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
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 |
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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)
Hey,Kiddo,,,;0)
We got off Easy here,,,
Sure it a mess down on the coast...
I think you’re right about the uneasrthed protection strips.
Good sized slick west of High Island proper.
Wonder where that originated?
http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/ike/geo-C25884555.jpg
Did you get my earlier message about LaPorte? It’s on the previous page from this one.
Okay, picture that you’re standing on the smoking patio of Nick’s, facing towards the knife fight.
To your left, there used to be two palm trees.
Now, there’s only one. The deceased one is in splinters; the remaining one looks great. Go figure.
But yeah, fortunately, Nick’s is fine!
Great to see ya, Count!!
Glad the damage was minimal (physical damage, that is — there’s no estimating or compensating the psychic damage of being FR deprived)
Maybe we should start clamoring for a FEMA Program to address this issue.....
texasredtop wrote:
***************MESSAGE FOR DREWSMUM*******************
September 15, 2008
Officials: Please do not return to La Porte
We received a recorded phone message from the city of La Porte, asking citizens to not attempt to return to the city. There are no shelters in the city.
If you do come back, City Manager Ron Bottoms said, please check your property and then leave the city. A dusk-to-dawn curfew remains in effect.
Residents who stayed through the hurricane are asked to turn off their main breaker boxes and to conserve water for sanitary purposes.
+++++++++
From the Chronicle. Also, we have not been back over that way since yesterday. The Walmart is still closed. The Food Town on Center is trying to open today at 2:00 selling only dry goods. That is the first store opening around us that we know of.
________
Here it is again in case you missed it. Be careful out there.
Imo they shouldn't let anyone in until the roads have been cleared and electricty restored. It'll take a lot longer for water and sewage to be restored considering all the severed pipes when the lots were levelled. It's not safe, it's not sanitary so it's not responsible. If people still want to return to get their belongings then what about protecting others' belongings from looting, etc.? If they can't support relief workers they can't allow people to stay there.
I dunno maybe some people have to see to let go or they lost loved ones or animals they think might still be there. Who knows, maybe in a few days they'll let them go in supervised during daytime with a Will Not Rescue waiver or something.
Good to see you Count:) Sure were some folks concerned about you!
You are aware of this, right?
Yes, in answer to yo ur unrelated snotty question.
A material number of people made an intelligent assessment of their situation and decided to remain behind.
I presume your ethereal number does not include the 50,000 plucked from rooftops, pulled out of attics, and picked up from tiny land plots amid flood water who did not make intelligent decisions in the face of grave danger.
When you take things out of context to start an argument, your position would carry more water with tighter numbers than "material."
59 doesn’t go to Conroe, it goes to Livingston. 45 goes to Spring and then Conroe.
My son lives in Spring. He has no power but did manage to get out of Spring and get to the Livingston area where his Dad lives.
From reports I’ve gotten from my sister and my son, roads can be iffy. My sister lives in far SW Houston, lost power and is now in an RV park in Brookshire in her RV.
Have them call the TxDot to see what specific road conditions are. (Texas Department of Transportation).
Sorry I don’t have more info for you.
I know FReepers are some of the best informed and was wondering if someone can point me in the direction of getting assistance for my elderly uncle and my sister who lives with him. She is an amputee and he has heart problems. While they are in no immediate danger, they are unable to get out and stand in line for water, ice and MRE's. Their water is running out and they cannot cook due to all electric appliances. Is there a service out there that can assist those who are not able to get to the food distribution centers?
Thank you. We have friends there with power we will stay with if we need to. We are heading back today though.
You’re the best!
Indeed... it is a gamble. The problem with this kind of storm is... by the time you KNOW you're screwed, there's very little you can do about it... except, try to survive.
Speaking of which... has anyone heard from jpsb? San Leon would have been a VERY bad place to have gambled. I just hope he ran....
Too bad about your ghost, I had lots more questions! :-)
Now... back home, to NO power.. and, worse yet, NO FR! :-(
Just be careful. Lots of debris in the roads. We went and stood in line about 10 minutes before they opened Food Town. Most there in the area said they either had power or just got it back an hour earlier so it’s coming around, slowly but surely.
There was a two mile line to get into the DP Stadium to park, then get out and get in another line to get ice, water, MREs. Two blocks down, they could go in and buy all the ice, water and non-perishable food they wanted. LOL $40,000 vehicles burning hours of gas idling to get free ice and water. What are they thinking?
Don’t you need to work some OT? LOL
Here is the context:
“The evacuation from New Orleans was a nightmare so people didn’t leave for Katrina.”
If EVERY ONE of the 50,000 rescues you mentioned came from New Orleans only, that would still mean that close to 90% of the population in NOLA either did evacuate or else never required assistance. If those rescues were spread across several parishes, it would only push the evacuation/self-rescue percentage for NOLA even higher. This is why I call it a myth that “people didn’t leave for Katrina” — even as I repeat the critical point that leaving is not the gold standard of prudence, as circumstances vary widely.
And kindly spare me the personal insults; I have not been rude to you.
texasx - check here:
http://apps.dot.state.tx.us/travel/road_conditions2.htm
I searched flooded and closed for US59 and nothing showed up. I don’t know if that is realiable or not but it’s the best I could find so far.
shd read “reliable”
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