September 21, 2005
F3
Hurricane Rita has achieved sustained wind speeds of 165 mph, and is now officially a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffer-Simpson scale. This is the highest possible rating for a hurricane.
Rita is so powerful that it might be more descriptive to describe her for what she also is: A massive F3 (or “severe”) tornado on the Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity.
The thing is, most tornados aren't generally large enough to be seen from space...
Via NOAA
If you live in South Texas, a trip north would be a good idea right about now.
I live in Houston, and I've watched as crisis mode hit this city. Every freeway heading north is jammed. There are no water bottles or batteries in any store in town. A report that a truck of generators would arrive at Home Depot this morning had me arriving at 7:00 and waiting until 11:00 before discovering the truck was rerouted to Austin (?). Despite this, the people have remained calm and orderly, for the most part. People are helping their neighbors to board up their homes. They are literally picking up hitchikers on the side of freeways. If anyone has ever been to Texas, you know the way that we band together in times of crisis. It is truly inspiring to watch. We will perservere.
Posted by: Tom in Texas at September 21, 2005 05:50 PM
