Tropical Storm Fay expected to strike Galveston - residents urged to evacuate

Associated Press ^ | September 6, 2002 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

Tropical Storm Fay expected to strike Galveston

09/06/2002

Associated Press

HOUSTON - Residents of Bolivar Peninsula and the west end of Galveston Island were urged to evacuate as Tropical Storm Fay slowly churned Friday toward the Texas coast, where it was expected to make landfall by the weekend.

Galveston Mayor Roger "Bo" Quiroga asked warned residents that by dawn Friday, tides of 4 to 6 feet would begin lapping over Farm Road 3005, making difficult on the highway that traverses the length of the island.

The low-pressure system in the Gulf officially became a tropical depression at 4 p.m. Thursday and was upgraded to Tropical Storm Fay about six hours later as winds pushed above 35 mph.

It's the first tropical storm to threaten Texas since June of last year, when remnants of Allison dumped up to three feet of rain on the Houston area, killing 22 and causing an estimated $5 billion in damage.

Quiroga and City Manager Steve LeBlanc kept watch from the city's emergency headquarters.

"The problem is that it continues to stay out there and meander," Quiroga said.

"It's too close for comfort," LeBlanc said.

Galveston's emergency management director, Eliot Jennings, sat in on conference calls at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Thursday. He communicated with federal, state and regional officials in an effort to learn as much as possible about Galveston's only major threat this year, according to The Galveston County Daily News' editions Friday.

"We're trying to be careful so there's not another situation like Tropical Storm Frances, where the tides rolled in and, `boom,' people were trapped," Jennings said. "The warning's lukewarm right now, but it'll probably get a lot firmer. If anyone has any concerns, they should get out now. You really can't go wrong with that advice."

National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Read agreed.

"Between the seasonal high tides and the winds from this system making them even higher, you don't want people to get into a position where they can't get out of there if the storm does intensify," Read said.

The coastline covered by the storm warning was from Matagorda, about 75 miles southwest of Galveston, and up the Texas coast into Louisiana to Intracoastal City, La., about 170 miles northeast of Galveston. Seven counties in a 100-mile stretch along the Texas coast were under the tropical storm warning.

The Weather Service projected that the storm would pass directly over Galveston.

"The next two days should be very rainy," Read said.

As much as 6 inches of rainfall was predicted with possible accumulations of 10 inches near the coastline.

When Fay makes landfall late Friday or early Saturday, winds are expected to be gusting at about 60 mph.

Late Thursday, the center of the storm was about 125 miles southeast of Galveston and was stationary. The Weather Service said little movement was expected through Friday.

A reconnaissance plane found winds were strong enough to upgrade the system to a tropical storm. Sustained winds were near 40 mph with higher gusts.

"It's September. It's near the peak of hurricane season. The waters are warm," meteorologist Lance Wood said.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/090602dntexfay.1012d9df8.html

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Weather Page

Video: watch coverage from Galveston

LINK to radar and other resources

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Heck, why worry, what harm could a hurricane do to Galveston, anyway, right?

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks for the links !

[MeekOneGOP]

Here's the Intellicast.com Radar Loop from New Orleans, btw......

[mhking]

KHOU/Houston Radar Loop:

[GalvestonGal.com]

Arrrr Matey, ya hooked me! Anyone trolling for first hand reports from Galveston Gal can relax. I'll check in frequently.
Here are some good reporting links. Forget the Weather Channel reporter's knowledge of the area.
http://www.guidrynews.com/02Hurricane/14102Hurricane.htm
http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/tx/allwarnings.html

In late August we had record rainfall in one day and my 107 year old roof failed right over my Mac computer set up, and flooded the street up into my garage - another record. So I felt lucky to have contractors already on hand to tighten up the old ship.

However the deal is that the repairs don't look like they are holding, I'm on my PC unit, and I've got a little temporary deck off of my back porch that isn't nailed down yet. So as soon as I finish this little first report, I've got to haul the new iMac set up and most of the equipment off of that desk and then go screw around with the loose boards.

You may be asking "Where is Galveston Gal's muscle man help?" Well, let's just say he won't get to sleep much longer. It's up and attem' boys.

[AppyPappy]

Good to see you again. God Bless.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thank you for the radar !

[MeekOneGOP]

Popeye sez Be careful !

