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 |
|
|
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)
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR...
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
WESTERN GRANT COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARKANSAS
EXTREME NORTHWESTERN CLEVELAND COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS
NORTHEASTERN DALLAS COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
EXTREME EAST CENTRAL HOT SPRING COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
* UNTIL 345 PM CDT
* AT 314 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR CARTHAGE...
MOVING NORTH AT 31 MPH.
* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
LEOLA AROUND 330 PM CDT...
PRATTSVILLE AROUND 345 PM CDT...
It would be great if you could relate to us any ham radio info you are able to get from Galveston or points west and east of there. Great to hear there’s someone transmitting.
Tropical Storm Public Advisory
Statement as of 4:00 PM CDT on September 13, 2008
...Ike continues to weaken over northeastern Texas...
...Locally heavy rainfall and tornadoes remain a threat...
At 4 PM CDT...2100 UTC...the Tropical Storm Warning along the Texas
and Louisiana coastlines have been discontinued.
For storm information specific to your area...including possible
inland watches and warnings...please monitor products issued
by your local weather office.
At 400 PM CDT...2100z...the center of Tropical Storm Ike was located
near latitude 32.4 north...longitude 95.3 west or just southeast of
Tyler Texas. This is position is also about 50 miles...80 km...
south-southwest of Mount Pleasant Texas and about 105 miles...170
km...southwest of Texarkana Arkansas.
Ike is moving toward the north near 18 mph...30 km/hr. A turn toward
the north-northeast is expected later this afternoon or evening...
with a turn toward the northeast and an increase in forward speed
expected tonight and on Sunday. On the forecast track...the center
of Ike is forecast to continue to move through northeastern Texas
today...and into southwestern Arkansas tonight.
Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 45 mph...75 km/hr...
with higher gusts. Additional weakening is expected as the center
moves farther inland...and Ike could become a tropical depression
tonight.
Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 105 miles...165 km
mainly east and southeast of the center.
The estimated minimum central pressure is 980 mb...28.94 inches.
During the past hour...a surface pressure of 980.7 mb...28.96
inches...was measured at Tyler Texas.
Coastal storm surge flooding of up to 8 to 10 feet above normal
tides...can be expected along the Upper Texas and southwestern
Louisiana coasts. The surge extends a greater than usual distance
from the center due to the large size of the cyclone. Automated
tide gages are still reporting storm surge values of 8 to 10 ft
above normal tide levels along the upper southwestern Louisiana
coastal areas. Tide levels will gradually subside later this
afternoon and tonight as Ike moves farther inland away from the
northwestern Gulf Coast.
Ike is expected to produce additional rainfall amounts of 2 to 5
inches over portions of eastern Texas and western Louisiana...which
will bring storm total amounts of 15 inches. Rainfall amounts of 3
to 6 inches...with maximum amounts of 8 inches...are possible
across southeastern Oklahoma...western Arkansas...southern and
eastern Missouri...Illinois...northern Indiana...and Southern Lower
Michigan through Sunday.
A threat for tornadoes exists through tonight over portions of
northeastern Texas...northern Louisiana...much of Arkansas...and
southern Missouri.
Repeating the 400 PM CDT position...32.4 N...95.3 W. Movement
toward...north near 18 mph. Maximum sustained winds...45 mph.
Minimum central pressure...980 mb.
An intermediate advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane
Center at 700 PM CDT followed by the next complete advisory at 1000
PM CDT.
$$
Forecaster Stewart
lol!
My sister just told me that she drove through parts of Sugar Land on hwy 6 and there were lights on.
No phone service in Conroe, just outside Houston.
Hopefully it is either overloaded curcuits or a backup generator needs to be refueled. I’ve seen that happen before.
Live helicopter footage from KHOU...
As I’ve followed this and the previous threads, since my Nephew is in se Houston..I have a comment to make.
WHY IS THE WEATHER CHANNEL LABELING THIS THING AS “Hurricane Dike!”
Yeah, yeah, I know it’s a box...sure looks like a D to me!
Reporting in from Richmond, just southwest of Houston and on the “clean” side of the storm. Lots of high wind (H1, I assume) and rain all night. It let up a little when the sun came up, and got better around noonish. Lost power at about 10:30pm Friday, then got it back around 3pm today. I was shocked — didn’t expect to get it back so soon. No damage to my home, but I drove to my parent’s home (about a 10 minute drive) and there were a lot of downed fences, debris, and downed trees along the way.
Actually I’m not in Houston but to the east in the Golden Triangle area. Galveston and Houston got a lot damage but other areas received damage also but it isn’t reported or hyped as the big cities are. The media plays to the big city names or that’s my opinion.
I think they have put yall all under “Houston”:’) I saw that CC had some flooding too though.
Just heard from Buddy in Lufkin, lots of rain,no electricity , trees down and tore things up but all was well.
Just heard from Buddy in Lufkin, lots of rain,no electricity , trees down and tore things up but all was well.
sorry about double, could blame computer but just me.
Well, speaking as one who was freeping on my cell phone last night, in the dark with 85 mph winds and no one awake in my house but me, this thread was a lifeline to my peace of mind. When you’re dealing with very little battery power left, intermittent cell phone service, and howling winds that you aren’t sure if it’s a tornado or just wind, the last thing you want to do is to have to scroll through a bunch of unrelated-to-my-survival items.
maybe they secretly agree with me that all hurricanes should have women’s names... this was a good chance...
I too survived Hurricane Elvis. I think I was a week to ten days getting power back in that 100 degree heat.
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