Hurricane Ike Live Thread IV

NOAA/NHC ^ | 14 September 2008 | NOAA/NHC

[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

Forecast Models

Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar
Corpus Christi Long Range Radar
Brownsville Long Range Radar
Lake Charles Long Range Radar

Ike
Single Image		Image Loop
Lat/Lon	No Lat/Lon	Short	Long
Visible	Visible	Visible	Visible
Shortwave	Shortwave	Shortwave	Shortwave
Water Vapor	Water Vapor	Water Vapor	Water Vapor
Infrared Channel 4 Enhancements
None	None	None	None
AVN	AVN	AVN	AVN
Dvorak	Dvorak	Dvorak	Dvorak
JSL	JSL	JSL	JSL
RGB	RGB	RGB	RGB
Funktop	Funktop	Funktop	Funktop
Rainbow	Rainbow	Rainbow	Rainbow

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)

[NautiNurse]

He is one of several who haven’t checked in since the storm. Hoping for the best.

[NautiNurse]

Keeping you in my prayers.

[NautiNurse]

Thank you for the San Leon update. Much appreciated.

[NautiNurse]

Thanks for checking in. Glad to know you are safe, with minor property damage. Your detailed local report is much appreciated. Glad to have you back!

[NautiNurse]

My goodness, you have a house full!

[NautiNurse]

I’ve been reading your reports and updates from the midwest. Thank you.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

“don't first responders know to have a few days supply of food and water just like the rest of us?”

That sounds reasonable to me.

I hope our Texas FRiends are doing OK.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Angels all around you and your’s.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Here’s a nutty idea — rather than traditional sand bags, you could put water in plastic glad bags. That would be a quicker way to create a partial barrier, rather than shoveling sand. At least as a stopgap. Some water would seep underneath. But it would keep the level down.

I don’t know if that idea’s been tried. In the long run, sand handles water pressure better.

— Angels around you.

[NautiNurse]

Seabrook's Sewer System Critical

[Allegra]

I think he lives in NW LA, and the last post I remember seeing was two days ago...

I sure hope he's OK. Maybe he is one of the many without power?

[Uncle Ike]

” Maybe he is one of the many without power? “

I’m hoping that’s all it is — I’ll feel better when he checks in, though.....

Hiya, Allegra... ;~)

How’s things over there in the Desert??

[NautiNurse]

8 hospitalized in Beaumont from Carbon Monoxide

Orange County rescue operations continuing throughout the night

[Allegra]

Hiya, Allegra... ;~) How’s things over there in the Desert??

Hiya Uncle Ike. (Kind of an unfortunatel name right now. LOL)

It's pretty peaceful here and we're having a sandstorm.

I want to thank Nauti Nurse for this thread and for all of the hard work. It's a great way for us to watch out for and keep up with our loved ones and FRiends.

[Uncle Ike]

” Hiya Uncle Ike. (Kind of an unfortunatel name right now. LOL) “

Yeah — I’ve been keeping a kinda low profile the past few days... ;~)
-
-
“ It’s pretty peaceful here and we’re having a sandstorm. “

I’m guessing that a nice, quiet, DRY sandstorm would be sounding pretty attractive to some of our number, right about now.... ;~)

[NautiNurse]

Hi Allegra!

I'm glad you have been able to check in here over the past several stressful days. Being such a distance from loved ones and friends is tough, especially during times like this.

{{{hugs}}}

[Allegra]

I’m guessing that a nice, quiet, DRY sandstorm would be sounding pretty attractive to some of our number, right about now.... ;~)

You bet. I'm certainly not complaining. Our power and water are on. I feel for my folks back home who are having to do without the basic comforts. I know it's hard and can get frustrating very quickly. My thoughts are with them throughout these days lately.

[Amelia]

I can spell tornado, potato, and tomato, but I need spell check to remember whether or not to add an “e” to the plurals....

My current philosophy is that you don’t have to know how to spell everything, just when & how to look it up if you aren’t sure. ;-)

[youturn]

Hey, Allegra.

i hope all of you and yours are safe.

I too thank NN for the thread. There is more good info here than on TV.

[Amelia]

Hopes & prayers that today goes well for you and the flooding is not too high...