Posted on 09/07/2008 8:37:37 AM PDT by NautiNurse
Hurricane Ike is the fifth tropical cyclone of the 2008 hurricane season to threaten U.S. Gulf Coast states.
Reports from Turks & Caicos Islands describe 80 per cent of homes damaged or destroyed. On Sunday, Hurricane Ike's position just north of Hispanola was hampering relief efforts for devastation incurred by Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Fay. The death toll in Haiti from Gustav reached 200 people.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist held a press conference Sunday morning shortly after a Hurricane Watch was issued for the Florida Keys.
Public Advisory Updated every 3 hours
Discussion Updated every 6 hours
Buoy data:
Florida & Eastern Gulf of Mexico
Western Gulf of Mexico
West Caribbean
South FL Radar Loop
FL Keys Radar Loop
Cuba Radar Warning: site gets overloaded
FL Long Range Radar Image
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Additional Resources:
Navy Tropical Cyclone
Storm Pulse Very cool site--scroll down for Ike
KeyNews.com Key West News
Miami Herald
NOLA.com
KPLC-tv Lake Charles News
WEAR-tv Pensacola FL
TBO.com Tampa Bay Online
KHOU Houston
WKRG-tv Mobile-Pensacola
| Category | Wind Speed | Barometric Pressure | Storm Surge | Damage Potential |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical Depression |
< 39 mph < 34 kts |
Minimal | ||
| Tropical Storm |
39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts |
Minimal | ||
| Hurricane 1 (Weak) |
74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts |
28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more |
4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m |
Minimal damage to vegetation |
| Hurricane 2 (Moderate) |
96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts |
28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb |
6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m |
Moderate damage to houses |
| Hurricane 3 (Strong) |
111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts |
27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb |
9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m |
Extensive damage to small buildings |
| Hurricane 4 (Very strong) |
131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts |
27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb |
13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m |
Extreme structural damage |
| Hurricane 5 (Devastating) |
Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts |
Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb |
Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m |
Catastrophic building failures possible |
Are you two looking at this “wobble” real time somehow? Where?
That ridge being overcome is the major factor now - actually, it has been for days now.
When in the AF, I loved the time I spent in TX... I would love to be able to get back there.
Greater than the New Madrid earthquake? The San Francisco quake of 1905? How do you define great?
Amen!
Ike Blasts Turks and Caicos As Category 4 Storm:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080907/tropical_weather.html?.v=2
Very glad to know you are far away from the hurricane zone now. After my surgery in December, I could not imagine piling a hurricane on top of that. You surely don't need the stress.
Take care, and God bless you! Will keep you in my prayers through your continuing treatments.
The hurricane caused an estimated death toll between 6,000 and 12,000 individuals; the number most cited in official reports is 8,000,
lost of life.
The Galveston track WAS september, but its track was far to the south of Ike’s track at this time... As a tropical storm, it ran along the the south side of Hispanola Island (Haita & Dominican Republic) before attacking 2/3’s of Cuba still as a TS, before strengthening to Cat.4 hurricane in the GOM, and then taking aim on Galveston.
Yes, real time is the province of NSA. The rest of us will have to settle for 10-75 minute granularity, which would seem adequate for these purposes (most of the time).
Thank you very much - I hadn’t looked there yet today...
Well, that sure doesn’t look like a WSW course at all now, does it ...
I have read about the grim devastation many times but did not recall the track or date.
Key West back in play?
If you look at the Funktop loop, you can see that when Ike passed over T&C Island there was some degradation and that it shifted a little more north. Could be a wobble or perhaps the system found more favorable pressure and/or water temp on the north side.
looks like more then a wobble doesn’t it. Key west and maybe Mimi back in play.
In terms of death toll, the Galveston hurricane is number 1.
...Environmental and natural disasters have claimed the lives of thousands of people in the United States, wiped out entire cities and towns, and destroyed precious historical and genealogical documents. If your family lived in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New England, California, Georgia, South Carolina, Missouri, Illinois or Indiana, then your family history may have been changed forever by one of these ten deadliest U.S. disasters.1. Galveston, TX Hurricane - September 18, 1900 Estimated death toll: about 8000 The deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history was the hurricane that ripped into the rich, port city of Galveston, Texas, on September 18, 1900. The category 4 storm devastated the island city, killing 1 in 6 residents and destroying most of the buildings in its path. The building which housed the port's immigration records was one of many destroyed in the storm, and few Galveston ships manifests survive for the years 1871-1894.
