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)
I hope not for the people of Galveston’s sake. I loved the R rep on earlier though..He said Texans were prepared with food, water and AMMO....LOL!! It was great!
Must have a closed cooling system for the engine; maybe they’re compulsory these days.
I agree with you. The liberal media over hyped this hurricane Ike as they did hurricane Gustav.
I knew these hurricanes were not going to be bad because the Earth and Oceans are cooling not warming as in the global warming the liberal media keeps lying about. Katrina was the last of the catastrophic hurricanes. Most will be weak like Ike and Gustav. And Josephine just dissapated.
Yeah, but I’ve seen those so-called “deadman switches” fail in some weird ways. It is unlikely that the diesel engine started of its own accord either...
I think you may have an idea of the obvious conclusion I’ve come to. The authorities might want to see who that boat belongs to.
There are only two routes out of Crystal Beach. Either west into Galveston via the ferry which I’m sure shut down because of winds, etc. The second is toward the east to 124 and then north to Winnie, Tx. At the north turn the roadway always becomes impassable because of rising water. I suspect that maybe the point to which the planned to use but got caught due to quicker than expected rising water...
We don’t seem to have any more looting than the occasional idiot trying to take advantage of the situation. Heard on the radio that several have been stopped at gunpoint by store ownes, most were collected by the police.
One thing though and I have mixed feelings about this... (not on Galveston Island) but in other places around Houston...people were told NOT to leave...to save space on the highways for the ones closest to the coast....they weren’t even told to wait until a certain time, just “stay put” the Mayor and Judge said. I can understand the frustrations of those that chose not to go b/c the gov’t told them not to (to be heroic and let your neighbors evacuate). Then when they needed the fire/police..they were not available... I can truly understand that...Plus, they had school in many places on Thursday, making people feel obligated to stay...
Thoughts?
Well, most Texans will do what they damn well please sometimes in spite of the greatest intentions or the dire warnings of others. We will no, however, blame other for our decisions.
That said, the excess of some of these warnings does bother me. People will become complacent,not have any confidence that things like the traffic jams of Rita have been fixed, and flatly refuse to move.
This does not pertain to the idiots doing YouTube vids in the middle of the storm or the example Mom used with us, those that partied at the Richelieu during Camille.
I don’t know the island at all but some of the residential areas look pretty bad, especially considering that the water levels must have been a good bit higher last night.
I wonder if you have power..Check in if you are able. How are things with home and yard?
At least one interviewee said that they’d planned to evacuate Friday morning, but they opened their door and discovered water instead.
LOL... in disgust!
When I heard the Galv.Mayor say, “... and that west end is 47% of our tax base.” I just about rocketed through the roof! I could not IMAGINE anybody saying that now! If she’s up for reelection, that is going to be played 24/8*
I can almost, just barely, see her justification for her staying in that block house/ fort of a hotel, but talking about tax base in connection with being the reason you’re concerned about half the island -— unbelievable!
(* that’s no typo -— somehow opponents will find an extra day)
I agree that I’ve never seen a boat start itself. :-(
I hope that Thing doesn’t decide to settle over PA. on Monday or Tuesday.
It’s packing lots of moisture.
A couple of years ago, we got 7” of rain in one day from a hurricane that turned into a tropical depression. There was a lot of flash flooding here. I think it was Isaac.
Ike isn’t done yet with its destruction.
Well, clearly looting isn’t going to be the problem that NO had.
Way to go Texans!!!
On the other hand, there are the usual warnings about balls of fire ants as well as floating venomous snakes.
More interestingly, rescuees have reported seeing alligators floating past....
I don’t think this is a case of denial.
I believe they just are trying to get the numbers RIGHT rather than to hype things either way. I’ve not heard any official make predictions or such about casualties.
They’ve said damage could be has high as 81 Billion Dollars (estimate from the lt.gov office) but they keep deferring and deflecting casualty questions now.
Oh - another GREAT comment by an official from Houston, “Well, I’d like to take credit for the way streets are getting cleared so rapidly, but really I can’t. It is just that citizens are getting out there with their chain saws and muscles and working to help their neighbors and their neighborhood.” My only quibble was that he said he would like to take the credit for it instead of saying - watch America - this it the way it should be done!
“Doubt it. This is Texas after all.”
Yea, but I don’t trust Grandma Nagin, and Texas or not a Dem is a Dem is a Dem...don’t trust em.
Tag, you’re it.
A number of Texans on firearms and survivalist forums are expressing great displeasure that this year’s looter season seems to be so disappointing. They’re all geared up, and there’s no looters!
I’d say, “Screw them”. If I thought that leaving would be safer, I’d go. They can’t make you stay any more than they can make you go.
There’s something about the mentality of listening to the government like that when they’re telling you to stay in the face of a dangerous storm that bothers me.
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