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
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KRIS-TV Corpus Christi
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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)
You got that right, a lot of people feasted for the first two or three days and then it was canned goods. I did eat a can of sardines but I never got hungry enough to eat a MRE.
Some snippets from press conference:
West end still flooded yesterday afternoon; devastation “horrendous”. Tons & tons of debris, saw cattle “that’s the only life I saw on the west end of the Island”.
“We were taking calls from out there during the storm, and at some point lost communication, so we know there were people out there.”
West end- devastating- 30 houses out IN the water- erosion is unbelievable- no communication with the west end..got calls during the storm- haven’t heard any more from them..
Did I then hear him say they can’t get out to the west end for two more days? That’s weird- can’t they chopper in?
Unbelievable—Galveston City Manager asked that the press bring in their own caterers now to feed themselves. “Frankly, we are running out of food.”
The door-to-door grid search was estimated to take two days. It should be completed by tomorrow.
WONDERFUL! I’m so relieved for you.
Thank the Lord. So she stayed in
the home the whole way through and
Never evacuated?
Officials being very tight-lipped about casualties, even reluctant to say what they saw when flying over the west end, until that other guy got to the mic to tell what he saw when flying over.
I think there will be a lot of people lost there and on the Boliva peninsula, given the amount of water and damage.
Quite surprising to me, but still no tornado watches in the country at this hour.
Okay I broke down and turned to KHOU for the presser just in time to hear that Galveston mayor’s voice. clicked it back off. Y’all have stronger stomachs than I.
Heard that....so the people responsible for planning for disasters on a local level did not even provide for themselves!
That’s democrat run local government for you!!
Where is all the money that the feds have given to Galveston for disaster planning?
They have no food or water stocked and only 3 boats to do rescues.
Good thing the State and Feds are there!
Q asked: What happened to the people on the West End?
A given: We don’t know what happened to the people.
(from just concluded presser)
Ray Nagin during Katrina..
I am gobsmacked that the gaggle of press people have been eating public handouts.
I love the way the presser was ended...One man saying to the others, “That’s it. Let’s go. We’ve got to go to work.”
The people left on the island are, apparently, desperate to get off now - no services, no supplies, no water. 2000+ came forward when offer given to evacuate earlier today.
(per recent presser)
Apparently their suppliers were not being allowed access - Mayor just gave an order allowing press caterers access to island.
I’m not...LOL..they are mostly liberals!!
I don’t know- maybe there just weren’t that many who stayed on the east and west ends- they got out before the storm and the majority that were left have been rescued with obviously some who didn’t.
OR? It’s a mystery for sure.
I’m baffled.
An aerial photo sent by 11 News viewer Rich Gold shows many of the homes on Bolivar have been washed away.
They will not be allowed to drive in because the streets are filled with debris, nails and snakes.
City vehicles have been getting flat tires while trying to inspect the damage.
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