So I consider myself an amateur weather geek (who was studying to become a professional for a while but got bored) when it comes to hurricanes, so I was interested in the next storm a brewin' - Rita.
For those who haven't heard (I can't fathom why) Rita's a hurricane that was forecast to hit the Florida Keys, but the eye ended up passing right in the middle of FL and Cuba.
This morning when I checked the updates on wunderground, it was just barely a hurricane. In four hours in jumped up to Category 2 strength, and is now forecast to become at least a Cat 4 with 145ish mph sustained winds...
which is eeriely reminiscent to Katrina. Luckily, Rita is not forecast to hit the NO area yet, although this far out theres about a 300 mile wide error rate.
And its really starting to look like a hurricane. The eye hadn't closed off just an hour ago, and now, this radar out of Key West.
I certainly hope it doesn't hit Houston, or another major city, and hits in no mans land, but with the hurricane season of 05 it doesn't look likely. Having to evacuate Houston would be an even bigger nightmare, because you have the usual metropolis to evacuate, and half a million evacuees.
The national nightmare must just explode expotentially.
Even though its Texas (where one would think the federal response would be pretty rapid), the national response would be fairly slow since everyone's busy with the Katrina mess. Not to mention the overwhelming burden on the nonprofits who are having to step up and do the government's job.
So, keep an eye out on Rita, and watch out Texas Kossacks (and others with families in the area).
And as my slightly conservative mom put it "if you thought gas prices were high after Katrina...if this hits Houston..."