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
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 |
|
|
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)
Seems to me (agreeing with you) that residents have more business there than the media, and probably would better be able to avoid any hazards, too, since they know the area.
I'll go one further...any hot cup of coffee is the best in the world after a hurricane. I once drove 30 miles for a hot cup of coffee after Fran. It was the best cup of joe--ever.
“Power failed at 12:44 Friday morning”
Err... Saturday morning...
hi, honey - you like this disguise? how did you figure me out so quickly?
...
lol
...
I’ve shared extension cord electricity with neighbors in the past. Have also shared water by means of garden hose connection of two house’s water systems. At least you can get something that way.
The big problem with the extension cord idea is that you have a “voltage drop” that becomes noticeable with longer cords. If the cord is long enough, that voltage drop can actually result in damage to appliance motors, and sometimes electronics. The only way to overcome that is to get VERY HEAVY wire cords which means very expensive. (Unless you want to get step up and step down transformers in the circuit, too...) It is possible to run two or more cords in parallel, too - a pain in the neck.
Absolutely- it’s going to be awful- not discounting it one bit. I was mostly speaking to local immediate aftermath and how people are reacting.
FOX reporting no refinery operation for 7-10 days.
Houston responded so graciously to citizens from NOLA after Katrina- I hope we help Houston in kind.
Your post extends support for the suggestion that Bolivar Peninsula levels of damage to barrier islands and low coastline probably extends from Freeport, Texas to Lake Charles, Louisiana, excepting downtown Galveston, High Island and a very few other spots of high ground near the coast.
I suspect all the above mentioned barrier islands now consist of chains of small islands separated by significant but shallow full breaches. These can be dredged and reclaimed, but I see little support for suggestions that that many pre-storm structures survived.
The destruction is terrible. The photo of the pelican strung in the power lines made me sick.
Good morning. You are right, I stopped reading them. The pictures with the lines where streets should be are heartbreaking.
“Texans would probably have turned NO into a park by now.”
LOL!!!
THAT I would support my taxes going toward!
http://www.thefacts.com/blog.lasso?blog=2dcf3b2c1132b027
THE FACTS newspaper to Brazosport. If you scroll down there are stories, photos, info.
CNN showing pics from Clear Lake
The unknown is always the greatest fear. I’ll keep you in my prayers and hope your damage was as light as mine, I was in the direct path. Our power was off 24 hours so food is okay. Hopefully yours is already on or will be soon.
Yes, that’s right. Off of San Augustine between East and Luella. I lived in LaPorte 20 years, where are you?
Local news showed one picture from Crystal Beach / Bolivar - it’s gone. Sand and sticks.
No info yet on the West End.
Generators MUST be under tarps, in (non-living space) out buildings, or otherwise weather protected, tenS of feet or more AWAY from living quarters. There is risk with a generator twenty feet from an open garage door in a driveway, especially if the winds are right.
A rope between two trees, a ten dollar tarp stretched over the rope and guyed down, well away from the house, will save many from CO poisoning, but sadly, many don’t understand or won’t make the effort to ensure their own safety.
Personally, I do not show light or other indications I have power during hours of darkness either, too much incentive for people who don’t have what they need and are willing to cross lines to get it. Last place I want to be is near the only lights on for miles around.
Thanks. Yeah, we’re GONNA have coffee...
I’m glad you were able to hear from your family , THANK GOODNESS they are safe !
What is the reason you were given for being turned away?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
