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)
I’m watching KHOU right now and it is losing steam but it is quite a storm. Damage reports in Galveston will be tough.
I spoke with a buddy of mine about an hour ago vie e-mail. He said two people were taken from the Brennan’s fire to the hospital in “Unknown condition”.
The wall is hitting them now and they’ll ahve a chance to asses damages. I would imagine he’s going to have a long night and a busy day tomorrow.
Lot’s people stayed and the surge will be bad combined with the high tide.
Prayers.
Yer pantys are way to tight
You aren’t going to like yourself when daylight arrives.
Its big. Water damage will be the brunt of it
Where are you?
Gallows humor, maybe?
I’m not in the path of it?
Very sorry to hear of injuries from the fire. Terrible.
I still have power at my position in Cypress (fairfield). My fan is dipping in speed often, which I presume indicates that the power is fluctuating. Not sure how long the electricity will last.
Reports from Louisiana have been hard to locate. If you have any updates, please post them.
I know mylife. He’s good people.
New vortex data. Eyewall has now closed:
Storm IKE1: Observed by AF #301
Storm #09 In Atlantic Ocean
Total Flights For Storm #09: 35
Date/Time of Recon Report: September 13, 2008 05:59:50 Zulu
Position Of The Center: 29 ° 00 ‘ N 094 ° 40 ‘ W (29.00° N 94.67° W )
Minimum Height Measured At Standard Level Of 700 Millibars: 2705 Meters (Normal: 3011 Meters)
Maximum Surface Winds Were Estimated At: 79 Knots (90.85 MPH)
Estimated Surface Winds Were Measured At: 32 Nautical Miles (36.8 miles) From Center At Bearing 143°
Maximum Flight Level Winds Near Center Were 093 Knots (106.95 MPH) From 222°
Maximum Flight Level Winds Were Measured 047 Nautical Miles (54.05 Miles) From Center At Bearing 139°
Minimum Pressure: 954 Millibars (28.170 Inches)
Maxium Flight Level Temperature / Pressure Altitude Outside The Eye: 10°C (50°F) / 3045 Meters
Maximum Flight Level Temperature / Pressure Altitude Inside The Eye: 16°C (60.8°F) / 3047 Meters
Dewpoint Temperature / Sea Surface Temperature Inside The Eye: 12°C (53.6°F) / NA°C (NA°F)
Eye Wall Was Characterized As Being: CLOSED
Eye Form Was Characterized As Being: E09/48/32
Center Fix Established Using: Penetration Radar Wind Pressure Temperature
Center Fix Established At Level(s): 700 Millibars
Navigational Accuracy Measured At: 0.02 Nautical Miles
Meteorological Accuracy Measured At: 1 Nautical Miles
Other Information:
1: Maximum Flight Level Temp 17 C, 147 / 11NM
2: Maximum OUTBOUND AND Maximum Flight Level Winds Were 109 KT NE Quadrant at 06:15:30Z
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/MIAREPNT2.shtml?text
More like Gallo humor.
Greenville Tx a good 4 hours inland and right in the path.
Its just gonna be a good rain.
any news from Texas City?
Yer so cute
Godspeed friend.
If they have good insurance they would stand to make more money that way than selling in a sluggish market.
Many business owners want OUT for many reasons..
Of course for big claims like this there will be profound investigation before payoff.
In both cases they would get the $$ value & retain the land(lease contract) depending on the ownership/use provisions.
I had a client in NC who did that (and was caught) at NC when a hurricane came thru. He was buried in a major mortgage(over collaterally... sound familiar?) in a very slow market with beach property. He thought this would help. He went to jail instead.
No...the “pantys” aren’t “to” tight.
This is a storm like Katrina.
It is huge, and slow moving, but no matter what the CAT determination is, it still brings the CAT 4 storm surge.
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.