National Weather Service Radar Image (Rita)

This site shows a wider angle:

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/float-ir4-loop.html

 

It's now a Category 3.

 

A Cat 3??? Is that all???

Why, that's a mere puff of wind compared to Katrina(a bonified Cat 4 ) that plowed through Mississippi----Blackbird really thought you Texans could do better than a sissyfied Cat 3!!!!!

 

HMMMMMMMM...I would expect our oil companies won't jack the prices up to $5 per gallon like they were really hoping to do.

Joseph Botwinick

 

A Cat 3??? Is that all???

Why, that's a mere puff of wind compared to Katrina(a bonified Cat 4 ) that plowed through Mississippi----Blackbird really thought you Texans could do better than a sissyfied Cat 3!!!!! </font>[/QUOTE]Right On. I thought everything was bigger in Texas.

Joseph Botwinick

 

It just kinda pooped out there at the end, didn't it?

Landfall will happen in the next few hours over around Port Arthur.

Things have not changed since the wind first picked up. Still holding at about 15 - 20 mph.

Everything is bigger in Texas.

Had it formed over land in Texas and moved into the Gulf, it would be a Category 10 by now. I guess coming around Florida gave Rita a shuffleboard mentality.

I joke, but we're still expected to see strong T.S. force winds by daylight with gusts of hurricane force for most of tomorrow.

It's just taking forever to get here.

I think Rita is an 80 year old woman!

 

That is such a silly, slanderous statement.

Hey, Joseph, are you aligned with whomever this Cox is that filed a lawsuit in Mississippi alleging that the oil industry caused Hurricane Katrina? The lawsuit is Cox v. Nationwide Mutual, et al.

Yeah, like we would cause a hurricane that will cost us tens of millions of dollars in repairs and in loss of profits.

I tell ya what, Joseph, you are sounding so much like Cindy Sheehan in your silly attacks. I hope you don't also start sounding like some people and engage in propagating silly conspiracy theories about the oil industry causing hurricanes.

Of course, if the oil industry causes hurricanes then everyone who drives a vehicle that uses gasoline is guilty as well.

 

At the moment, it looks like Hurricane Rita will come ashore around Cameron, Lousisiana. If it does, then it won't even go down in the books as a Texas hurricane, but another Louisiana one instead.

 

Ken,

1. I have no idea who Cox is outside what you have told me. If what you say is true about him, he is a lunatic.
2. Nowhere did I put forth any conspiracy theory. There is no conspiracy since there is no real secret to cover up. It is pretty well known that oil companies are exploiting the suffering of other fellow Americans for financial gain.
3. Please don't assign idiotic theories to me that I did not put forth. I never said the oil companies caused a hurricane. I did say that they used the event as an excuse to gouge prices and enrich themselves...and, on the other side of that coin, Most Americans have allowed them to do so by not cutting off the demand or at least cutting it back. I, as one American citizen, intend to change that for myself, and I hope many Americans will join me in utilizing the free market system to restore some sense of sanity to the greedy oil companies.
4. Now that we know that Rita is not as bad as we thought it would be, let's see how the ever so moral and upright oil companies react. Will they raise prices again...or will they at least maintain what little restraint they have left?

Joseph Botwinick

 

1. I am glad you agree with me.

2. Actually, oil companies are not exploiting anyone's suffering. If you are going to make a such a severe charge toward your fellow Americans in the oil industry, including me, then you ought to provide irrefutable proof. Otherwise, you are engaging in slander. And that is unChristian behavior and I imagine that you know it.

3. I said I hope that you don't start using silly conspiracy theories. I didn't say that you have already done so. Again, where is your proof of gouging by any oil company? Either present proof or retract your statement, or else you are engaging in the sin of slander. I hope we all cut back on gasoline usage since there is currently more demand than supply. I have certainly been doing my part.

4. The price of gasoline will go up if the market forces as evidenced by the NYMEX push the price up. I do hope that you realize that the refineries along the upper Texas coast had to shut down in anticipation of Hurricane Rita's landfall. We don't flip a switch and start a refinery running again. It has to be brought on line in a systematic manner to avoid blowing things up in the plant. So it will be several days before these refineries are up to full steam - provided they don't sustain any wind damage or flooding.

Therefore, I would not be surprised to see gasoline prices go up some early next week until these refineries are back online. If any of these huge refineries have been severely damaged...well...I don't even want to contemplate what that would mean.

 

For me, it will mean that oil companies will get less of my money because I will be driving less, and buying less gas. So, go ahead. Jack up the prices and use the hurricane as another excuse. They won't get much more out of me. The more they charge, the less I will spend.

Joseph Botwinick

 

You actually don't understand that when supply goes down and demand remains the same that the price goes up, do you?

In the free market when the price of something goes up it means one of two things(or both) must happen - either supply goes up(in gasoline's case our nation would try to import more gasoline until the refineries came back online) or usage goes down(in gasoline's case we drive less or buy a more fuel efficient vehicle - like I did).

In the long run it is better for oil companies if demand goes down. A higher price for gasoline means that alternative fuels become more attractive. Oil companies want to exist for the long term, not just for five years and then go bust.

 

Joseph,

I'm not worried about "oil shortages" or "the price of gas" when it comes to the major refineries. I'm worried about the environmental impact when those refineries spill their toxis chemicals into all the lakes and rivers that supply drinking water to most of Texas.

 

How does the coast of Texas supply drinking water to most of Texas?

 

I don't believe the supply has gone down. The demand has certainly remained the same, and that is why the prices keep going up. When was the last time you saw many gas stations with no gas in it? Wasn't that back in the Carter era?

Joseph Botwinick

 

Ken,

There are huge rivers and fresh water lakes all over that region of Texas, and the drinking water is often "sold" from there to areas that don't have their own fresh water sources.

 

Joseph,

Between the Louisiana and Texas refineries, almost 50% of the US refineries have been closed down for at least a few days. So the supply is at least "slowed" if not "lowered."

 

So what happened to the supply that normally comes from the refineries in the path of Hurricane Katrina and the refineries that are still shut down due to damage?

So what happened to the supply that normally comes from the refineries in the path of Hurricane Rita?

This is millions of barrels of gasoline that are not being produced each day that these refineries in Texas are down.

Obviously, the daily supply is taking a major hit. This should be very clear to anyone with the ability to reason.