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 was hoping to hear some news about those folks, and paid attention to the news today looking for some word about them—nothing I could find.
yes... gilchrist
oh dear.. I am glad you are safe but sorry about the damage to home & the car. YUK!
Re looters:http://www.click2houston.com/news/17464193/detail.html
Sedonia Owen, 75, and her son, Lindy McKissick, defied evacuation orders in Galveston because they wanted to protect their neighborhood from possible looters. She was watching floodwaters recede from her front porch Saturday morning, armed with a shotgun.
“My neighbors told me, ‘You’ve got my permission. Anybody who goes into my house, you can shoot them,”’ said Owen.
:) When I heard four robbers were arrested by cops who just happened to be driving by yesterday, my first thought was, “they arrested ‘em? they didn’t shoot ‘em?”
Thanks for posting that link! Doesn’t look good, although there are some great survival tales coming out, so maybe it won’t be too tragic.
If the kill switch doesn't work, surely grinding the prop into pavement would? This story seems too weird...maybe it was a landlubber reporter.
Just an update for anyone who cares. My power came back on 20 minutes ago after losing it around 3 this morning.
I am so thankful.
I have several thousand dollars worth of damage, but I’m better off than many.
I’m considering myself lucky.
I cannot believe how lucky I am to finally get the power back on. I’m so happy that it makes no sense. This thing just blasted me, and I’m so thankful the whipping is done that I’m giddy.
Probably too tired.
Tomorrow I’m really going to be irritated about the satellite dish, fences, etc...
But for tonight, I’m alive. And the power just came back on.
That’s good enough for me.
Ray Wilkinson is just one more in the long line of examples of Texans taking responsibility for his own behavior.
How refreshing!
It is actually shocking that the Old Media hasn’t found more “victims” of someone else.
I’m not a Texan, and I’m very jealous now.
Glad to read that you’ve got good news to report.
Survival tales are always great, but you never hear much about the tragedies. They are all dead or severely injured.
Oh dear! I am very thankful you are safe. Blue tarps are cheap and sturdy. If you can’t find any locally, let me know and I’ll send you some.
LOL... good screed.
No one I heard interviewed today who was on the islands said, “yup... I’ll definitely stay the next time”.
Glad you are okay!
Prayers up for all in Ike’s path.
I am happy you made it through as well as you did. Your positive attitude will help you and inspire others. Prayers to you all in Ike’s path...
What happened in the wee hours of the morning was it kicked off in about a minute it came back on. It happened 4 times the 5th time it didn’t come back on. What happened?
Good for you, DG. I don’t post a lot but I followed yours last night. This is good news. Thank God.
Enjoy your bright house lights and a/c tonight. Hang in there, and let me know if there is anything I can do to assist. You know Floridians can be very resourceful. :o)
KHOU was scrolling that Crystal Beach and Gilcrist are gone.
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