[CWRWinger]

I think they still remember Isaac's Storm.

[Dog Gone]

This is definitely going to put a damper on the drag racing at the K-Mart parking lot tonight.

[AnAmericanMother]

I don't know how long their memories are in Galveston, but the 1900 Hurricane was devastating:

The Galveston Hurricane

As a youngster, I read an article in American Heritage magazine about this storm. The stories and the pictures were truly dreadful.

[Ditter]

Hi GGal, haven't seen you around here in a while. I hope you come thru this OK. Our Tiki Island house has toxic mold & we are getting ready to tear the sucker down. A nice well placed tornado would help us a lot. We are selling the lots so I guess I am not a Galveston resident anymore. Oh well, nothing lasts forever, I'm trying to adjust. (sob) 107 year old roof? That is some kind of a record.

[Dog Gone]

The radar loop seems to be showing increased circulation and organization. If the storm doesn't come ashore quickly, it looks to me like it will intensify.

I'm not a weatherman, but I play one on FR. ;-)

[GalvestonGal.com]

I'm back. My contracter guys, Coop & Coz of Island Renovations came by to check on things and male companion, Mexico Mike woke up, but only after I had secured the outside. "Wet work" you might call it.

All the loose boards from the makeshift deck are down. Delicate sea shells and black Oxacan pottery put in garage. Hose connected to faucet and neatly coiled(if you need to put out a small fire, you don't want to be putzing with the hose).

Everything is pretty much bungeed up, lashed down, brought in, or written off. I still need to screw down a blind outside of my bedroom window, but no ladder work involved. You can hear power saws cutting storm boards, people are pounding nails, the garbage men finally picked up the garbage.

The siamese cats are prowling around, trying to sit on my head while I type, and the cocker spaniel is in his bed. And Mexico Mike gets to go out and get the final supplies of more cat food, cigs, duct tape, and one more lantern battery. Have fun Mikey!

Coop & Coz report they have jobs taking down big expensive shop signs on The Strand and nailing plywood up on other client's houses. Friend, Joy, called and there are no more flashlights left at the Kroger store. Joy hasn't been through a hurricane, but she is confident of her house and ability to be by herself during a storm. I believe her. She has her supplies - two mystery novels and the last flashlight from Kroger's.

Joy said the local Fox station was reporting flooded streets on 12th, 15th, and 17th Streets. Head's up guy's - I live on one of those streets and it's not flooded - completely passable. Maybe they are refering to how those streets have flooded in the past, but it's A-OK now.

Daughter in Houston says there is not much of a buzz about the weather among her circle. She is at work at a gallery in the Rice U area and plans to work all day. Getting stuck in Houston in a flooding rain is my idea of hell.

[Dog Gone]

Hang in there. Looking at the radar, you're in for non-stop rain indefinitely, including some heavy squalls.

It's not very windy yet, is it?

[mhking]

Looking at that KHOU radar loop, it looks like you've got some fairly moderate-heavy rain in store for the next while - although it looks like the super nasty stuff is at least a couple of hours off. I'm guessing the winds haven't picked up a lot yet, yes?

In any event, be well, and be careful.

[GalvestonGal.com]

Getting closer to the nasty stuff. Your up to date radar is a great help, saves time. I'm sitting at the end of that red highway line. For those unfamiliar with the geography: The red square is inner Houston, the line (what we call) south is I45. It basically dead ends in the Gulf. I'm sitting right there.

Really nothing is going on from my vantage point. Squally rain, gusty wind. Nothing lashing and blowing. Actually it is nap time for the Gal. I've been up and attem' since 7AM and I'm tired and sore.

If we really do have some horrible weather tonight, then I'll be alert and fresh.

PS - Mexico Mike has not come back with the supply list. I suspect he is standing in line at Walmart. I don't want to hear about it.

[mhking]

According to the 1P CT update, the storm was pretty much stationary with sustained winds of 60 MPH. The Hurricane Center is also expecting some strenghening over the next 12-24 hours. This sounds like it may actually make it to hurricane strength before landfall.

HurricaneCity.com is due to do a live stream tonight at somewhere between 6 & 8 ET; if/when the NWS issues Hurricane Warnings, Hurricane City'll go to 24 hour streaming of live news and information on the web.

Get Mexico Mike back inside, and batten down the hatches, Gal. Be safe & talk to you soon.