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
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Additional Resources:
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Brazoria 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 |
|
|
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)
Just talked to TheMom. She and Eaker are doing just fine but a lttle stinky since it’s hot and they don’t have water. I reminded her that Eaker is ALWAYS a stinker, but I don’t think she needed reminding. ;-)
She said that humble is okay. He lost his barn but Malcolm is back so I’m thinking that’s a good trade for him.
thackneys are okay, too, just no electricity. They lost their fence.
That’s great! Many of us on this thread really don’t know the region that well, so your info is valuable.
See above post for info on Eakers, humble, and thackneys.
I took photos of everthing in the house inside and out before we left. Photos in the closets, inside the kitchen cabinets, in the china cabinet. Photos of the roof, ceiling, walls inside and outside, furniture, plants, trees, new windows before and after plywood was put up. Plywood over all fifteen windows and three doors. Have to hope for the best now.
I heard from Daughter-in-law this morning, water receded so she is able to get into town now. She still doesn’t know how her home fared. The water is too high to get to it. She does not know if she has lost everything yet. Her car was flooded and it stinks she said. So thank you to all that was trying to help me.
Gosh, I thought it was just people in New Orleans who refused to evacuate and then had to be rescued. There’s just no way people in Texas would do this. They never ever depend on government help. /s
Good news...thank you for providing that update.
Thanks for the feedback
Thank you.
Surfside, Freeport take brunt of storm
By John Lowman
The Facts
Published September 14, 2008
Sixty Surfside Beach homes are “devastational dust on the ground,” and the village has no water, sewer or access to fuel, Police Chief Randy Smith said during a conference call Saturday evening.
Hurricane Ike pushed between 8 and 13 feet of water onto the island Friday night and Saturday morning, destroying homes and infrastructure and spreading debris across the island. Residents were not allowed into the village Saturday, Smith said.
“Our roads are not passable,” Smith said. “Surfside is not open. The only people allowed on the island are those who can help with revitalization of our infrastructure.”
The village has no power and no schedule for resumed service, he said.
“We don’t have anything here,” Smith said. “All of our power is out. All of our lines down. We don’t have anything from here to San Luis Pass. The whole 12 or 14 miles. We have probably 60 homes turned to devastational dust on the ground.”
Smith and Mayor Larry Davison requested generators, potable water, fuel for police cars and portable toilets. Freeport Fire Chief John Stanford offered to let Surfside fuel their vehicles there, and Lake Jackson City Manager Bill Yenne said his city would give the village drinking water.
The road into Surfside will be blocked for the foreseeable future and only people with proof of residency will be allowed on the island, Davison said. No one will be allowed to stay in the village between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., he said.
Police will, “hold our positions,” Smith said. “We are going to let citizens on tomorrow afternoon with a sign-in and sign-out sheet, so they can take possession of their items at their homes or businesses. They must sign in and sign out. Roads will be blocked.”
The all-night curfew will be enforced, “for a few days,” Smith said.
“What’s the status of our city?” Davison said. “Our city’s a mess. We lost at least 40 homes and another 40 homes were damaged.”
Earlier in the day, a man with a shotgun climbing into the cab of a front-end loader bound for Surfside gave an indication of the seriousness of the situation in the wake of Hurricane Ike.
The shotgun-toting man was to keep first-responders safe in the village, a Surfside officer said.
“He’s got it because there could be snakes or alligators,” he said. “Or looters.”
Aside from a handful of emergency workers ahead of the backhoe, there were no people on the island.
The base of the Surfside bridge was littered with flotsam loaded with debris, including small appliances and furniture, air conditioning units, windows and children’s toys. An injured pelican atop the bridge struggled to get out of the way of the first vehicles to head into the island community since Ike.
Pictures will be taken of the status of the island and posted on the city’s Web site, www.surfside.tx.org, so homeowners can check out how their property held up against the storm, Davison said.
“Hopefully we can get things back going pretty soon,” he said.
In Freeport, the damage wasn’t nearly as bad, but it was significant. A sign for Brazosport High School was knocked out of its concrete foundation and many tree limbs and street lights lined roadways. Telephone poles tore through buildings off Velasco Street and debris was tossed into the streets.
On Saturday, Freeport police weren’t allowing people who were not part of the news media back into the city because of the road hazards.
“Much of the damage was wind damage,” Freeport Mayor Larry McDonald said. “We didn’t have a lot of water damage. We mainly had tree limbs drop into the roads and the signs were blown down. They also need to look at the electrical system.”
Most of the city was without power Saturday. McDonald couldn’t say when crews would be able to restore electricity to all residents.
“I hope it’s soon,” he said. “I’d like to sleep with the air-conditioning on.”
As the storm approached the coast Friday, it knocked out the generator at the Freeport Police Station. McDonald drove from his east-end home to the station on Highway 288 and repaired it.
