Posted on 09/12/2008 5:12:09 AM PDT by 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
Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar
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Additional Resources:
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Brazoria County Emergency Management
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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 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)
OMG 2,000 in Freeport!
Oh you’d have laughed...Geraldo couldn’t tell they could hear him and Shep was going to show a clip from earlier, and it started showing the Geraldo falling today...
Shep said he could do without airing that again and it kinda sickened him and they didn’t need to play it over and over again. I think he’s a wee bit testy after his own flop onto his butt got reaired over and over and over last time. LOL.
"ATTENTION ENGINEERS:
What would it take to knock down the hotel on Galveston where the reporters are staying? Once the bottom floor or two is comprised, I can only imagine that the weight would collapse upon itself."
If the hotel is 6+ stories built to code, a small nuke would bring it down. Or a bigger building crashing into it. Ramming it with a large 200+ mph jet aircraft full of fuel would do it too.
As for this hurricane, the storm would have to scour away the sand below the building for a distance of 25-30 feet. The puppies are generally built on 50 foot long steel pilings, and half or more of those would have to be exposed before I'd worry about building integrity.
I'm not saying it would be habitable - obviously anyone on the first 2-3 floors would drown if the water rose that high. Flying objects might come through the holes where the windows had been, and people might even be sucked out.
I just hope there are enough buildings like that on Galveston Island to hold all the poor people stuck there.
Geraldo is doing a good job. Hope he doesn't make a martyr of himself.
sw
They were discussing how he could get sucked out to sea and then... nothing...
They cut out just after it looked like a wave about took him out.
I wonder what happened to him.
I saw that. He had a helmet on too....but no life jacket..(eye roll)
dear God! I hope all are out of there long ago!
More prayers sent for everyone in the path of Ike.
We have our tornadoes here, cannot imagine experiencing a hurricane. Thinking of all of you.
He is going to get smacked in the head with an object.
He can’t even stand up straight anymore. /shakes head
I usually feel more inclined to mock him espically when I saw him go right up to the levee, but as the Shep seemed to also becoming annoyed by people re-showing the picture of Geroldo falling, I just feel sorry for him and his crew. OH, big thing just flew by him.
I think that Geraldo is doing a respectable job tonight.
What is he doing that you think makes him look like a fool?
I got a real bad feeling about that one.
In the 1900 hurricane, they tried sinking all of the dead out in the ocean..but the next day, they all started washing back unto the beaches. They finally had to burn the bodies in huge fires on the beach!
Very tragic stuff.
I was wondering what happened to the guy, as I didn’t see him after that, and then the camera panned away.
When hurricane Fran hit Wilmington,a radio station took a call from a man who stayed in his beach house.It was as if he wanted to say his goodbyes,because he knew he made a terrible mistake staying.It was so sad listening to it.In his case he was fortunate,he survived.
Surfside Beach is totally under water!
Did you not hear him when they were trying to get a signal and he didn’t know if the signal was there?
Whatever. Whorealdo is an idiot.
Let’s all of us.....for a moment, as freepers together, pray for the souls of those in the path of this storm tonight.
May God bless and protect them all.
Amen.
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