Posted on 09/12/2008 11:29:13 PM PDT by NautiNurse
The eyewall of Hurricane Ike crossed Galveston Island in the early hours of Saturday morning. Reports indicate as many as 20,000 residents of Galveston Island chose not to evacuate as storm surge engulfed the island. The Freeport Chief of Police reported as many as 2000 residents did not evacuate as flood waters swamped coastal communities. There are widespread reports of power outages and coastal flooding throughout the Texas/Louisiana region. The U.S. Coast Guard received hundreds of calls Friday afternoon to rescue people stranded by flood waters along the barrier islands and Galveston Bay communities.
Multiple fires broke out in the Greater Houston area fueled by strong winds. Fire fighting efforts were hampered by flood waters. Brennan's Restaurant, a landmark in Houston, burned to the ground. A 584-foot freighter crippled in the Gulf of Mexico and its crew of 22 survived the storm after The U.S. Coast Guard was forced to abort rescue efforts Friday afternoon due to foul weather
Gulf Coast wholesale gasoline prices jumped to nearly $5 a gallon over fears that water and wind damage could keep the facilities closed for days or longer. Oil companies had shut down 97.5 percent of production in the Gulf of Mexico by Friday morning and were battening down refineries and petrochemical plants in an area that accounts for one-fifth of U.S. refining capacity.
Exxon Mobil reported evacuating workers from its Gulf Coast offshore platforms and onshore facilities in the anticipated path of Ike, shutting down daily production of about 36,000 barrels of oil and 270 million cubic feet of gas..
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 |
|
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Previous Threads:
Hurricane Ike Live Thread III
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)
KHOU-TV says streets around the 75-story JPMorgan Chase Tower are strewn with legal documents and other debris, including downed trees and building facades.
The damage extends to Reliant Stadium. As a result, the NFL is expected to cancel Monday's game against the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens, according to the Chronicle.
Source. There's a pic of the building there. Posted at 1:34 local time.
Appreciate the prayers. We’re watching it because its heading towards us.
Oh, yes. I am very thankful he was there, but he DOES provide
comedy relief sometimes....and I wonder if he doesn’t do it
on purpose. His “persona” as it were. :D
God keep your family members safe throughout this ordeal!
As another has posted, search and rescue can’t begin in earnest until aerial views are initiated. Winds must decrease before that can occur. Winds are still gusting to 45 mph per NWS.
I just saw a piece on that, bummer. I wish my Vikes could get a reprieve from their game against the Colts too. -)
This storm is gonna mess with a lot of stuff before it is done and gone.. altho some drought affected areas should be good for a while, I hope. We could sure use some of the moisture out West.
I can’t say for sure but most likely it is residential. There are residential areas along the freewas all through Houston. I come through that interchange fairly ofter but too busy watching traffic to really observe the side areas...
A twister went thru downtown here a few years back. Took a strip of windows off the full heigth of one corner of a skyscraper.
Good news, construction wizards have these steel slat panels that go on quick and seal the shell to weather so repairs can begin quickly.
Bad news, they’re STILL in place.
Other bad news, I’m holding Chase shares, more than I should.
Ulp!
How’s it up your way FGS?
Thinking of you!!
Despite rumors to the contrary, the Galveston National Lab (GNL) has suffered no damage as far as we can see. The building was at the end phase of construction. There was no research taking place and no one is occupying the building.
The Keiller Building did experience some flooding in the basement but the rest of the facility is fine. There has been no loss of biocontainment or biosecurity. All labs were decontaminated and secured prior to the arrival of the storm. All agents have been stored in proper containers. The Shope Lab within the Keiller Building also remains secure.
UTMB Emergency Operations Center
I saw those rumors (REPORTED BY KHOU!) last night, too, so I'm glad to see this.
Looks like Galveston was saved due to the mid-day shift to the east which put them in the center, not the eastern, ‘dirty’ side. That decreased the storm surge by about 1/3. We still need to hear from areas to the east which would have gotten the full surge.
aww :) Guess you’ll be busy planting new ones next spring!
Seriously though that radar looks frightening to me. I don’t get so much as thunderstorms any more so hurricanes are just crazy scary.
I’ve read here on FR that areas in western Louisian are experiencing major flooding.
How long does it take a building such as that to repair and get its people back to work? Wuh-oh on the shares. hee
It’s true, I have a young grandson in Houma with a Florida-based hurricane crew and he said it’s really awful there.
Today they talked to three local worthies - who had also stayed in Galveston and the interviewer referred to them as "brave".
Shortly after this gem of an interview the guest in the studio was none other than Michael Brown - the disgraced former head of FEMA.
Sorry Fox - no Emmy for this one.
It just blew the flowers off. I will have new flowers in a week or two. Its just coming in here.
I still have the windows open and such, but I am putting a chatge on the shortwave because with all the swaying trees we are likely to lose power late this afternoon
Moving N at 16 mph, located just SE of Palestine TX, and 50 miles
S of Tyler TX.
Winds 60 mph, 975 mb. Tropical storm force winds extend 150 mph
from the center.
On/Off Hurricane List Mash Here--> 
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