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Hurricane Rita and the Keys

By Jeralyn, Section Off Topic
Posted on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 01:59:57 AM EST
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My friend in the Keys provides this link. He's right near Marathon, but obviously hasn't evacuated yet. I last saw him a few weeks ago when he had a few hours lay-over before his flight to Aspen for Hunter's memorial...he said he had been through so many warnings that didnt' pan out, he wasn't leaving. I hope he's out now.

Update: Just received a long email from my friend, he's staying put. Here's a piece: "They should ban those pushy news b**ches that alarm the crap out of everybody. It just went from a tropical storm to a Cat 1 hurricane which is not that big a deal....it will get worse in the next few hours but not much....we are ok...[his cat] does not like hurricanes but she's on cat meds....later."

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    Hurricane Rita and the Keys | 11 comments (11 topical)
    Re: Hurricane Rita and the Keys (none / 0) (#1)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:05 PM EST
    he said he had been through so many warnings that didnt' pan out, he wasn't leaving.
    Hey that's what they used to say in Nawlins. Speaking of the Keys...the online version of Monthly Review magazine has a reprint of the Ernest Hemingway article on the 1935 Labor Day hurricane in the keys that killed over 400 people. That one remains to this day the most intense hurricane to ever strike the US. The article is in .pdf format and you have to use the zoom feature to read it since it didn't reproduce well.

    Re: Hurricane Rita and the Keys (none / 0) (#2)
    by john horse on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:05 PM EST
    Ernesto Started reading Hemmingway article. Be interesting to compare Hemmingway's take on the hurricane with Mike Davis's take on Hurricane Ivan.

    Re: Hurricane Rita and the Keys (none / 0) (#3)
    by roger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:05 PM EST
    Last year, we had Charlie. Charlie was supposed to hit Tampa, so many evacuated to Orlando. Guess where Charlie hit. Raining cats and dogs here.

    Re: Hurricane Rita and the Keys (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:05 PM EST
    What a season, eh? We're up to our R's in hurricanes this year, and it ain't over yet. And we're still not ready for 'em. Good thing we're ready for a terrorist attack, eh? Ed

    Re: Hurricane Rita and the Keys (none / 0) (#5)
    by peacrevol on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:06 PM EST
    The Houston evacuees are probably getting tired of having to evacuate. They're now talking about the possibility of Rita hitting Texas. Man that sucks.

    Re: Hurricane Rita and the Keys (none / 0) (#6)
    by chemoelectric on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:07 PM EST
    I hope he has a kayak.

    Re: Hurricane Rita and the Keys (none / 0) (#7)
    by Aaron on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:07 PM EST
    I'm in Broward County, it wasn't bad here maybe 45 mph gusts this morning. My friend is down in Key West partying away and says it's no big deal. He was in Miami when Katrina passed through and says that she was a much stronger storm, even though the winds were relatively equivalent according to the numbers. It just goes to show that wind speed measurements and satellite pictures don't really give you the complete picture, or really gauge accurately the power of a storm. I predicted Katrina was going to be a killer and advised everybody to get out of New Orleans... nobody ever listens to me. At this point I'd say that this storm is going to be bad in Texas, but hopefully not as bad as Katrina was on the Gulf Coast in places like Biloxi and Gulfport. But I'd advise people to start thinking about getting away from the Texas coastline, especially from Corpus Christi to Galveston, to Port Arthur on the Louisiana border.

    Re: Hurricane Rita and the Keys (none / 0) (#8)
    by BigTex on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:07 PM EST
    Hey that's what they used to say in Nawlins.
    Spot on EDM. I hope your friend doesn't learn the hard way in the future TL. Here in Houston things are getting jumpy. Glaveston will have a mandatory evacuation starting Wed. night. They have rearranged the evacuation routes so that Galveston does not travel through Houston. It's still too soon to say exactley where Rita will come ashore, but it is very nrevious here. Mayor White is complentating a mandatory evacuation order tomorrow. I'm a hunker down and ride it out type of guy, but have made evacuation plans. Good luck to all the other posters here from Houston.

    Re: Hurricane Rita and the Keys (none / 0) (#9)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:07 PM EST
    Forecasting the intensity of hurricanes is even less certain than forecasting their path. At this point no one knows where this thing will make landfall or how strong it will be. The current forecast is scary enough: somewhere on the Texas coast between Houston and Port Lavaca with top wind speeds in the catagory 4 range.

    Re: Hurricane Rita and the Keys (none / 0) (#10)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:07 PM EST
    john horse...thanks for that article. What a bummer to read that article and see how things culminated a year later. Ray Nagin is no "liberal Democrat" as here we learn of his distinct conservative Republican tendencies. But that's our curse...the system of putting material wealth over the well being of our people. It will in many ways, including quite literally, be the death of us.

    Re: Hurricane Rita and the Keys (none / 0) (#11)
    by john horse on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:10 PM EST
    Thanks Ernesto. Wonderful Hemmingway article. I love/hate/love Hemmingway. You read him and start thinking you can write like him. But you can't. Nobody can. On a serious note, it looks like the Keys came out fine. Rita is now developing into a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane. Its one thing to try to ride out a Cat 1 hurricane but its pure foolishness to risk your life on a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane. Property can be replaced but not life.

    Hurricane Rita and the Keys | 11 comments (11 topical)