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)
Very glad to know you are safe. Your report of the bathroom skylight is way too funny! Welcome back.
The trees in front of our house alone could nearly fill up a trash truck!
Thanks for the report. I’ve said before...seeing those utility truck convoys following a storm puts a lump in my throat every time.
I am about to cross LA border to TX 59 then to beltway i have heard its ok. will let ya know if i have problems though.
It took me three hours yesterday to get out of Houston. I had my mom on the phone with me as she was looking at maps, and as she would tell me to turn, I would say “nope, flooded”. I was heading a different direction that your children, but everything north was a lot easier to deal with, I know it’s a small comfort.
I hope that everyone is safe and well, and they are able to leave relatively easy.
RS
Hey,Star,,,TANKS,,,saved those links for next time...;0)
I'm no big fan of Governor Zoolander, but I agree with you here. The media can be so bloodthirsty and inconsiderate of the family members. I say put the survivors first and let this be done with some dignity.
Is us59 open from Conroe in both directions? I am trying to find a way out of Houston for my children who are stranded there.
YAAAAAY! Good to see you are OK. :-D
What are/were the black and white stripes seaward of Gilchrist?
http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/ike/geo-C25883958.jpg
Great to be back,,,
I just mite have to buy me a laptop after all this,,,
This cell phone is just too dang little to see...;0)
They look like barriers to prevent erosion that were unearthed by the surge.
Good heavens! On the roof?! Xena’s Guy is a braver person than I.
Still no power in my little neck of the woods. I can repose in San Antonio with the folks for a bit. Until I need to get back to my JOB! :-)
Psycho Girl had a bit of a seizure, I think the stress is getting to her. Poor thing.
RS
Your skylight story is hilarious and I'm glad everything is OK. I can just see Xena's Guy with one foot in the sink trying all of those fixes. How did Salty like the storm?
The Mom, Eaker, humblegunner, thackney, pax_et_bonum and eastforker have all been accounted for. They just don't have power back on yet.
Have you been able to get out and see if Nick's made it through the storm? ;-)
Welcome back to the land of the living, 1MC. Make room for a new pile out back if you get a laptop.
Thinking those stripes might be some sort of waterproof membrane laid under a layer of soil for a levee like ridge of sand.
I checked google earth and wasn’t able to find anything in previous aerials of Gilchrist that resemble those stripes...resembles barriers or a road? Weird.
The myth is that “people didn’t evacuate for Katrina”. The truth, by your own account, is that something in the neighborhood of 90% of the parishes south of the lake did just that.
Of course, some people neither evacuated nor needed to be rescued. You are aware of this, right? A material number of people made an intelligent assessment of their situation and decided to remain behind. Some of these self-evacuated after the storm; a great many never left at all and managed to live off the grid for a few weeks without posing an inconvenience or danger to anyone. Of course, government is very, very angry with them and they will have to be punished like the naughty children they are.
I might add that “evacuation” is a phony standard anyway, since in a sane world of free citizens, evacuation would not be the default model for storm response. It’s time to re-visit the unexamined assumption that people need to flee for their lives whenever their masters tell them to be very, very afraid. I can guarantee you in the future it won’t be a case of the authorities yelling “jump!” and us asking, “how high, sir?”
TRT: so glad to see you’re doing fine. I had a feeling you would be.
I do get around...
Thank u. I’m not home yet but wanted to bookmark the info just in case.
From Beltway north or south? If they are up in the Humble area trying to leave, it shouldn’t be a problem. From the Beltway south and 59, I don’t know, I’ll see if I can find out and get back to you. (unless someone already responded)
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.
