Posted on 09/12/2008 5:12:09 AM PDT by NautiNurse
Large and dangerous Hurricane Ike approaching the Upper Texas coast. Mandatory evacuations began in earnest Thursday as an estimated one million coastal residents headed inland. There were widespread reports of gas stations running out of fuel.
The National Weather Service posted dire storm surge predictions of 20-25 ft storm surge along the coast and bay heads. Hurricane warnings covered a 400 mile swath of the Gulf of Mexico.
Wholesale gasoline prices spiked 30 percent Thursday, or nearly $1 a gallon, out of fear of what Ike might do.
Public Advisory Updated every 3 hours
Discussion Updated every 6 hours
Buoy data: Western Gulf of Mexico
Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar
Corpus Christi Long Range Radar
Brownsville Long Range Radar
Lake Charles Long Range Radar
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Additional Resources:
Navy Tropical Cyclone
Storm Pulse Very cool site
KHOU Houston
ABC 13 News Houston
FOX News Houston
KPLC Lake Charles
KFDM 6 Beaumont/Port Arthur
KKBMT 12 Beaumont
KRIS-TV Corpus Christi
KZTV Corpus Christi
Brazoria County Emergency Management
Galveston County Emergency Management
Chambers Country Emergency Management
Liberty County Emergency Management
| 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 |
Previous Threads:
Hurricane Ike Live Thread II
Hurricane Ike Live Thread I
TS Hanna, Hurricane Ike & TS Josephine [Other than that, the tropics are calm]
Tropical Storms Hanna, Ike and Josephine, TD Gustav (Other than that, the tropics are calm)
We got flooding in Alief b/c everything is paved over. There was little ground to soak up water. We had water up to the tops of cars that were parked in the street. My car was pulled in the drive which was on an incline, but still got water in back floorboard.
I know this will sound harsh, but I can’t feel too much pity for people who KNOWINGLY and INTENTIONALLY stayed behind.
These idiots are going to jeopardize the lives of the first responders.
The darkness will mask the true horror that will occur tonight...
Fox just reported this...
People on roof have tied themselves together.
(In my opinion there is no way they can get them out of there)
It’s so cute. My mexican neighbors are the only ones to board up, and they have the crappiest house on the street. They put up eave-to-ground sheets, which looks like it would be easier than trying to mount them over the windows, assuming you still secure them. It kind of looks like they just did the south side windows and then sort of gave up before they did the last one.
The folks from The Poop Deck Bar closed shop and locked up around 3:30 p.m. PST. Thank the Good Lord they are going inland to hopefully higher ground. Pray for them.
We are off Hwy 6 and Bellaire.
I watched my neighbors shed blow apart during Ivan...it is surprising what wind will pick up and blow around. Kids need to head home!
I read that those dear sisters tied themselves to those children and promised not to let go. When they found the body of one sister, she was still tied to a child and she was still holding on. She didn’t let go.
On the roof? They'll either be killed by the wind/debris, or dragged into the water by their dead friends where they'll drown. How awful.
Yesterday at noon, Texarkana officials were told to expect 500 evacuees from Port Arthur who would need shelters. 1100 showed up between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
Thank you. Funny thing....I was in Naval Aviation (electrician) and was stationed in Corpus Christi in 1970. Two days after I got there Hurricane Celia hit. The Seabees were brought in from Gulfport, Miss to help with clean up and to re-build and I was assigned to them. Ended up staying in the Bees for the last three years of my 4 years of service and glad I did.
Looks like the eye will go right through my location in North Harris County. I’m going to be in the NE part of the storm...the worse part! And it looks like I’ll be in hurricane force winds all night and part of tomorrow.
Got the bags packed and in the SUV so we can run if the roof comes off.
Island cams:
http://www.galveston.com/webcams/
http://www.gcoem.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=46
Twitter link from Austin Statesmen reporters at the scene:
http://twitter.com/TrackingIke
Shep reporting first death: tree fell
on a 10 yr old young man. Sad, sad.
To think of going thru this catastrophe
at 3 or 4 am is beyond horrific.
New projections:
572,000 people in the area
6 drinking plants
34 wastewater plants
thousands of police, fire and
ambulance stations in the area
5.2m Texans are projected to lose
power
8 parishes in LA, flooded, losing
power
storm is 350 mi away from them
Dearlord
99 drinking water plants
All will happen in the dark of night,
no cameras will record it.
The light of day will reveal the
awful truth.
Dear God .. mercy, mercy
Shep reporting all the hundreds of public facilities that will be offline- hundreds of police, fire, water treatment plants, and on and on...will be out- gone- unavailable- over 5 million expected to lose power.
This is a nightmare.
Godspeed, coastal Texans..
Power’s on, little breezy, no rain.
Had me a brief nap.
Going on another looter patrol around the hood.
Just had a loud thump on the roof. Maybe it will be BETTER when it gets dark and I can’t see the wind whipping through the tall treetops.
“So a ten year old boy becomes Ike’s first victim.
Poor kid.”
Does anyone know WHEN this happened? I hope it was YESTERDAY as his family was preparing to leave...please tell me.
They said that debris got caught in the ropes that the sisters and orphans were tied together with, and the debris took them down. Very sad.
Here is a pic of the only thing b/n hell and Galveston:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galveston_Seawall
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