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)

[arkady_renko]

Thanks for the advice. Before dark I watched small fish swimming back across our road to find their way back to the river. We have a new whitewater creek flowing through our side lot and egret are around. Surreal.

We're sending this water down to you in St. Louis! No cost...

[STARWISE]

Nightline on Galveston now.

Also just reported that only
one home remains standing Gilchrist.
Stories of the loss will be unfolding.

[STARWISE]

I do remember that post. Very prophetic.

[Spktyr]

I have a suspicion that he didn’t make it. :( Think he would have checked in with the Houston crowd if he could have.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

just now reading your report - thanks for checking in - thanks for your perspective too - how are things now?

[NautiNurse]

Please don’t speculate about the demise of anyone in this forum. After Katrina, there were folks that couldn’t check in for weeks.

[DollyCali]

great stories!

[STARWISE]

I’m not concluding that at all.
Too many things are going on, too many
places don’t have power or cell towers.
Too many have been relocated. It’s
madness and frenzy every day for these
folks.

I’m thinking positive until I know
differently.

Is he friends with the Houston crowd ..?

[txhurl]

jpsb just probably lost power.

But given the damage in San Leon, there should have been some advocacy for evac.

[Jaded]

From watching the local stations you’d think the only two cities hit by Ike were Galveston and Houston.

[stlnative]

i missed it...

we all know which home was left standing. (superman must have built that home) I don’t even think there is a single shingle missing from the roof except in one place where something may have slammed into the side of the roof.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html

[Jaded]

Things are fine for me, thanks. Finished cleaning up the yard and trees. If it ain’t sunburned it’s scratched or aching.

Another amazing thing... it was like 81 degrees today with a breeze. Normally it’s 90. No bad if you were cleaning up debris.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Roger Dat!!!
~~~
Looked back at jpsb’s posts,,,

He’s at 16’ASL,,,

Other sites report his area has no power and many/most

roads are still flooded,,,

Others are lookin’ for friends/kin there,,,(info):

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/san-leon-tx/T9IOUS3AP8HIIPGAL

Be back,,,still lookin’...

[PleaseNoMore]

I heard a reporter on ABC13 state that SAR teams had completed 90% of one of their grid searches, but can’t remember if they said Galveston Island or if they specifically mentioned the west end. I want to say it was the west end of the island he was talking about, but I can’t be sure. He sounded pretty grim when he reported this and was asked by the anchor if there were any signs of life. He answered her saying they had only located two people in a house. He did not elaborate further, but only repeated words such as devestation, total destruction, etc.

[STARWISE]

The more you look at that home,
the more miraculous and confounding
it is that it stands there, intact.

[Jaded]

wow

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Glad to hear and knew you would be doing fine! A blessing of a cooler day! One of the small graces that I know have come to you and others going through this trying time. Hope more blessings come your way!

[DrewsMum]

So Sorry for the multiple posts earlier guys. cell was very spastic and kept reloading the dang page!

I am home now and its dark so will know more re damage tomorrow although it certainly is way better than i thought. Thank you freepers all over for praying for us houston freepers. Oh yea and i have power/electricity!

Also I’ve just learned that one of my students had a tree fall on her home and no one can get in touch with the family. please keep them in your prayers.

Things you all so much!

[STARWISE]

These stories take your breath away.

~~~

September 13, 2008
Rescuers refused to give up on San Leon woman

Those who ignored evacuation orders in north Galveston County’s coastal communities were alternately desperate and indignant in the hours after Ike left many stranded without power.

Emergency workers improvised daring water rescues for the ill and injured, finding that some of the people who needed help the most were in parts too flooded to land a helicopter or drive an ambulance.

Radios buzzed with off-the-cuff solutions to daunting problems. One of the most challenging was the rescue of an 82-year-old woman struggling to breathe due to what medics believed were complications of pneumonia.

The woman spent the night in the San Leon mobile home she and her son have shared for 26 years, after she refused a ride from a deputy constable Friday morning that would have gotten her to an emergency shelter. As the water rose inside their trailer, her air mattress floated higher and higher, until her nose touched the ceiling, said her son, Jeff Gremillion.

Rest here:

http://blogs.chron.com/hurricanes/2008/09/refusal_to_evacuate_leads_to_d.html

[txhurl]

Boy, is jpsb going to get a gnawing.

‘You’re lucky you aren’t dead, cause I’d kill you right now if you weren’t’