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..
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Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar
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Additional Resources:
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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 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)
One will never know that; statements such as that have been used for centuries to justify the arbitrary use of power.
People aren’t so stupid as to stare death in the face when convinced, what we have recently witnessed may prove to be counterproductive along the lines of saving lives as well as injuries.
Any news on fatalities?
tail between legs running Yipe! Yipe! Yipe! Yipe!
'It's really bad'
By Leigh Jones and Rhiannon Meyers
The Daily News
Published September 13, 2008
GALVESTON - No one thought it would be this bad. But by 1 a.m., when the eye brought momentary respite from Hurricane Ike’s raging winds and driving rain, island residents began to realize just how bad it was.
About 100 of them called 911 begging for someone to rescue them. Many told dispatchers the water was so high in their houses they were preparing to retreat into attics. They will be the first ones rescue crews attempt to reach when they head out, city spokeswoman Alicia Cahill said.
By 9 a.m., crews were already on the streets, looking for survivors. Police officers also headed to the Causeway to stop people from coming onto the island. Officials were overheard fretting that many people did not survive the storm. Not long after midnight, Steven Rushing began to fear his family might be one of the ones that did not make it.
"I was born on the island and I’ve never seen water like this," he said. "The water was higher before the storm than it ever was during Hurricane Alicia," the 1983 storm that ravaged the island.
At 11 p.m., Rushing, his wife, their pregnant 17-year-old daughter and their 19- and 12-year old sons were sitting on dry ground in their Gulf Village home. Rushing made them wear life jackets because he knew the water was rising, but he thought they were safe.
Using a generator, they watched television storm coverage until about midnight when their generator failed.
By 12:30 a.m., they started to feel the water creeping up their legs as they sat on the couch. He knew they were in trouble when the electrical outlets and door jambs began shooting water into the house.
At first, his children just watched in fear. But when his 12-year-old son heard the water could rise as high as 20 feet, he threw up, Rushing said.
Realizing they couldn’t stay in the house any longer, Rushing and his sons waded out to their garage where their ski boat was waiting. Thousands of spiders were floating on the water and ants covered the palm trees, he said.
When they opened the garage door, their washer and dryer and a pool table floated past them. The boat floated off its trailer as soon as they rolled it into the driveway. The men paddled in and drove it around to the front of the house to pick up the rest of the family, including two cousins who were staying with them.
They also loaded up their two panicked dogs, but the water was rising so fast, Rushing didn’t have time to gather up their five 4-week-old puppies. They motored down Stewart Road toward the San Luis Hotel, where Rushing knew city officials were hunkered down. He tried to keep the boat in what he thought was the center of the road. He was afraid of hitting fire hydrants and other objects that were completely submerged.
The boat finally ran aground when they got to Moody Methodist Church on 53rd Street. They waded the rest of the way to the hotel. Standing near the front of the San Luis, peering out holes cut into the plywood covering the windows, Rushing just shook his head.
"It’s bad," he said. "It’s really bad."
=====================
And here's the link to the story. Maybe you can try again later when traffic is lower on their site.
Thus, what was expected to be a 15-20 storm surge on Galveston’s seawall checked in at little more than 12 feet.”
For what it’s worth the 20’ storm surge didn’t materialise to the east no matter where it went in. At High Island it was about 14.25’ and Port Arthur something under 12’ as I read what the local weather guru is saying.
Thanks offered to God for his blessings to us all.
that article really make me angry. Selfish people.
This is from an AP release 2 hours ago; compare the top half (lead) with the second part - having any trouble separating the speculation from the stark reality here?
“Sep 13 2008 7:56AM
Associated Press
Ike’s grinds on...911 calls...Train collision death toll
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) Hurricane Ike is making its way through southeast Texas after making landfall in Galveston with 110 mile-per-hour winds this morning. Nearly 3 million people are without power. Galveston Fire Chief Mike Varela says the storm “was a 10” compared to hurricanes in the past.
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) A spokesman for Houston’s mayor says 911 operators have received about 1,250 calls in 24 hours as Hurricane Ike made landfall as a Category 2 storm early today. Several fires are burning untended across the city. Shards of glass are falling from skyscrapers that were hit by Ike’s ferocious winds.
LOS ANGELES (AP) The death toll is now up to 17 as emergency crews found more victims in the mangled wreckage of a commuter train that collided head-on with a freight train in California. A medical director says 135 people have been taken to hospitals and about 85 of them are in serious or critical condition.”
From KHOU forums....this is in Bolivar....it could have been worse, but this is not easy either......flooding still a major problem, people in attics etc.....sound familiar?:
QUOTE
Sat Sep 13, 2008 10:39 am We have family that got stranded and took shelter at the old bunkers at Fort Travis in Port Bolivar. We heard there was 3 dead. We talked to them as the eye was passing over and can not make contact now. If you hear something please let us know. I know we lost houses but its ok if we still have or family.
and later:
QUOTE
Sat Sep 13, 2008 1:19 pm We did get word from our family at fort travis. everone there is fine. the water is still to high for them to get out and look at damage. and the other relative is still in his attic he is fine but he had 4ft of water in his house. the water is all the way to the east chambers high school in winie so none of us here can get close enough to help
QUOTE
Sat Sep 13, 2008 2:58 pm All people being rescued are being taken to Texas City High School. The coast Guard could not release individual names as of now. There have been numerous rescues in the past 2 hours.
Listening to survivor reports from Houston - rescued from Crystal Beach/ Bolivar. Those rescued are certain that quite a few who stayed there died. Certain of it.
Hard to get a good idea of how many that would be, but they were there, do there were clearly many others. Officials are really avoiding the question of how many so far as I can tell.
My general impression is that the results of the storm weren't as grim as people expected. That's just my impression here near the museum district. Our area wasn't quite as hard hit as some others.
funny thing... just made some report about that
Not saying the train wreck isn’t bad, but this is impacting far more people regardless of whether anybody dies.
it has been reported that Crystal Beach is completely gone.
Yet Old Professor acts like the train wreck is more important.
I just got my power back and getting back online, trying to find out as much as I can about the total damage.
“I rushed up the stairs, turned on the AC, and wahlah!”
Well, you don’t have to brag, unless of course you want a bunch of hurricane weary freepers seeking A/C refuge at your place....LOL
Fortunately, the storm doesn’t seem to have been as bad as predicted, BUT...
We don’t really know yet, and may not for several days, what casualties there might have been.
We DO know there is significant property damage, and there may yet be loss of life.
It seems to me that those who are interested in the hurricane are posting here, those who are interested in the train wreck are posting on that thread, and some are posting in both places.
Maybe if you are more interested in the train wreck, you’d be happier on that thread? And if you think the media overhyped the storm, perhaps you could just discuss that?
Thanks. Glad you made it through OK.
Remember everyone was saying the same exact thing as Katrina hit....’that’s all?’
We know what we discovered later.
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