Riehl World View

Did Nursing Home Residents Have To Die?

A bus which caught fire and burned killing many of the nursing home residents aboard during their evacuation from the recent hurricane was part of a fleet for a company with a very troubling  past.

On Sept. 23, a group of 37 nursing home residents was being moved from the Houston area because of Rita's approach when their Global bus caught fire while stuck in traffic near Dallas. A series of explosions - probably medical oxygen canisters igniting - fueled the flames and trapped most of the occupants.

Investigators have said the fire could have been caused by mechanical problems, possibly with the brakes.

Along with several documented licensing and vehicle problems, as far as back as two years ago the company had received complaints from riders as regards the smell of fuel while traveling on board one of the company's buses.

One of the 2002 complaints was written by Donald Spotts of Weslaco and sent to the Texas attorney general and other state officials. Spotts wrote that there was a "very strong odor of diesel fumes" on a Global bus that was carrying 48 senior citizens from Weslaco to Corpus Christi.

Many of the passengers were coughing and wheezing both ways on the 320-mile round trip, he wrote. In another complaint, a man named Ross Gunning claimed one of Global's buses was "swaying all over the road."

Another complainant identified as Sara Martinez wrote that most of the company's buses had oil and air leaks. A 2002 state inspection found several violations, including failure to implement an alcohol or drug testing program, failure to retain inspection and maintenance records for the proper period of time and failure to retain evidence of a brake inspector's qualifications.

According to federal records, drivers for Global Limo were ordered to stop driving five times in the past three years, mostly for infractions regarding bus logs. In 2004, the company was rated as "satisfactory," with no evidence of major safety problems in recent years, records show.

The driver of the bus that caught fire, Juan Robles Gutierrez, 37, was arrested Tuesday and jailed on immigration charges, the Houston Chronicle reported Thursday. Gutierrez is from Mexico.

Related story here.

Did Katrina Unleash Jaws 2005?

Not since the Saturday Night Live Land Shark skit aired have I felt so afraid of aquatic animal life. It seems we may have some number of armed and dangerous dolphins swimming about in the deep blue thanks to Hurricane Katrina.

I don't know whether to call James Bond, or the incredible Mister Limpet. But I hope someone's on the case. These babies could be murder, literally.

It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet's smartest.

The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing. Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold War. The US Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught to shoot terrorists attacking military vessels.

Their coastal compound was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea. But those who have studied the controversial use of dolphins in the US defence programme claim it is vital they are caught quickly. Leo Sheridan, 72, a respected accident investigator who has worked for government and industry, said he had received intelligence from sources close to the US government's marine fisheries service confirming dolphins had escaped.

Hurricane Rita Galveston Fire

GALVESTON, Texas, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A large fire broke out in downtown Galveston on Friday night, engulfing three buildings and sending flames shooting into the sky as the first winds from Hurricane Rita began whipping the coastal island.

Fire crews moved in to battle the blaze on the eastern side of the city that had been mostly evacuated in anticipation of the storm. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Winds of 60 to 70 mph (96-113 kph) pushed the flames across roofs of other nearby buildings and sparks tumbled down on firefighters, forcing them to stay well back from the buildings. he storm. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Winds of 60 to 70 mph (96-113 kph) pushed the flames across roofs of other nearby buildings and sparks tumbled down on firefighters, forcing them to stay well back from the buildings.

Update: The fire is said to be in the Strand area of the city. A light or telephone pole is said to have been seen resting on the building, sparking the initial fire. The wind is causing the fire to spread quickly.

Hurricane Rita Internet Media Source

h/t to Confederate Yankee for this link to multimedia news information on Hurricane Rita.

Hopefully, assuming anyone is still thinking of staying, you will haul ass out of there, otherwise - here's some good advice from Bob.

Also, here's a little Shockwave ap which allows you to track Rita, as well as any other recent hurricane.

Keep Your Eye On Hurrican Rita

Right here.

A Weather Underground Blog

Satelite views here and here for infrared - hit animate if needed.

