Hurricane Ike Live Thread III

NOAA/NHC ^ | 12 September 2008 | NOAA/NHC

[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

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 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)

[meanie monster]

Cool link, thanks very much!!

[texasredtop]

I agree about San Leon. Nothing could keep me down there past lunch time today. It’s right on the water.

[STARWISE]

Holy moly .. that’s stunning. The impact
Ike is already having, especially the water
dynamics under his control, is frightening.

[SomeCallMeTim]

Prayers for you Red Top..

Orange will probably be OK... Port Arthur, however... is going to get nailed, again.

It mostly depends on your elevation. If you are 13’ or less.... and, within 10 miles of a shoreline (Inlet or river)... then, you’re gambling. Cause, the surge is very likely to be that high in your area. I think, it will be similar to Rita for you.... so, if you didn’t flood then, you should be ok.

It is going to be a very looooong night though.

Godspeed

[TomGuy]

Houston/Harris County Scanners

VoIP SKYWARN/Hurricane Net (HAM Radio):
http://tx.scanamerica.us/playlists/tx/harris/scanner2c-1221226465.asx

Houston Fire Department
http://tx.scanamerica.us/playlists/tx/harris/scanner1c-1221226465.asx

[backhoe]

I’m fine....... for now :-) We’re going to ride it out looks like. There’s still plenty of time to get out and the roads are clear sailing. Tonight may be a real booger bear. I’m in the orange area for the surge so that’s good. I saw Connie’s message, she’s a sweetie to remember me. I wish there were more Connie’s in this world.

I just checked FD and Roy said he's just talked to you- keep your head down, fer Gawd's sake!

I had the pleasure of talking with Connie over the phone a month or so ago, and she's a lovely person.

[texasredtop]

We have a very well built home, 5.5 years old. We are the middle of the block, the highest spot around, everything drains to the north and south from the front of our house. Our trees are fairly young. The area is all new construction so there aren’t any 100 year old oaks close by. We have a “big truck” to get out in with both tanks full of diesel, if necessary. Power is our concern.

I’m going to get out there and pick up all my landscaping ornaments here shortly. Everything else is secured and on the west side of the house. There is a grocery store close that is open today so if I think of anything else, I can run over there. Ice has been bagged and in the freezer and I’ll fill the water jugs shortly.

[TheRightGuy]

What happens is the water will be shallower by the sea wall than when it was first constructed.

I haven't been down on the seawall since before Alicia in '83, but IIRC at normal tide levels there was significant sand beach from the base of the wall to the shoreline. It would seem that additional sand would push the shoreline out even further from the base of the seawall, thus making the situation better rather than worse. In any case, a 20 foot surge is gonna be a real problem no matter what.

I will let you know for sure. I plan to be spending a couple nights on the seawall week after next ... god willing. I sure can pick'em when it comes to vacation planning ;^) At least the room rates are cheap.

[texasredtop]

I hope the wind grabs a jellyfish out of the water and slings it in his face. :-) That would be so funny.

[rabscuttle385]

When making comments, please remember there are FReepers with family and property in harm's way.

I have fam in the Pearland area, and I got their e-mails about the evacuations and preparations for the storm.

To all others in the storm's path: be safe, be careful, and know that many others have you in their thoughts and prayers today.

[TomGuy]

Galveston area Police, Fire, and Rescue:
http://tx.scanamerica.us/playlists/tx/galveston/scanner1c-1221226799.asx

[AFPhys]

ROTFL

[luckystarmom]

My grandparents beach house was on Crystal Beach. I don’t know if it is still there. If it is, I hope it will be okay.

My grandmother used to tell stories about Carla (?) in the 60s. She said that there were no snakes on the island before the hurrican, and there were not snakes on the island afterward.

[TornadoAlley3]

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/texas-news-coverage-hurricane-ike

helicopter shots now-—Galveston flooding is insane, very bad.

[AFPhys]

I’m glad JPSB has not been on thread yet today... He better not show his face until late Saturday or on Sunday. If we haven’t heard from him on Monday, though, I’ll be very concerned.

[DrewsMum]

bookmark

[toldyou]

Thanks!

They had helicopter coverage when I tuned in, then some reporting. However, the comments on the right side of the page have been good ones.

Hoping helicopter videos return...it was great!

[texasredtop]

I’m 29’ so that’s good. I’m about 10 miles west of the northwest shore of Galveston Bay.

Prayers back at ya! Stay safe.

[RoseyT]

Wow. Amazing to watch.

[LA Woman3]

Here is the link to the Galveston Daily newspaper.
www.galvnews.com

There is a reporter that is riding out the storm and blogging about it. Here is a link to her blog:
Laura Elder's BuzzBlog