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)
So glad to hear you are ok! Thanks for checking in!
It’s not for lack of looking, either. That’s part of why they hate covering disasters in Texas - hard to find material to spin to fit their agenda.
I think one reason why Texans will take responsibility like that is that we know that everyone makes stupid mistakes; many of the first Texas settlers and the Texians who defeated Santa Ana were people who’d made stupid mistakes and failed elsewhere. Since we know that everyone makes mistakes, there’s no harm in admitting that you were an idiot if you learn the lesson and move on.
The electricity has been restored. In fact, the water pressure came back up to normal about 30 minutes ago.
I saw the report, NN. Only Mighty Mouse could have picked up the front end of that yacht. Come to think of it, maybe Geraldo could have grabbed the prop with his bare hands and stopped it.:)
Hallelujah! Giddy to have electricity LOL... life’s simple pleasures!
It is good enough for me, too!
Good, no GREAT, to see you already!
Good to hear from you Dog!
I’ll be praying for your friends.
What they said about the checkpoints and the strange feeling was a lot how I expressed coming back home after the wildfires in October. I left with flames about 15 feet on the west of my house and just a bit further on two other sides and was one of the blessed ones that God so graciously spared losing everything.
The first several weeks were just so surreal, but the first night or two is almost impossible to convey. Looking around and it being utterly silent and completely dark for as far as you could see and seeing only destruction in the day time. Definitely an unsettling feeling, evenwhile feeling so blessed.
I remember his name, Bob Farriss(?). This is him. No other news I can find. That call really unnerved me ... 45-50 people riding through that monster. Pray they hung in there and are OK.
~~~~~
http://www.nola.com/hurricane-ike/index.ssf/2008/09/hours_before_ike_downtown_galv.html
As the historic downtown business district rapidly fills with water, dozens of residents pour into Bob’s Grocery Store for last-minute cigarettes, beers, burritos and malt liquor.
It’s the only store open for miles on this island, and the constant stream of business is aiding the flooding inside.
Behind the counter, a nervous Bob Faris tries to close down. But it’s hard to say “no” to regulars like Joe Keleman.
~~~
This is his location:
http://www.google.com/mapdata?CxXiKL8BHfyZWfogDwxAjgJIuQFSAnVzkAEDygECZW4
When my prop hits soft bottom shallow, the motor cuts out. I was thinking that surely the prop in that boat would have been fouled with debris, causing the motor to seize. I guess not.
We lost ours at 7 p.m., and regained it 5 minutes ago. Very impressive.
Checking Google Maps along the Bolivar pennisula are the towns of (from E to W): Gilchrist, Caplen, Bolivar Pennisula, Crystal Beach and Port Bolivar. There looks to be at least a thousand homes in these towns. They would have been cut off early once the waters blocked route 87 and it looks like there're several low-lying cuts in the dunes east of Gilchrist. The first being at Dirty Pelican Pier and the last right at the junction of 124 which leads off the pennisula.
I don't know how many were full time residents or occupied at the time but if Crystal Beach is "gone" these other towns probably are too. I think this will be the "bad spot" in the whole thing. They were trapped.
I’m delighted to hear you’re all right, DG, and that your house has survived without catastrophic damage.
Wonderful news ... you’re ok.
That’s what matters, and you’ve
got AC! Thank God.
Don’t worry, DG, if you make unintelligent remarks NN has decreed that you will simply be charged with SUI - Spamming Under the Influence. We’re going to get a special task force of the Viking Kitties to come take care of you. In your case, you will get very special and kindly treatment, nearly the opposite of their normal zots.
YOU DESERVE to be SUI today... as does anybody within a hundred miles of your location.
You’re probably right.
After a 1,000+ posts, sometimes it’s hard to remember who’s on first.
Most people there probably had boats and if they had a boat they had life jackets. I’m hoping a lot of them boated out.
Yes: we were observing today earlier that we’ve heard absolutely nothing from coastal areas other than Galveston area. I’m concerned about everything from 50miles west to 150 miles east of it.
local pols drool for face time so they let the press do anything
when they call an evacuation they should evacuate the press corps
No football for me. lol
~~~~
Tomorrow’s celebration day ..
if you gotta have football, you
gotta have it. My bet is on you
taking a well-deserved break and
finding a place to enjoy it.
It’s amazing how, after all the
adrenaline of hours of the storm
stress, you collapse. You’re just
spent. I bet (and hope) you’ll sleep
like a baby tonight.
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