Update On New Orleans

Here's a 6:40 news story from WWLTV and while they have it up, check the pup on their main page then please see the post below.

In the impoverished Ninth Ward, water streamed through gaps at least 100 feet wide in a levee and was soon waist-deep on a nearby street. It began covering buckled homes, piles of rubble and mud-caked cars that Katrina had swamped with up to 20 feet of water nearly a month ago.

Go Play In Traffic

Rusty has a bunch of links up to webcams from the Houston area - many are still functioning. His post also includes additional information and maps.

If you look for the Houston TransStar Freeway Cameras and check out I-10 Katy - Eldridge it looks bumper to bumper. There are several cameras and locations to choose from through his links.

Hurricane Rita: Well, That Didn't Take Long

From the AP, of course - do you think the reporter was driving around in a vehicle, or rowing a boat? I think the AP coveraged has improved from storm to storm - it didn't take them half as long to find their target and the rain hasn't even started yet.

No Way Out: Tears, Anger as Some Try to Flee and Many Poor Are Stuck

HOUSTON (AP) - Wilma Skinner would like to scream at the officials of this city. If only someone would pick up their phone.

"I done called for a shelter, I done called for help. There ain't none. No one answers," she said, standing in blistering heat outside a check-cashing store that had just run out of its main commodity. "Everyone just says, 'Get out, get out.' I've got no way of getting out. And now I've got no money."

With Hurricane Rita breathing down Houston's neck, those with cars were stuck in gridlock trying to get out. Those like Skinner - poor, and with a broken-down car - were simply stuck, and fuming at being abandoned, they say.

"All the banks are closed and I just got off work," said Thomas Visor, holding his sweaty paycheck as he, too, tried to get inside the store, where more than 100 people, all of them black or Hispanic, fretted in line. "This is crazy. How are you supposed to evacuate a hurricane if you don't have money? Answer me that?"

Latest Rita Models Not Good For New Orleans

h/t to Mike - The hurricane models are still shifting somewhat but one emerging trend could spell more bad news for New Orleans. Rita is slowing down and has shifted slightly - while the storm is still headed for Texas, it's now expected to hover in the area north of the coast, possibly even in central-Louisiana. Calcasieu Parish south of I-10 is under mandatory evacuation.

The eastward shift of the high is forecast by all global models...resulting in track guidance consistently turning the hurricane toward the northwest and north toward the Upper-Texas or the western Louisiana coasts. After landfall...steering currents are expected to weaken and the cyclone could meander for a couple of days in the vicinity of northeastern Texas...producing heavy rains.

Either way, somewhere up from the coast would get a genuinely significant amount of rainfall - and it isn't hard to predict through where it will drain if it hovers somewhere to the east - most likely the Mississippi River down past New Orleans.

Most of the models now indicate that steering currents will weaken and Rita will stall and sit in place for several days once it moves inland. This will result in severe flooding problems for wherever Rita stalls, as 10 - 30 inches of rain could fall in the affected region. As is usually the case when steering current get weak, the model forecasts of Rita's motion are highly unreliable. Rita may stall over the Dallas area, or central Louisiana, or Oklahoma or Arkansas. It's too early to tell. Finally, on Tuesday, Rita's remnants are forecast to lift out to the north.

A Weather Underground Blog

Satelite views here and here for infrared - hit animate.

Update On Hurricane Rita

Update: More here:

Hurricane Rita Becomes a 175-Mph Monster; 1.3 Million Evacuated

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) - Gaining strength with frightening speed, Hurricane Rita swirled toward the Gulf Coast a Category 5, 175-mph monster Wednesday as more than 1.3 million people in Texas and Louisiana were sent packing on orders from authorities who learned a bitter lesson from Katrina.

Unfortunately, things aren't looking very good.

HOUSTON -- Hurricane Rita is now a top-of-the-scale, "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 storm, packing winds of 165 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Forecasters said the storm could be the most intense hurricane on record to ever hit Texas.

Bumped