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
Brownsville Long Range Radar
Lake Charles Long Range Radar
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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)
Galveston Police are getting “A LOT” of calls for rescues, and they cannot respond...
Not sure what “A Lot” means, but it doesn’t sound good...
It’s in his blood and he gets a daily nightime spot when it coincides with a hurricane. Sounds like a good deal Eh?
About half the siding of the Galveston Holiday Inn is gone...and I didn’t catch the rest...but per the guy in Galveston on CNN who’s been hiding out in a parking garage but coming out and peaking around when he can. They’re confident he can keep broadcasting from this “very solid” parking garage.
Anderson also saying that there are a lot of ambulences going somewhere in Houston behind him.
Stormpulse is way cool. A few days ago, I found some delays in the site updates. Don’t know if that has been fixed. I would like more zoom functionality, and more locations to measure distance from storm center.
Geraldo’s location must be getting worse or he needed a break; they’re using much, much earlier in the day (daylight) video tape at the moment from with him.
I agree.. I jokingly said to my husband, ‘this channel’s not nearly histrionic enough, where’s jerry?’ and there he was. Hugging palm trees and soldiering through debris striking him in the head.
You have power? Good I hope you can sleep for awhile
hehehee,We do have Hurricane Palin coming up.
If memory serves, they opened for Deep Purple : o
Tatt
Did everyone get the news that the freighter crew has survived the storm? Tugboat’s on its way to rescue & ferry.
fatima wrote:
When will the storm surge be done-thanks:)
**********
Three part question...surge itself outght to peak at eye center or sooner for a storm this slow. Say two to three hours from now, 0330-0430?
Then there’s tide, peaking at 0600 G’ville, 0700 upbay.
All along the waves are the real threat. They’re peaking now, but will continue, but confused and not from one coherent direction as the eye center passes over.
Waves are a wind function, among other variables, and 120 mph gusts work out to around a 40 pound per square foot wind load. Residential construction, glass, overgrown trees, even telephone poles won’t take much of that.
Right now it looks like we’re right on the edge between a hell of a mess and a real catastrophe. No official reports of surge above the magic 13 foot level which buries most of galveston island, and winds right at what light construction will take.
Too close to call, though I will say Texas City area is probably getting the worst of it so far.
There’s a person in the fronds!
Otay. Sleep tight! :)
Brennans(think that is the name) in historic Houston burned to ground
firefighters could not save it
Hang in there !
Stay safe.
Yes we do and the Chicoms are bringing out their magic pellets as we speak.
LOL!
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