“You won’t get that out of many mayors,” he said. “I’m a working mayor.”
The Mystery Ship, a landmark at the Freeport Municipal Park, stood strong during the storm’s arrival. The River Place, a conference center and civic center on the old Brazos River, also withstood the storm’s best.
McDonald said the ship has withstood strong winds before and wasn’t surprised the ship made it out of the storm intact.
Early Saturday, Freeport police cordoned off the FM 1495 bridge into Quintana because water had poured over the streets. By 3 p.m., officers opened the bridge to people under the guideline they proceed with caution.
In the beach town, many roofs were ripped from their homes and asphalt was pulled out of the roadways. Water was still over the path leading to the county beach. Morrison Park was filled with water late that day.
Bridge Harbor sustained heavy damage. The tide surge covered much of the ground during the storm and roofs were ripped from several buildings. There were no people in the subdivision, which was evacuated ahead of Ike.
please let us know when you are able to get through to humblegunner ... His last post was at 1AM Saturday, as you’ve probably already noted.
It is worth keeping in mind that 80% or more homes are without power, and also that humblegunner had duties to perform other than simply keeping up with FR.
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/wwa/
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/day1otlk.html
So far, the projected severe weather area for today has extended north and east, now comprising a crescent around 1500 miles long and 300 miles wide, from southern Louisiana, to western Maine.
The risk has not been elevated above Slight, which usually means “some homes will be damaged in your state, and a few people might die”. Moderate Risk means “this will make the news tomorrow, because we expect severe storms to kill some people in your state”. High Risk means “find a hole and crawl inside.”
The major forcing mechanisms that produce severe weather, cold front, warm moist air, cold Canadian air, an jet stream are already in play, but there are some subtler mechanisms, vorticity, lifted index, CAPE, insolation, etc. that are not so clearly in favor of severe development.
Simply put, the lower third of the atmosphere is strongly conducive to producing tornadoes and high straight line winds. The middle third is counter-productive towards rotating and strong storms, and the upper third of the atmosphere has strong support for tornadic storms. The strongest, longest lived tornadoes require support at all three levels.
You probably WILL see short lived severe storms throughout the warned area, embedded in a dynamic, long lived squall line, but if any cells punch through the middle unfriendly layer to reach up to jtstream support, look out for long lived supercells with sustained tornadic activity.
More than anything else we’ll need to watch how the day develops. The middle third of the atmosphere is unfriendly because it’s warm enough to inhibit sustained updrafts. If the sun comes out ahead of the cold front, the lower layer air will be hotter and then the middle layer won’t seem so unfriendly, allowing some storms to reach up for jet support.
To be fair - for most of the country this IS a business is normal time. For those near Houston, it is going to be a very strenuous month.
Southwest Houston / Sugar Land
Power failed at 12:44 Friday morning, don’t know if it will stay on this time. Massive tree damage everywhere. Roads impassable in many cases around Houston. Storm this morning caused additional flooding.
Still no word from Galveston’s West End either from local news of from residents. Total blackout down there.
Propane-made coffee is the best thing in the world.
more articles from Brazoria county Texas
Surfside, Freeport, Angleton, Lake Jackson, Clute
up to S. Houston it is all Brazoria County from Surfside up to Houston
at
http://thefacts.com/sections.lasso?wcd=49
1066AD wrote:
From KHOU forums.
Credence unknown obviously.
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:41 am Post subject: Preliminary Report on West End
I am part of the homeland security infrastructure and have a home in Sea Isle. I have a good
contact within Galveston County that has kept me updated on the storms progress from County’s
perspective.
Please consider that this is now third hand information. It is a source that is impeccable, but it is
third hand nonetheless. But we all want to know as much on the West End as we can, so I pass this
on semi-reluctantly. It does not sound very good, especially for my older home.
Here is the email I received recently. (EDITED)
Well we have been busy. I can not exaggerate the destruction we have. Mayor and City Manager
flew over Island and the report back is the west end is nothing but destruction and cuts from the
waterflow. Mostly piles or walls of debris. Bolivar is also destroyed with 90 to 95 % of the
structures reported badly damaged, destroyed, or gone. Rollover pass bridge not passable and
may be gone. Three bodies recovered on Island and reports of some number in the surf on east
pennissula or beyond. Fog stopped the search.”
*************
This is highly consistent with the images posted by NautiNurse last night from Bolivar Peninsula, and with known surge conditions measured during the storm.
I wouldn’t bet against a word of this report.
A generator under an awning outside an open window is no different than running the generator inside a home. Even a short run of the generator will produce deadly levels of carbon monoxide in a building.
Can you believe it? Typical democrat controlled incompetence and graft! Looking for info now on how much money they have recieved from the federal government since Katrina to prepare. Will post what I find out later today.
Some photos already posted last night.
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