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)
All my childhood summers were spent at Crystal Beach, and my kids also spent their summers there.
It is just stunning, I did not expect there to be nothing left. I assumed damage, as always, but not this, maybe I was just in denial.
There are so many small businesses too, a little water-park, restaurants, souvenir stores.
Just horrible.
Thank you ... sure sounds like an
extraordinarily special spot of
heaven on earth. Rare. I’m sure
you’re heartbroken ... hugs. You
sure have incredibly happy memories.
nite, ROS
night ladies.. be at Peace.
PTL for the lives that were spared.
My family has ties to Beaumont, although our ties are tragic. I believe I still have cousins in the area, but we’re not acquainted in anyway due to their mother’s death.
I hope and pray things may be better
tomorrow. God bless those teams tasked
with searching for survivors, house by house ..
Amen and gratitude for those
on the mercy missions.
You have FReepmail
Where’s the body count; you surely aren’t suggesting that they actually have a sizable one and are merely waiting to identify them.
Anybody who can’t see that the very fact that a significant number of people elected to “shelter in” implies a lack of trust or that they are supermen.
Science and compassion ought remain at odds before it all becomes politics.
If it turns out that there are scores of bodies floating around just waiting to be discovered I suppose that there could be made a plausible argument that an issue of privacy was involved, but right now all I see is the worst face, no lipstick here.
Thirty to fifty percent full breaches, unobstructed flow from ocean to bay.
No real reason to expect any different, from Lake Charles to Freeport, except High Island and downtown Galveston, which were higher and less susceptible to surge.
America wakes up to some hard news tomorrow, not much way around that.
Some will try to use this to further their own agendas. We need to see them coming and be ready to prevent them from profiting on others’ losses. Some others will not be able to deal with the bad news, and create disruption without personal benefit.
For the sake of those still needing help, and those perhaps under the gun from Ike-related severe weather elsewhere, information still needs to flow smoothly, here, in this thread.
Ping me if you see the need, and you already know who else you can count on around here.
No matter how you slice it, Houston and Galveston largely survived. That’s worth something. More than five million people, and a whole city worth of infrastructure, that’s worth a lot.
Ike was a big storm, we’re going to pay a price, and that price is going to hurt.
But it could have been a lot worse.
You never know till you know for sure. There’s no telling how many people tried to weather the storm out on the barrier islands, and how many others left days early. Even those that did stay, well, a LOT of people in past storms, have been spilled out of disintegrating barrier island homes, washed clear across the bay on floating debris, and fetched up miles away wet, exhausted...and alive. Way more than I’d ever expect.
No matter how ugly or how miraculously lucky tomorrow turns out to be, it could have been a LOT worse. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Hang in there. This too will pass.
For me, it can’t pass soon enough. At this particular moment, there is an absolutely torrential rainstorm going on where we live. Every time I hear the wind speed up a little bit, I wonder “Is this finally the tornado that will get us?” I’m getting a tad paranoid maybe, but I prefer to think of it as what a friend of mine calls “a healthy fear.”
I looked up an old Eurythmics song that goes:
“Here comes the rain again
Raining in my head like a tragedy
Tearing me apart like a new emotion”
If this storm keeps up at its present rate, we’ll probably lose power and I’ll be back joining the others who are FReeping on cell phones and PDAs. Thanks to everyone who is courteous about keeping graphics to a minimal size — they’re a nightmare to download on the Edge network!
Gonna hit the Post button quick...
I’m in Rogersville, Missouri, near Springfield. We are getting incredible rain and very high winds. The house is actually shaking. I’m wondering if there’s a weak tornado nearby. Nothing from the weather service or TV.
I looked up your zip code for NWS warnings. You have a wind advisory and a flash flood watch, no mention of tornado activity. Sounds like you have a similar problem to ours, because it indicates that the ground in your area was already saturated before your latest rains came. This flash flooding stuff is nothing to mess with, because new places that never flooded before are suddenly inundated where you least expect it. Be careful and charge your cell phones if you haven’t already!
Love that song whenever there is a heavy rain.
IKE CONTINUES...
WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT
UNTIL 4 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON
Urgent - Weather Message National Weather Service St Louis MO 256 AM CDT Sun Sep 14 2008
... Wind Advisory In Effect Through 4 PM Today...
Greene IL-Macoupin IL-Montgomery IL-Bond IL-Fayette IL-Clinton IL- Marion IL-Washington IL-Randolph IL-Calhoun IL-Jersey IL- Madison IL-St. Clair IL-Monroe IL-Osage-Lincoln-Gasconade-Warren- St. Charles-Franklin-St. Louis-St. Louis City-Jefferson-Crawford- Washington-St. Francois-Ste. Genevieve-Iron-Madison-Reynolds- Including The Cities Of... Litchfield... Vandalia... Salem... Chester... Edwardsville... Belleville... St Charles... Union... St Louis... Farmington 256 AM CDT Sun Sep 14 2008
... Wind Advisory In Effect Until 4 PM CDT This Afternoon...
The National Weather Service In St Louis Has Issued A Wind Advisory... Which Is In Effect Until 4 PM CDT This Afternoon.
The Remnants Of Tropical Storm Ike Will Track Rapidly From Southwest To Northeast Across Eastern Missouri Today. In Addition To Drenching Rains... Northeast To North Winds Will Steadily Increase This Morning... Especially Over East Central And Southeast Missouri. Winds Will Increase In Southwest Illinois By Late Morning. Wind Gusts Of 40 To 50 Mph Are Possible As The System Moves Through.
A Wind Advisory Is Issued When Sustained Winds Are Forecast To Be 30 To 39 Mph Or Gusts Will Range Between 45 And 57 Mph. Winds Of These Magnitudes May Cause Minor Property Damage Without Extra Precautions. Motorists In High Profile Vehicles Should Use Caution Until The Winds Subside.
Thanks. I’m on dial up right now and have a hard time finding information...we have some flooding across our road. We’re hoping our basement doesn’t flood again.
May have to fire up the generator soon.
We just lost a huge tree...it fell and missed the house by a foot. We’re in the area’s “wind alley.”
Ice storms, floods, tornadoes, now a tropical storm. We’ve had it all in Missouri.
Found the weather radio. They’re saying the wind advisory is for gusts up to 45...I’m making a realistic guess that we’re getting 65-75 mph winds.
I just got an email from my mother in Mount Vernon — she assures me that she’s ready for anything Ike can throw at her: emergency generator operational, food and water for her and cats laid in down in the storm cellar... Guess I needn’t have worried...
It looks like y’all are in for a lively day — hunker down and enjoy it... ;~)
BTW...any complaining I do is not to minimize what those folks on the coasts have been through this weekend.
We send them our prayers.
Go here and scroll down to Orange County.
You can post on that forum seeking info...
Just ignore the insulter’s.
Best of luck to you and your family.
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