I'm in the Galleria area. I'm freaked out. I'm going to head one hour north of here to ride it out with a co-worker and her family. Our office is closing through Monday and we've shipped all of our computer servers up to our NYC office...

Good luck to you all-- be safe!!

165 mph winds. Scary.

It cant sustain 165 for long, but damn, thats just monsterous. I am pulling for it to head to Port Lavaca. Theres not much there (between Freeport and Port Aransas).

We will probably have Cat 1 hurricane Force winds here at my house, some 120 miles inland.

Thats scary. I gotta figure out where I should put my truck so stuff dosent fly into it and break windows. I dont have a garage. I do have covered parking, but what if the winds topple that thing over? It will break my truck in half. Geez.

Damn, now they are talking about a FULL EVACUATION of Corpus.

www.caller-times.com
Mayor says full evaluation is likely
Mayor Henry Garrett said a full evacuation of the city is very likely as Hurricane Rita stregthened to a category 5 storm and continued to threaten the Texas coast.
"We're just trying to come up with a time," he said.

City officials will conduct a briefing at 4:15 p.m. at the Emergency Operations Center.
A category 5 hurricane has sustained winds of 155 mph. Rita's winds have been measured at 165 mph. Category 5 is the highest.

I just read that Rita was just placed at a Category 5. :(

Lord, make a way for everyone to leave - poor, no car, the elderly, the sick - EVERYONE!

I've got a spare couch.

"Hurricane Rita's rapid intensification cycle that began Tuesday afternoon continues. Top winds are up to 165 mph, now a category 5 hurricane. Further strengthening is possible as the atmosphere remains favorable for development over the next 24 hours.

Rita is forecast to continue on a westward track through the Gulf of Mexico over the next 24 hours. A gradual turn toward the northwest is anticipated Thursday night and Friday. Landfall is possible late Friday or early Saturday along the Texas coast.

Lifesaver...

Get in your truck and head North. You can be at Earp's house by the time Rita makes landfall. Or Colorado or Montana or Calgary or somewhere.

I know my mom plans on going to Austin ASAP, but dad plans on riding it out, my grandparents too. The last bad hurricane to hit Corpus was Celia in 1970. I mean it was pretty bad, and it was a category 4. My relatives are nuts. For those of you who pray, please do so.....I feel kind of helpless being almost 3000 miles away while a category 5 hurricane prepares to pound my family and friends.

Heard this morning that people are trying to evacuate to Austin, but ALL of the hotels in and around the city are booked solid because of ACL Fest. :(

For those of you who still have loved ones in the Houston/Gaveston/Victoria are.... PLEASE keep trying to convince them to leave. :(

I would, but I think (hope) I am safe here. I am 120 miles from the coast and not in a flood prone area. SA is a shelter location for everyone from the Corpus area.

I am expecting to not have electricity for up to 24 hours. I hope its not longer than that. I've got water and such and a crapload of food and a grill.

I just hope the place dosent get wiped out by a Tornado. That would suck ass and stuff.

Be safe Texans!

Question: Is Plano in the path of Hurricane Rita? My cousin and her family live there so I'm wondering.

They should be ok, just wet. :) Plano is near Dallas so they will probably get rain and stuff, but nothing like what Houston is getting ready to face.

I suspect you will be, but the last time I was in San Antonio, water was rushing over major roadways and even some bridges -- and that was just because of unusually heavy rains...

Best of luck to you and the family.

I concur. This is already a cat. 5 hurricane and it hasn't even crossed over the Gulf yet. :( That is what's TOTALLY scary to me.

Weather lady on the radio just pointed out that Rita right now is roughly the size of the state of Texas.

Just read on one of the news services that FEMA has pulled its' people out of Galveston.

http://image.weather.com/images/maps...us_600x405.jpg
http://image.weather.com/images/maps...ke_277x187.jpg