatory evacuations? We are not interested in going into them, but they seem very big for this hurricane. For example, I heard that all of Wharton, Orange, etc. counties were under mandatory evacuations. Is this really for the whole county or just the areas closer to the coast?. Also, what is everyone doing about shelter? We want to stay in a motel, but I know that this will be very difficult if not impossible. We were lucky during Ivan, because we got a room, but I don't think that will happen this time. Do you guys go to parking garages or other places if no rooms are available? Right now I am hoping to find a room somewhere northeast or east of Houston (maybe even as far east as Lake Charles but hopefully closer to Houston). Thanks for the help and good luck to everyone.

I hope those were jokes about finding a hotel room. Not only was every room already booked from Katrina victims, now over a million people have left the Houston area. Your only chance is to find a room in an evacuation zone...that obviously has its own risks. Also, you better have a lot of gasoline. The fact that you are planning on staying in a motel leads me to believe you aren't that prepared for a hurricane chase. I don't mean to be blunt, but this is no tornado chase. It involves lots of planning and experience.

 

[cdcollura]

Rita and "hurricane chasing"

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have been seeing more and more desires to chase hurricanes. I have a great post for tips in hurricane chasing, plus all the "warnings" and things you MUST consider to do it.

(Above picture, hurricane Rita in Key West when it was "whimpy")

This is a hot topic for Rita right now but the post is in the "information desk" section of this site.

I provided a direct link below for anyone interested...

Hurricane Chasing: http://stormtrack.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8617

Good luck for anyone documenting or chasing Rita - And be safe (actually as safe as possible)!

 

[Charles Kuster]

Thanks for the information Chris. I have read that before and it is very helpful. We have been chasing hurricanes for about 3 years now and we have chased hurricanes including Charley, Ivan, and Ophelia (I know that this is much worse/stronger/bigger than Ophelia). We are aware of the risks and we are prepared for it. I was just hoping to find a room, but if not than that is O.K. We are also not planning to be close to the water at all. Thanks again for the information, and good luck/ stay safe to everyone who is chasing.

 

[Mikey Gribble]

Well, I thought I was prepared for Rita, but I wasn't. I don't think anyone anticipated the gas situation being as bad as it was. I had 30 gallons worth of extra tanks when I left Wichita. I was listening to Fox news the whole way down and heard about fuel supplies running out all over southern Texas. About the time I got to Ardmore, I realized I needed to get more gas cans so that I could make it from Dallas to the coast and back without having to get fuel. I stopped at Walmart in Dallas at 10 this morning and they were already sold out of gas cans. I then checked Home Depot and about 7 other places and nobody had anything other than 1 gallon gas cans. I finally found some mom and pop auto supply store that had four 6 gallon gas cans at their warehouse. I had to wait for 2 hours until they got them and then they bent me over on the price. After that I began the process of trying to get 10 gas cans fastened to the roof of my car. This task was made even more enjoyable by the smothering heat. I finally got it done though and now I have a little over 60 gallons of extra gas. I figure that is more than enough for me to get to my target(Port Arthur/Beaumont) drive around and get back to Dallas where hopefully they will have gas. I coud see the rush of Houstonites trying to get home sacking Dallas's gas supply. Wouldn't that be funny. I did manage to score a hotel room after being told there were no rooms. I think the owner just got tired of me sleeping in the car in his parking lot. Hopefully I will get a good nights sleep to make up for no sleep last night. I am planning on heading for the coast about 9 tomorrow. Anybody else get blind sided by the gas situation?

 

[David Dildine]

Two things, one:

Originally posted by Michael Gribble
Anybody else get blind sided by the gas situation?

<-- would really like to know myself... and 2:

It's looking more and more like at least some of the event will be during dark, predawn hours. I still have the option of going or not going for another hour. Otherwise, all my gear and people are in check. Suggestions??

- David

 

[David Dildine]

To buy myself so'more time, I'm now on a flight which arrives in Houston around 11am. Anyone think this is cutting it too close?

 

[Mikey Gribble]

Are you coming into Dallas? If you are, I would think you would have enough time to get down there, but I would be very concerned about getting your hands on enough gas cans to get you there and back.

edit - Houston, I see. I would still be worried about supplies, but gas won't be much of an issue since you should be able to make it to the target area and back on a tank. If you can, I would bring water and food with you on the plane. If you can't find any supplies, I could give you a couple MREs and some bottled water. I have actually heard that these MREs are pretty good. My uncle swears he would eat it at home and like it.

 

[Jay Cazel]

Originally posted by David Dildine
To buy myself so'more time, I'm now on a flight which arrives in Houston around 11am. Anyone think this is cutting it too close?

You might have a long wait at the airport. Most of the people that work at both airports in Houston left.

 

[B Ozanne]

You might have a long wait at the airport. Most of the people that work at both airports in Houston left.

After Katrina there is a lot of pressure to keep the airports open as long as possible. I think you might get lucky and get in there. Only problem is people showing up to run the airport in the morning.

My brother was on a flight to New Orleans the Saturday before Katrina and his flight got cancelled.

 

[MClarkson]

Originally posted by David Dildine
To buy myself so'more time, I'm now on a flight which arrives in Houston around 11am. Anyone think this is cutting it too close?

I think you might be. Look at it from an airlines perspective. TS strength winds could be starting about that time in houston. What if they put the plane in, the weather gets bad, and its stuck there. Would you put a 50-100 million dollar plane into that for a few 10s of thousands in revenue?

 

[Reed Timmer]

Joel Taylor and I (and a few tag-alongs) will be chasing Hurricane Rita. Our target is Port Arthur, TX. My vehicle has only liability insurance.

 

[David Dildine]

Bah, I meant Dallas, not Houston. What... it's only a 4 hour drive from DFW to Houston, right?

Houston is officially CLOSED, the last two Southwest flights were cancelled at 8 PM.

 

[Jay Cazel]

Originally posted by David Dildine
Bah, I meant Dallas, not Houston. What... it's only a 4 hour drive from DFW to Houston, right?

Houston is officially CLOSED, the last two Southwest flights were cancelled at 8 PM.

Well they opened up I-45 both ways north up by the Woodlands, so it might take longer to get to Houston. My bro-in-law said he has never seen the roads so empty in Houston. Just make sure you get gas in Dallas, there is really no gas left in Houston.

 

[David Dildine]

Gotcha. My group's got something like 36 gallons of gas ready to go in DFW atm. I'm going to bring an extra full 6-gallon can on the plane with me too. You get two carry-ons.