Hurricane Ike Live Thread IV

NOAA/NHC ^ | 14 September 2008 | NOAA/NHC

[NautiNurse]

The eyewall of Hurricane Ike crossed Galveston Island in the early hours of Saturday morning. Reports indicate as many as 20,000 residents of Galveston Island chose not to evacuate as storm surge engulfed the island. The Freeport Chief of Police reported as many as 2000 residents did not evacuate as flood waters swamped coastal communities. There are widespread reports of power outages and coastal flooding throughout the Texas/Louisiana region. The U.S. Coast Guard received hundreds of calls Friday afternoon to rescue people stranded by flood waters along the barrier islands and Galveston Bay communities.

Multiple fires broke out in the Greater Houston area fueled by strong winds. Fire fighting efforts were hampered by flood waters. Brennan's Restaurant, a landmark in Houston, burned to the ground. A 584-foot freighter crippled in the Gulf of Mexico and its crew of 22 survived the storm after The U.S. Coast Guard was forced to abort rescue efforts Friday afternoon due to foul weather

Gulf Coast wholesale gasoline prices jumped to nearly $5 a gallon over fears that water and wind damage could keep the facilities closed for days or longer. Oil companies had shut down 97.5 percent of production in the Gulf of Mexico by Friday morning and were battening down refineries and petrochemical plants in an area that accounts for one-fifth of U.S. refining capacity.

Exxon Mobil reported evacuating workers from its Gulf Coast offshore platforms and onshore facilities in the anticipated path of Ike, shutting down daily production of about 36,000 barrels of oil and 270 million cubic feet of gas..

Public Advisory Updated every 3 hours

Discussion Updated every 6 hours

Buoy data: Western Gulf of Mexico

Forecast Models

Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar
Corpus Christi Long Range Radar
Brownsville Long Range Radar
Lake Charles Long Range Radar

Ike
Single Image		Image Loop
Lat/Lon	No Lat/Lon	Short	Long
Visible	Visible	Visible	Visible
Shortwave	Shortwave	Shortwave	Shortwave
Water Vapor	Water Vapor	Water Vapor	Water Vapor
Infrared Channel 4 Enhancements
None	None	None	None
AVN	AVN	AVN	AVN
Dvorak	Dvorak	Dvorak	Dvorak
JSL	JSL	JSL	JSL
RGB	RGB	RGB	RGB
Funktop	Funktop	Funktop	Funktop
Rainbow	Rainbow	Rainbow	Rainbow

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 III
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)

[SE Mom]

Here are some amazing before and afters of the Texas City Dyke

http://tinyurl.com/5ekdtg

Then go here and see # 59 & 63

http://www.statesman.com/news/mediahub/media/slideshow/index.jsp?tId=119336

[buffyt]

I know Freeport isn’t a barrier island, we have lived in Brazosport since 1973. Surfside sits right on the gulf. Then Freeport, then Clute, then our town, Lake Jackson, then Angleton, etc. up to Houston.

[AFPhys]

“What happened to all the water they predicted? We had so very little it was freaky.”

Well, red, I don’t know where you’ve been - maybe your ghost was here when the rain came down. According to NWS, we’ve had over six inches of rain outside this door in the last 48 hours...

Can you please pour me another cup of coffee before you answer?

[DollyCali]

looked like a young cow/calf to me.

[buffyt]

Allegra! How are you? Hope all is well with you!

I remember Alicia. We had a two year old and a two month old. We were just telling her about Alicia. I don’t know how she took all those naps in the heat, not even a fan running, no elec. She said “I still love the heat” We told her about her bottles. No frig, so we used bottled water and powdered formula. Then had to throw out what she didn’t drink. She said “That must be why I still hate milk” LOL

Good to see YOU here old friend!

[texasredtop]

GOTCHA! Mr. Redtop does not drink coffee ;-)

There was NOTHING standing in the street when it was over, not a cup of water. Things are wet but not saturated. Where did 6” go? Do you get less rain in the direct path of the storm? I know the eye was pretty dry as we were able to work in the yard some and check things out thoroughly. I was so worried about rising water and we seemed to not even get a thorough soaking.

[buffyt]

Well we were supposed to get eight to twelve inches of rain and we only got seven inches in Lake Jackson. Officially. When I get home and IF my fence is still standing and IF my rain gauge is still attached to the fence, I will know how much rain I got at my house. But Lake Jackson has corrected the drainage over the past ten years or so. We used to have a lot of street flooding. They put in drains under the streets, put in new streets, and we have a drain in our backyard! Takes a lot more than 12 inches to impress us now!

We kind of think our fence and many others could be down. Ours is 21 years old and if it is down, we will have a new one put up. I am much more concered with my house. A man’s home is his castle, but it means much much more to a woman! Women tend to be the nesters.

