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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KHOU Houston
ABC 13 News Houston
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KPLC Lake Charles
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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)
GAK! Is that a local nickname or did someone rename the business for real??
Because the fact that there’s an exceptional storm surge all along the Gulf coast is not relevant to the question of maximum storm surge around Galveston Bay.
I saw her too, FOX I think. She actually said "don't want to leave and come back to nothing"..huh??? Her youngest child, a girl looked 7ish, standing there looking scared with her fingers in her ears.
Oh..and the idiots at the 'Poop Bar' overlooking the water... God Bless the responders that try to fish them out.
Those young people at the Bar, show a lot of stupidity. Whatever happens to them is a shame, and to think they are going to cause rescue workers to go into harms way to help them out.
Apparently the fastest pressure drops along the coast now are in Freeport and Angleton, southwest of Galveston. That’s a sign that Ike may well wobble a bit west and hit the coast down from Galveston instead of head-on into the island as currently estimated. If that’s the case, then Galveston and Houston get the “dirty” northeast side of the storm, which is packing hurricane winds out 110+ miles. It also means Galveston and Galveston Bay get even more surge. If that happens, it’s a worst-case scenario.
}:-)4
I’m afraid that “if” will be a “when.”
I’m just wondering how many of the news people are going to stay out there to show us how hard the wind is blowing and how high the water is. I really hope they search out shelter.
I was very young and stupid when Alicia hit in '83. I lived in a brick townhome with a roommate in Pearland, fairly close to the Gulf and we stayed put. Some friends and I partied through the night with the hurricane howling outside.
Before it came in, we made jokes about going to the Galvez Hotel on the island to party, but we would never have really done that, young and stupid as we were.
Guy Reynolds
High Island, Friday morning about 9a.m.
My goodness, that was 9AM????
I remember Camille in Virginia. The remnants stalled out over Virginia and in one part of Nelson County dropped up to 27 inches of rain in a few hours. People who were outside said they had to cup their hands over their nose to breathe.
Along Davis Creek in a deep hollow, soil and trees literally peeled off the bedrock, and at one point the shallow creek was 50 feet deep with water, trees, dirt houses, and other debris. Only three of 35 houses along the creek were not destroyed. The Tye River was a 12-foot wall of water through Massies Mill with no warning at all. More than 100 people died, including, I think, nearly 20 from one family. Some bodies were never found and at least one was discovered 25 miles downriver.
Press conference on KHOU now. The Democrat mayor of Galveston just spoke, talking about how she’s ordered a curfew and there’s a shelter “of last resort” for citizens. The man who followed her said the city’s staff will close everything down, including locking the shelter doors, at 9:00 p.m.
posted as found at that link..
quite a surge.. but that is low lying area also
No one can get to that ship to save them now. God be with them. Let us pray.
sw
The one at Briar Forest and Wilcrest? I didn't know that had happened, but I know there has been some trouble with Katrisians in the area.
I live in that area, but I've been working out of town for the past five years and only get home once or twice a year.
May God protect them.
The man speaking now (don’t know his name) said that they evacuated all Galveston’s “special needs” citizens (those who couldn’t leave on their own) last night, so that’s good. They’re all in Austin.
The Poop Deck is a biker bar. Not hells angels biker, but a place where the bikers gather. I point this out because if you think driving a car out of high water is hard, try it on a bike!
I think some people think they can goof off till dark, then go to some friend's house in north Houston to ride it out.
I missed the % of people they believe stayed on the island..did you hear?
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