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)

[amom]

Please add me to your H-town Hurricane ping list...thanks in advance.

[tcrlaf]

Buoy Data is getting frightening...

Windspeend 91.kts at buoy 42361 (Shell’s AUGER platform)
63.9 kts at the Shell MARS platform....

[r9etb]

Those IDIOTS are going to be begging for help if they survive what's coming their way.

Those IDIOTS will probably be blaming the government for not doing enough to warn them and save them.

[dirtboy]

My buddy Hank, at Memorial and Gessner, reports that some neighbor of his was using actual 2x4s to board up,

Jeez, he could have pert near framed a whole 'nother house with that.

[PleaseNoMore]

I don't know if anyone's posted this link, and I don't know if anyone can use it, but it's to the Red Cross's "Say You're Safe" website. Here you can sign up and let family members who may be searching for you know you're ok after a disaster. It is the Safe and Well and Search sign up page. Someone may have to hyperlink it for me 'cause it never works when I do it.

https://disastersafe.redcross.org/default.aspx

[Cheesehead In Dubai]

You mean... You HAD a house in Galveston.

Very funny. I will just have to hope for the best. I just flew out of Bombay tonight during a monsoon; the first rain I have seen in a year.

[OC_Steve]

Thanks, BlueAngel. You as well. Should be an interesting night.

[half-cajun]

Thanks much.

[Rebelbase]

CNN doing a story now on how “immigrants” will be the hardest it.

[spectre]

They're drunk already.

sw

[stlnative]

They are at the Poop Deck Bar.
Barmaid says they will stay until the sheriffs office shuts them down.

They are really slamming the booze down.

[conservativeinferno]

They are the walking dead.

[NautiNurse]

CNN doing a story now on how “immigrants” will be the hardest it.

Oh, I want to hear the details about this one.

[OC_Steve]

I saw a couple of houses boarded up here in Cypress. I did not board up. We are supposed to get around 80 mph winds here in Cypress. If a stray pine cone, fence post or patio chair does not hit my windows I should be fine.

[moonpie57]

I haven’t been totally following the thread, so don’t know if this was posted. Please pray for 22 men stranded on a freighter. The Coast Guard can’t get to them. They tried, but the winds were too bad. The ship has lost power and is basically just drifting.

[kinghorse]

That would be the Food Town next to Greg Bingham’s Carwash renamed Killer Kar Wash after a couple was accosted there and the guy killed because he didn’t have any money to hand over. This was right after Katrina’s relo.

[NautiNurse]

We have been following the story here. Thanks for the additional info and update.

[stlnative]

Poop Deck Bar
(409) 763-9151
2928 Seawall Blvd
Galveston, TX 77550

Galveston: Sheriff’s Office
www.co.galveston.tx.us
601 54th St
Galveston TX
(409) 766-2300

[spectre]

If they die, it will be educational to show the video of them "partying" the next time there is a Hurricane warning for that area....groan.

sw

[Tim n Texas]

WOW. I’m sure that was quite an experience. Thanks for the tips... I stocked up on water 2 days ago, did groceries yesterday, and we’ve been keeping the gas takes full since Tuesday. I also filled a spare 5gal. gas can. I’ve also got an dc/ac converter for the car. It’ll be able to power small appliances...like my modem, router and laptop, LOL... So I think we’re good for a few days, or until we can’t stand the oppressive heat any longer.