Hurricane Ike Live Thread Part II

NOAA/NHC ^ | 10 September 2008 | NOAA/NHC

[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.

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

ABC 13 News Houston
FOX News Houston
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 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)

[af_vet_rr]

The weathernerds over at easternuswx.com can’t figure this storm out, and that includes the professionals. Ike is apparently breaking a few “rules” about tropical cyclones. Instead of the winds speeding up as the pressure drops, they’re expanding and pushing more water around.

One of the weathernerds on Jeff Masters blogs came up with this, which I will admit, had me laughing (yes, it's grim, but sometimes it's good to step back temporarily and have a chuckle, especially given how uptight some of those weathernerds are):

HURRICANE IKE FINAL ADVISORY NUMBER 666
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
1400 TUE SEP 11 2008

A MASSIVE HURRICANE, NEY, A TITANIC BLACK MASS OF DESTRUCTION, BORN OF THE COLD, EVIL WOMB OF MOTHER NATURE, WILL RENDER MUCH OF COASTAL AND INLAND TEXAS A BARREN WASTELAND. IKE IS COMING.

SUCH IS THE POWER OF THIS STORM, IF INDEED, ANYTHING DISPENSING THIS AMOUNT OF HUMAN SUFFERING CAN BE CALLED A STORM.

THE STORM SURGE, ONCE PREDICTED AT 17 FEET, WILL NOW REACH UNHEARD OF HEIGHTS. IF WILL BE AS IF THE OCEAN ITSELF HAS VACATED IT'S VAST PRISON, SHAKING LOOSE HER CHAINS, AND LAYING ITSELF PRONE ATOP THE CITIES OF MAN. THE LAST VESTIGES OF IT'S BONDAGE SINKING ALL THAT LIES IN IT'S PATH.

ALL STRUCTURES WITHING A 100 MILE RADIUS WILL SUFFER DEVASTATING EFFECTS. WOOD WILL SPLINTER, CONCRETE WILL BECOME DUST. THE FOUNDATIONS WILL BE THE STARK REMNANTS OF HUMAN EXISTENCE IN THESE AREAS. TREES WILL BECOME UPROOTED AND CARRIED MILES BY WINDS THAT WILL BLAST THE VERY SKIN FROM ANYONE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO REMAIN OUTSIDE. BUT THEY WILL BE THE LUCKY ONES...THE FIRST TO DIE. FOR A MUCH GREATER MISERY AWAITS THOSE THAT SURVIVE.

AMIDST THIS MIRE OF CARNAGE, THE FEW SURVIVORS WILL WALLOW IN A SOUP OF DEATH AND DESPAIR, AS THEY FACE GRIM ODDS. FEW STRUCTURES WILL EXIST, AND FOOD AND WATER WILL BE MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD. AS CORPSES OF HUMANS AND ANIMALS ROT, DYSENTERY AND MALARIA WILL BEGIN THEIR MACABRE DANCE AMONG THOSE REMAINING AND MANY WILL BE FORCED TO CONSUME ONE ANOTHER TO LIVE ONE FINAL DAY.

ENTIRE GENERATIONS WILL PERISH, AND THE HURRICANE WILL CREEP INTO LEGEND. IT WILL BE A SIN TO EVEN CALL ITS NAME ALOUD, THE VERY EXISTENCE OF THIS EVENT BEING SPOKEN OF IN HUSHED TONES, AND REVERED BY THOSE WHO SEE IT AS JUDGMENT. IKE IS HERE. IKE IS HERE. IKE IS HERE. IKE IS HERE. IKE IS H

[kcvl]

Utter nonsense. The Attorney General has already warned against price gouging.

I think price gouging is what the gas stations do not the oil refineries.

If they shut down refineries along the coast gas prices are going to increase because they can't deliver the gas for a few days if not weeks according to what the storm does to them.

You may think it's nonsense but I'm just telling you what we have been told from what I consider a reliable source.

[Enosh]

When was the last time they said ‘death’ in a warning? Katrina?

[TheMom]

The long lines were starting when I was coming back from the grocery store. I heard on the news earlier that a lot of stations are out of regular gas.

[LadyPilgrim]

"let's hope he stalls and dies down."

I am in agreement with you dear one. He doesn't look too tame right now. ;-\

[NautiNurse]

My humble apologies to the folks in Louisiana. I wrote “county” instead of parish. I know better than that.

[NautiNurse]

I can’t recall whether Rita warnings included such dire consequences. Katrina had frightening warnings.

[af_vet_rr]

When was the last time they said ‘death’ in a warning? Katrina?

This was Katrina's warning (not sure about "death" being used since Katrina):

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED...

.HURRICANE KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.

ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE OUTSIDE!

[NautiNurse]

ok—enough with the ALL CAPS. Please pop those into MS Word and convert to Sentence Case. Thanks.

[brytlea]

Yikes.....

[af_vet_rr]

Sorry, but yeah, Katrina was pretty unprecedented as far as the description, and Ike is shaping up that way.

[Ditter]

I have just come from filling my tank. Most stations in my part of Houston are out of gas, or at least they say they are out. It occurred to me that maybe some are just saving it to sell at a higher price when the others are really out. That is cynical I guess but the thought did enter my mind.

[NautiNurse]

Yeah, but I only have one set of tired eyes. We need them to last through hurricane season.

:o)

[ncpatriot]

Yes, I remember that. And I remember sitting here at home safe and sound as I watch what happened to the people of New Orleans. I felt so helpless. I am praying for everyone in the path of Ike.

[Ingtar]

Shouting is the surest way to get shouted at in return on these threads.

Is there a hurricane hunter in the storm now? This “ominous silence” is giving me a bad feeling in my stomach. I guess I’m used to seeing updates from them more often - spoiled.

[NautiNurse]

Thanks for the local update. I would hope a whole lot of folks filled their tanks in the past 24 hours.

Folks preparing for the storm--don't forget to have cash on hand when credit cards and atm don't work.

[Charles Martel]

I think price gouging is what the gas stations do not the oil refineries.

If they shut down refineries along the coast gas prices are going to increase because they can't deliver the gas for a few days if not weeks according to what the storm does to them.

I would think that price gouging refers to a specific area. If the refineries are shut down long enough to cause a fuel supply shortage, we *all* will pay higher prices. However, if the prices go up only in Texas, or near the storm-damaged area, then that would likely be considered gouging, same as for any other commodity that's in short supply in the area affected by Ike.

[af_vet_rr]

Yup. I posted something a little amusing/grim from one of the weathernerds on Masters’ blog, buf if you read through it, especially his last update, there is quite a bit of “Ike shouldn’t be doing this”. Very disconcerting at times.

[deport]

Thanks for the replies...... I am perplexed that he isn't on these threads. I hope all is well with him.

[arkady_renko]

I agree with the helpless feeling. This one is actually not getting ANY mention up here by Chicago.

You can listen to Emergency Radio traffic out of Houston on ScanAmerica

There are links to Galveston and surrounding cities there as well.