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 think they were talking about some windows having blown out last night before I went to bed, which was before the worst of it hit.
KHOU/TXCN: Lake Conroe Dam sustained minor damage, lake *not* full.
I know ... so bloody crass. And you don’t
know if he was mil/govt type or insurance type
or who he was.
Neat how clearly the state borders show up from space!
I remember 20 years ago, they just showed up as dotted lines (and you had to wait for the chemicals to set after the shot came out of the printer!)
;-)
Yes, it's the extrapolation...go ahead and ruin all the fun! :-)
At the time, one (shallow BAM, I think) was running a sharp dogleg toward Tennessee or something, but I thought Montana was a better claim. :-)
That’s a good question. No doubt a good portion of the flooded areas will drain. The bigger question is for W. Galveston and Bolivar Peninsula. Ike may have altered the geography permanently.
That bugs me, too... “Boil Water” - yeah - how? is what many will ask.
Only once have I heard mentioned, purification tablets or bleach, and then they didn’t say how much bleach to use (~1/8 teaspoon per gallon (2drops/qt) is fine but more won’t hurt ya’ )
Sometimes these things just drive me nuts
Sorry but you won’t convince me. Important to them = selfish. The rescue workers and the family members could have died because their choice. And the puppies did.
I see hardly any pleasure boats or even docks in google’s reference satellite photo of Bolivar pennisula.
You’re right ... the unmentioned NOT rescued by the CG is what has kept me hanging on the news today. I really really hope that the numbers they were giving who didn’t leave were the figure that was hyped yesterday. I’ve heard no suggestion to the contrary though. Where are those people...
Excellent! Enjoy a hot meal and cool air.
They were going to go down past the 11 Mile Road damage to film and "had to turn back because of 'fog'" I'm hoping that is why they turned them back.
I hate that thing. Maybe they were hiding them from the tax man:’) You bring up a good point though. Wouldn’t the Spylite show what’s there now.
Disregard my previous post! Long day!
But the rescue workers aren’t trained in rescuing people from stupidity. Too bad though, they would have endless employment.
Fog?
If there was fog in the immediate, daytime aftermath of this hurricane, it IS a storm which is unique.
That doesn’t sound right.
You forget that most Texan of backyard activities - the barbeque. Almost all Texans have a BBQ unit of some kind. It usually operates on a self-contained gas supply, wood, charcoal, or some combination of the above.
Fire boils water just fine.
Fog??? In the middle of the day in September? Is that common in Texas?
that all it would take would be one hurricane and “all of this would be gone.”
Well Ike may well have been that one hurricane. However I suspect over time the penisular will redevelope to some extent if there is a roadway left for people to get in by.
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