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
Corpus Christi Long Range Radar
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Lake Charles Long Range Radar
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Additional Resources:
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KRIS-TV Corpus Christi
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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)
It sure would be the mother of all storms... but GFDL models it to 82kts (94mph) over Detroit...
Can you imagine what a storm like that would do up around Chicago/ Detroit/ Cleveland/ Buffalo?
Yet, GFDL is very similar to the models used for climate modeling.
Thank you, NN.
Oh my God, this is worse than yesterday.
We are in southwest Houston, near Sugar Land and Stafford.
Following the crowd and changing my tagline.
Oh my God....
This is going to be awful... and, this time... It’s a Republican Govenor... no excuses.
I figure it will be mid evening before we get the wind.
We are now headed outside to move everything inside.
Thanks! Careful is my middle name.
Fools!! People that stay....when they have been told to leave and provided transportation really piss me off!!
If the water is already this bad with the storm hundreds of miles out..there is going to be nothing left of Galveston after this storm passes.
Another high tide expected around the time of landfall.
If W were “on the ball”... they’d be announcing an National Gas Rationing plan right now... cause, about 20% of the country’s refining capacity is going to be out of commission for several weeks....
Gas is going to be outrageously high in the months leading up to the election.
Scary pics and the storm isn't even there yet.
I am worried about the ones that stayed behind. My friends brother is in Panama City getting married and he said the surf is insane there right now.
I was thinking that we would start to see some effects around lunch time. I am going to go walk the yard in a bit to see if I have anything laying about that needs to be moved. Psycho’s toys are in the yard, but they are all plush type things, but the sprinkler stuff and any branches need to go.
You should see my garage. LOL, the house I bought, had the Vine thing on one of the outside walls, I took it down last week. Makes the house look so much nicer, anyway, heavy trash is in two weeks, so it’s riding out the storm in the garage. Looks odd. :-)
“This is going to be awful... and, this time... It’s a Republican Govenor... no excuses.”
If people refuse to leave, it certainly is not the Gov.’s fault!!
They have been warned and provided transportation out of harm’s way....if they die..it is their own damn fault!
So what would you have the “Republican” Governor do?
During Rita when they tried to evacuate Houston a city of 5 million people a hundred and ten people died in the evacuation itself who would’ve survived by staying put.
It is very different from evacuating New Orleans.
They have told everybody to get off Galveston Island.
If half of them didn’t because they didn’t want to...
No excuses??
Uh huh.
We are sitting here watching the local TV coverage ~ I am amazed how much water is already covering Galveston and the surrounding area. Anyone still there is an idiot with a deathwish.
Amen.
See my post immediately following yours.
Is the bay side of the island already starting to flood? Is there any sort of seawall or breakwater on the “back” of the island toward the bay, or is it only on the Gulf side?
}:-)4
I agree! The media will do everything they can to blame Perry though.
Houses already breaking up in Galveston now.
In Friendswood (yeah, zone B) at 24+ feet elevation. We’re hanging in, a 8 KW generator and a couple weeks of food, probably a week of water, maybe more coming.
My anxiety level is a bit higher as Ike approaches, but the safe havens have just as much wind as here. Storm surge bugs me, but we seem to be higher. I’ll be sending lots of kneemails, I expect.
We have to move the Rita crap in the garage around to make room for Ike crap.
Need to clean that place up next week!
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