Katrina only a Category 3, like Rita, kind of ...
One of the biggest gripes going around in Southeast Texas is that Hurricane Rita, sandwiched between Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma, has become The Forgotten Storm.
The complaint certainly has some weight to it. A recent CNN account of the year's storm, for example, mentioned Katrina and Wilma, but not Rita. In general, the idea that Hurricane Rita will make the Top 10 damage list - perhaps in the Top 5 - hasn't sunk in yet on a national scale, and it probably never will. The bellyaching doesn't so much center on federal disaster response and aid as much as it does simple large-scale validation. Blame for this partly goes to Southeast Texans, who evacuated like they were supposed to and showed a remarkable resiliency in the aftermath.
Nevertheless, last weekend, Jefferson County Judge Carl Griffith told me that thanks to Southeast Texas elected officials' efforts - through photos, videos and eyewitness accounts - jaws in Washington, D.C., are dropping.
Yes, Virginia, there was a hurricane here, and a really big one, too.
And, according to an Associated Press story that broke this morning, it was about the same size as Hurricane Katrina.
Check out this report: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10558235/
Apparently, upon further review, Katrina was only a Category 3, like Rita, when it smashed into the Gulf Coast in August with winds of 127 mph. That made it just shy of a Category 4, whose range is 131 to 155.
Rita, by comparison, roared ashore with 120-125 mph winds, according to the latest estimates. With the Category 3 range being 111 to 130, that put her just barely on the strong side of that classification.
Another interesting point to note is that the winds in New Orleans were clocked at 95 mph, compared to the 105 mph reading recorded in Beaumont. That means New Orleans took a strong Category 1, while Beaumont got a middle-of-the-road Category 2. Category 1 winds range from 74-95, while the winds are 96-110 for a Category 2.
Katrina analysts revised that storm’s strength after studying data from devices dropped into her from an aircraft, the Associated Press reported.
Also: "Although an accurate reading of the highest winds in the New Orleans area were made difficult by the failure of measuring stations, a NASA facility in eastern New Orleans measured a sustained wind of only about 95 mph, the report said."
Not all the data is in on Rita, so there's no telling how she'll size up in the long run.
While all this is interesting from a meteorological standpoint, it doesn't take away from the fact that Katrina, obviously, was far more deadly and destructive than Rita.
I saw it for myself during a recent trip to Mississippi, and two Enterprise staffers got a sobering look at it during a media workshop last week in New Orleans.
The complaint certainly has some weight to it. A recent CNN account of the year's storm, for example, mentioned Katrina and Wilma, but not Rita. In general, the idea that Hurricane Rita will make the Top 10 damage list - perhaps in the Top 5 - hasn't sunk in yet on a national scale, and it probably never will. The bellyaching doesn't so much center on federal disaster response and aid as much as it does simple large-scale validation. Blame for this partly goes to Southeast Texans, who evacuated like they were supposed to and showed a remarkable resiliency in the aftermath.
Nevertheless, last weekend, Jefferson County Judge Carl Griffith told me that thanks to Southeast Texas elected officials' efforts - through photos, videos and eyewitness accounts - jaws in Washington, D.C., are dropping.
Yes, Virginia, there was a hurricane here, and a really big one, too.
And, according to an Associated Press story that broke this morning, it was about the same size as Hurricane Katrina.
Check out this report: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10558235/
Apparently, upon further review, Katrina was only a Category 3, like Rita, when it smashed into the Gulf Coast in August with winds of 127 mph. That made it just shy of a Category 4, whose range is 131 to 155.
Rita, by comparison, roared ashore with 120-125 mph winds, according to the latest estimates. With the Category 3 range being 111 to 130, that put her just barely on the strong side of that classification.
Another interesting point to note is that the winds in New Orleans were clocked at 95 mph, compared to the 105 mph reading recorded in Beaumont. That means New Orleans took a strong Category 1, while Beaumont got a middle-of-the-road Category 2. Category 1 winds range from 74-95, while the winds are 96-110 for a Category 2.
Katrina analysts revised that storm’s strength after studying data from devices dropped into her from an aircraft, the Associated Press reported.
Also: "Although an accurate reading of the highest winds in the New Orleans area were made difficult by the failure of measuring stations, a NASA facility in eastern New Orleans measured a sustained wind of only about 95 mph, the report said."
Not all the data is in on Rita, so there's no telling how she'll size up in the long run.
While all this is interesting from a meteorological standpoint, it doesn't take away from the fact that Katrina, obviously, was far more deadly and destructive than Rita.
I saw it for myself during a recent trip to Mississippi, and two Enterprise staffers got a sobering look at it during a media workshop last week in New Orleans.
posted by Brian Pearson at 9:46 AM
1 Comments:
Although we did not evacuate, I believe you are quite right in saying it is the resiliency of the people of this area and the way we were raised to take care of ourselves, our own and our neighbors that has made us perhaps too quiet about our plight...or at least the plight of some persons and locations.
I pray you and yours enjoy a Christmas of love and joy!
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