[buffyt]

Austin braced for heavy winds and rains and got none. We are here.

[DollyCali]

V=RI. volts = resistance x amperage. Live it, learn it, be it.

AHA.. FIRST FIGURE OUT WHAT IT MEANS.. and then learn it etc.

AFPhys... i never knew that about extension cords. I use the heavy duty (thick orange ) ones mostly . Are they okay or will they also result in damage to power equipement (chainsaw, etc) that one is using

[DollyCali]

buffy.. 7 inches is a LOT of rain. glad you didnt get the projected.

[Allegra]

Hi Buffy! Great to see you too!

Are you still in Lake Jackson? Did you get through Ike OK? I thought that area was supposed to get it pretty bad.

I saw some very sad footage of Surfside yesterday. I used to go there a lot with friends in my youth back in the 80s when I lived in Pearland.

[buffyt]

CITY OF LAKE JACKSON
Message sent - 9/14/2008
Hurricane Ike 091408 10:00am

The City is still without power. There are a few locations in the Pecan Lake Estates Subdivision that have electricity, but this is sporatic.

We never lost our water system and it is safe to use. But our sewer system is limited at this time because of the power outage.

City crews continue to clear streets of debris.

No businesses are open. No fuel is available. No restaurant and no grocery stores are open.

It is still advisable to remain out of the area where you have access to public services.

A 7pm to 7am curfew remains in effect.

We will strive to update this message at 10am, 2pm and 6pm each daily.
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[Allegra]

Post # 1774 aerial views of Bolivar. Tragic.

Wow. That is sad. It looks like nothing is left.

[sheikdetailfeather]

Thanks for your prayers on behalf of my friends. So far they are fine. They are talking about how fungus can set in with all these floods and concerned about rats, snakes, etc..

What Hurricane Ike will Do to Gas Prices:

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/080913-What-Hurricane-Ike-Will-Do-To-Gas-Prices/

[patton]

What do I know from cows? For all I know, that was a Bull.

Dangit, Jim, I am a scientist, not a farmer!

But - I do have memories of kidding my mom, you gotta sweep the front stoop with a cow-poop shovel, not a broom.

I am going to send her that pic, just for laughs.

[Aggie Mama]

Wow, Bill White and Judge Emmet are getting into a pissing match with the FEMA rep at this live press conference. It looks like there are some problems about points of distribution.

[lainie]

The Seawall area looks even worse. :(

I just saw that the Galveston County Daily News is back online, but it's too slow to connect. Either the Internet there is sparse or there are too many people trying to read. But anyway, it's on and off, and here are some tidbits I found:

• League City homes were spared most of the flooding.
• Mainland Medical Center is closed.
• Engineers haven't yet been able to inspect the Causeway structurally.
• Sunday morning, residents of the tiny community of Seabrook near Johnson Space Center began trying to return home. They were met by a roadblock, and three Seabrook police officers standing in the rain, turning folks away. At times the line was six to 12 cars deep.
• "Seabrook is a disaster area: no sewer, no infrastructure. It really isn't safe," said officer Charlie Skinner.
• On one side of the Galveston peninsula, a couple of barges had broken loose and smashed into homes. Everything from red vinyl barstools to clay roof tiles littered the landscape. Some homes were "pancaked," the second floor sitting where the first had been before Ike's surge washed it out. Only the stud frames remained below the roofs of many houses, opening a clear view from front yard to back.
• Gov. Rick Perry's office said 940 people had been saved by nightfall Saturday, but that thousands had made distress calls the night before. Another 600 were rescued from flooding in neighboring Louisiana.
• In Orange County, 600 to 700 people had been rescued by nightfall, said officials who feared hundreds more were still stranded. There was widespread flooding in Orange and Bridge City, where rescuers were pulling people from attics and rooftops, and in Lake Charles, across the Louisiana line.
• Authorities said Sunday three people were found dead in Galveston, including one person found in a submerged vehicle near the airport.

Photos here: link -- but don't hotlink any.

[Peter Horry]

One can’t scream bloody murder about not being allowed in and then about having to live in primitive camping conditions if they are allowed in. If someone wants to enter the area to inspect and secure their property, as well as salvage personnel property then they should be allowed to do so. The Governor should be the only authority that prevents this. I do believe however that if they are prevented entry that the authority or entity responsible for the condition preventing entry should bear legal liability for additional damage. Of course this does not include an act of GOD.

[penelopesire]

Shelia Jackson Lee and Houston Dem mayor already gearing up to place all blame for anything on FEMA... watching the news conference now..

(Giant EYE ROLL)

[DollyCali]

The FEMA guy is POd at the Houston Mayor & his demands