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
|
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
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Brazoria County Emergency Management
Galveston County Emergency Management
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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 |
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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)
Rug/lie.
Check this article:
I’d be checking with the San
Antonio Police Dept about the
rescued from Orange who are
slated to be bused there.
(210)207-7273
Best of success to you.
That can't be right. What about the big blackouts in the Northeast in previous years? Maybe they mean largest outage caused by weather?
Just quotin them.
Must be storm-based, as the NY outage 5 years ago was 5 million?
Thank you....I just can’t believe it....everything is gone...I am sick.
The report was four miles.
I don’t understand, sorry.
This photo is credited to a Larry Wilson with EPA: ?
WHAT SCIGUY SAYS: Jog to east was critical
THE fact that Galveston Island has a future today can be attributed to a final landfall by Hurricane Ike just east of forecasters’ projections.
Instead of coming ashore across the island’s west end or even Jamaica Beach, Ike came in directly over the east end of Galveston. This brought the storm’s maximum surge to bear on Bolivar Peninsula completely drowned for a time and a long stretch of the upper Texas coast.
That’s not to say Galveston got off lightly. Damage will easily reach into the double digit billions, and the death toll, still unknown, may very well rise to a high level. It will be a long time before Galveston Island returns to business as usual.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6000307.html
~~~
So sorry, roses ..
I am assuming several stayed to weather the storm at Crystal Beach / Bolivar there are people searching for word from friends and family on this forum.
http://www.khou.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=57&sid=9f558387d1656803a6ed01ef83d63beb
I have to say that I hope that certain Freepers who have been laughing this off will be satisfied to see this appalling destruction.
Riding out storm brings harsh words
Bush, Chertoff chafe over ignored evacuation orders
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6000159.html
http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2008/07/storm_tracking_with_google_earth.html
Anyone who laughs off a tragedy like this is seriously without a conscience. I am in NC and it breaks my heart to think of the possibility of people perishing in this storm. While there were mandatory evacs ordered, I am reading many reports of people who were planning on evacuating but were caught as early as Friday AM by quick rising waters. I hope they are satisfied indeed in their judgement seats.
If true...how sad...
Galveston Co Sheriff 64 rescues today, plus many bodies
http://www.khou.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23429&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45
I remember the tolls from Katrina didn’t start to come about for a day or so after the storm.
thanks for the weather tools with Google Earth. I have yet to learn any of the tools.. as when I get there I spend hours just crusing around the world
(I guess I am not alone in wonderful memories tonight)
This from two posters on the KHOU forum:
Dear Michelle,
The media may not be giving the attention which Bolivar deserves but know please....WE CARE. The hundreds of thousands of people who have year after year flocked to Bolivar not just for the beautiful beaches. But for the people.
I spent 40 years visiting Bolivar when I lived down there. Spent my best birthdays on Bolivar. The memories are too numerous to mention...but the wade fishing, the meteor shower in the early 1990’s, the restaurants.
Through the night last night and all day today we have been glued to the info on Bolivar. I was telling my husband about an hour ago how the thing about Bolivar is the PEOPLE.
Bolivar was always a place I could go as a single woman and know I could camp on the beach and not be bothered. I can’t tell you how many times I loaded the dog, beach bike and fishing pole and made a spontaneous trip to Bolivar on little money...and always had a great time. The locals were always so accepting. A quality that is so hard to find. I would go down by myself and end up with a group of residents joining the pow-wow. I was asked into homes for dinner, and often went. Offered to shower whenever I wanted. I just loved to camp next to the waves and surf fish.
When a place is in your heart like that, it doesn’t leave. When people touch your heart like that...they remain. Our prayers, our tears, our hopes are with all of you. Please do not feel alone. We are out here. Watching the same TV you are...hanging on for info, with pain in our hearts for you. CNN, TWC may not know who you are but we do.....KNOW THAT!!!!!!!!!!
~Dee
Thanks Dee,
I know people loved Crystal Beach. It was a magical place, and it is so because of the people. I have never lived anywhere to equal it’s openness and generosity of spirit. I have met people myself, a young couple, who has scrounged their pennies for a Bolivar Honemoon in the beach, with a tent and a few bags of chips.
I met them in Gilchrist, at the Firehouse Restauarant, and I handed them the keys to a room a my bed and breakfast I operated at the time. They could not believe anyone would do such a thing.
They stayed for two nights, and left a touching thank you note, a sparklingly clean room behind, and with them, they took memories of that will last a lifetime.
I have been invited to other’s home when I had nothing to eat at my own. I had struggles of my own and was looked after on that beach in my toughest times.
The people were different. Some were running from the law. Some just plain loved the sea. Some were brilliant entrpreneurs who preferred to live a quite, simple life where no one knew them or about their hordes of cash. Some were well-meaning ne’er-do-wells. Some were downright crazy. If it is true what they say, there will bever be another place like that again. It was one in a million.
You never knew who you were going to meet, but there was no way you couldn’t meet somebody. The friendliness was unparalled. Sit in a bar, and someone would just start chatting within a minute or two. Walk down the beach, and you would find a hot dog in your hand and a cold beer, and find tyourself included in a lively conversation around a bonfire. There was no such thing as a stranger in Crystal Beach.
Thank you for expressing your affection for that sandy place. I hope it bounces back with all my heart.
~Michelle
I’m sorry if I’ve missed this, but was this place your home?
A night of heroes, but hell for some who stayed
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6000366.html
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