2. Great Okeechobee Hurricane, Florida - September 16-17, 1928 Estimated death toll: 2500+ Coastal residents living along Palm Beach, Florida, were basically prepared for this category 4 hurricane, but it was along the south shores of Lake Okeechobee in the Florida Everglades that most of the 2000+ victims perished. Many were migrant workers working in such an isolated location, that they had no warning of the impending disaster.
3. Johnstown, PA Flood - May 31, 1889 Estimated death toll: 2209+ A neglected southwestern Pennsylvania dam and days of rain combined to create one of America's greatest tragedies. The South Fork Dam, built to hold back Lake Conemaugh for the prestigious South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club, collapsed on May 31, 1889. More than 20 million tons of water, in a wave reaching more than 70 feet high, swept 14 miles down the Little Conemaugh River Valley, destroying everything in its path, including most of the industrial city of Johnstown.
4. Chenier Caminada Hurricane - October 1, 1893 Estimated death toll: 2000+ The unofficial name of this Louisiana hurricane (also spelled Chenier Caminanda or Cheniere Caminada) comes from the island-type peninsula, located 54 miles from New Orleans, that lost 779 people to the storm. The devastating hurricane predates modern forecasting tools, but is thought to have had winds approaching 100 miles per hour. It was actually one of two deadly hurricanes that hit the U.S. during the 1893 hurricane season (see below).
5. "Sea Islands" Hurricane - August 27-28, 1893 Estimated death toll: 1000 - 2000 It is estimated that the "Great Storm of 1893" that struck the southern South Carolina and northern Georgia coast was at least a Category 4 storm, but there is no way of knowing, since measures of hurricane intensity weren't measured for storms before 1900. The storm killed an estimated 1,000 - 2,000 people, mostly from storm surge affecting the low-lying barrier "Sea Islands" off the Carolina coast.
6. Hurricane Katrina - August 29, 2005 Estimated death toll: 1836+ The most destructive hurricane ever to strike the United States, Hurricane Katrina was the 11th named storm in the busy 2005 hurricane season. The devastation in New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf Coast area cost over 1,800 lives, billions of dollars in damage, and catastrophic loss to the region's rich cultural heritage.
7. Great New England Hurricane - 1938 Estimated death toll: 720 The hurricane dubbed by some as the "Long Island Express" made landfall over Long Island and Connecticut as a category 3 storm on September 21, 1938. The powerful hurricane decimated almost 9,000 buildings and homes, caused over 700 deaths, and reshaped the landscape of the south Long Island shore. The storm caused over $306 million in damage in 1938 dollars, which would equal about $3.5 billion in today's dollars.
8. San Francisco Earthquake - 1906 Estimated death toll: 700 confirmed, estimates of up to 3000 In the dark morning hours of April 18, 1906, the sleeping city of San Francisco was rocked by a massive earthquake. Walls caved in, streets buckled, and gas and water lines broke, allowing residents little time to take cover. The earthquake itself lasted less than a minute, but fires broke out across the city almost immediately, fueled by broken gas lines and a lack of water to put them out. Four days later, the earthquake and subsequent fire left more than half of San Francisco's population homeless, and had killed somewhere between 700 and 3000 people.
9. Georgia - South Carolina Hurricane - 1881 Estimated death toll: 700 Hundreds of people were lost in this August 27th hurricane that struck the east U.S. coast at the juncture of Georgia and South Carolina, causing severe damage to Savannah and Charleston. The storm then moved inland, dissipating on the 29th over northwestern Mississippi, resulting in about 700 deaths.
10. Tri-State Tornado in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana - 1925 Estimated death toll: 695 Widely considered the most powerful and devasting tornado in American history, the Great Tri-State Tornado ripped through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana on March 18, 1925. It's uninterrupted 219-mile treck killed 695 people, injured more than 2000, destroyed about 15,000 homes, and damaged more than 164 square miles.
Let me put it to you this way. Had it not been for the Galveston hurricane, the city of Galveston today may have been one of the largest cities in the country, and Houston would have been much smaller. That hurricane changed everything for those two cities.
I'm on the mainland but want to get back before they close the bridges
.
I can see why the forecasters have their hands full with this one. Looks like Key West is more in line from those few frames.
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