Posted on 09/10/2008 2:18:37 PM PDT by NautiNurse
Texas began issuing mandatory and voluntary evacuations as Hurricane Ike continued to strengthen and slowly moved toward an uncertain landfall destination in the western Gulf of Mexico. Texas Governor Rick Perry issued a disaster declaration in advance of the storm. Louisiana Governor Jindal released several hundred buses to Texas for evacuation assistance.
Reports from Cuba indicate widespread damage from Hurricane Ike, which raked the length of the island nation. The U.S. State Department again offered Cuba humanitarian assistance after a previous offer was declined by the Cuban government.
The stock market Wednesday rose as investors bought oil stocks and and oill futures fell.
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Buoy data: Western Gulf of Mexico
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Additional Resources:
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| 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 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)
Alicia was the ‘83 one, yes?
I was visiting my cousin in beautiful Commerce, Texas during that ... I called my parents, and Mom told me that the back fence was leaning over a bit, but frankly it always did that. It ended up collapsing in the wind, and we got a new fence.
Mom (a New Jerseyite, so I guess she can be excused for so saying, if not forgiven) cast aspersions on Alicia’s manhood.
I almost slept thru Alicia...somebody called to ask what it ws doing at my house. My BR windows were facing a direction that got no rain...when I looked out, the trees were blowing almost to the ground! Had no elec for about 8 hours.
PL, I couldn't reply on the other thread cuz it's locked now.Yep. It looks like it's heading right for you in Victoria.
And right for us here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area by Saturday.
Better batton down the hatches down there!!
Will do.
Local news here in Orlando said with each track it will probably come out further and further north.
I would throw in that Masters also makes much better comparisons to past hurricanes. The TV people tend to throw around hurricane names but don’t tell you why - Masters will say “this resembles Hurricane Such-and-Such because Hurricane Such-and-Such followed this path, was at this strength, had this size of an eye, was raising the tide this much” , etc., etc..
The point is that the faster a storm is moving, the less decay of hurricane force winds as it moves inland. Slow moving storms will generally lose their strength closer to the coast.
Thanks.
Bump to you PL so you can see NN’s post and link ...
That is quite interesting NN. Especially since we live in Florida. I just went outside and the clouds are moving across the sky very fast here N. of Orlando. There is a slight breeze and the moon is shining through every so often.
Hey Xenalyte, don’t forget about me. Chiming in from Kingwood.
Our Northern FRiend chimes in!
Hey, how close are you to New Caney? One of my girls is coming from there and I don’t want to spook her.
I’m down the street Briar Forest and Eldridge-ish. This storm concerns me greatly. I will refrain from PANICKING until we see where it goes overnight.
Just chiming in from Central Louisiana. We may not be directly in Ike’s path now, but because we haven’t recovered from Gustav yet in terms of flooding, power outages, damaged structures, saturated soil, splintered trees, etc., we are definitely going to be impacted up here as well. It was reported tonight that, a week after Gustav, a levee just broke in the Alexandria area.
We called off our trip to Arkansas this weekend. There’s no way that we want to be in the path of any spun-off tornados, let alone be part of the northbound traffic jam on I-49, a designated hurricane evacuation route.
Speaking of which, I remember those Cafepress.com shirts that came out after Rita with the logo “I Survived Hurricane Rita: The Texas Traffic Jam.” I remember that there was a very serious accident during the Rita evacuation. Please correct me on the exact details, but wasn’t it a bus full of nursing home patients that rolled over in bumper-to-bumper traffic? I pray with all my heart that those people who felt that like they evacuated for no good reason during Rita won’t disregard the warnings for Ike this time around. I hope the authorities in Texas will be better prepared for the traffic flow. It sounded really weird to hear on the news tonight that Louisiana is actually offering assistance to Texas at this point!
Anyway, just wanted to throw my $0.02 in — prayers to everyone who is in Ike’s path!
I live in NW Houston, and this storm is starting to worry me. We went thru Alicia in 1983, and it was not plesant, even though we were not without power as long as many. (I remember some were without power for 2 weeks or more.) Our house mostly just had some minor shingle damage.
NEW INFORMATION UNTIL 5:00AM CDT
Issue Time: 10:46PM CDT, Wednesday Sep 10, 2008
Valid Until: 5:00AM CDT, Thursday Sep 11, 2008
NEW INFORMATION
UNTIL 5:00AM CDT
Hurricane Ike Local Statement National Weather Service Lake Charles LA 1046 PM CDT Wed Sep 10 2008
Acadia-Allen-Avoyelles-Beauregard-Evangeline-Jasper- Jefferson Davis-Lafayette-Lower St. Martin-Newton-Rapides- St. Landry-Tyler-Upper St. Martin-Vernon-
... New Information... Ike Expected To Make Landfall Near Freeport Texas.
... Areas Affected... This Statement Recommends Actions To Be Taken By Persons In The Following Counties Or Marine Areas:
Acadia... Allen... Avoyelles... Beauregard... Evangeline... Jasper... Jefferson Davis... Lafayette... Lower St. Martin... Newton... Rapides... St. Landry... Tyler... Upper St. Martin... Vernon.
... Watches/Warnings... No Additional Hazards Are In Effect.
... Precautionary/Preparedness Actions... Persons Should Prepare For The Possibility Of Tropical Storm Force Winds If The Track Of Ike Drifts Further To The North.
... Inland Flooding... Rainfall Amounts From 2 To 3 Inches With Isolated Amounts To Around 6 Inches Are Expected. As Is The Case During Any Tropical System... Any Area That Receives Heavy Rains May See Flash Flooding.
... Winds... For Tyler... Jasper... And Newton Counties... Tropical Storm Force Winds From 45 To 50 Mph With Gusts To 65 Mph Will Be Possible By Friday Afternoon. A Tropical Storm Wind Watch May Be Required On Thursday.
... Tornadoes... The Threat For Tornadoes Will Increase Friday Into Friday Night.
... Next Update... The Next Update Will Be Issued Around 5 AM Thursday.
I live in Friendswood, about 34 mile drive from the island. Last night about 9:30 pm I got an automated call from the city pretty much saying that there is no mandatory evacuation like there was for Rita, but if you plan to stay you are on your own until after the storm passes. I evacuated during Rita because the police said I had to and, like many others spent untold hours on the road. I will never do that again.
In looking around the city, I didn't see many boards going up but the gas stations and groceries were getting slammed last night. I just got back from filling-up my 2 cars and gas tanks I had to go to two places before I found someone who had gas at 2:45 am this morning.
After Rita I had a metal roof put on my house (wind rated to 120 mph) and 1/2" thick lexan storm panels installed over my windows. This should be a good test of the new roof and the window protection. I'm riding this one out here at the house. Will try to check in as long as the power holds out.
Pray for the folks living on the coast, it really looks like they're going be hit hard.
Maybe Ike will do a Rita and go north of us too. I can’t believe Galveston is not evcuating. Guess they figure they can handle Ike.
The evacuation from Rita cost the hospital almost $18 million, so they're being cautious this time. If this is coming in as a Cat 4, I'm pretty sure they will make the decision to evacuate patients.
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