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)
Sounds like you are in for a toasty winter.
Me, I'm fine.. came through a lot better than some other folks.
House OK, vehicles OK.. barn.. not so much.
Current estimates have my power back on by October 6th.
The whole area has major infrastructure damage.
Glad to have you back again. Hopefully, this power restoration will be a bit more permanent.
As long as his tree branches aren’t frozen...
I’m still cracked up over that “exploding” branch...
After watching the news, and seeing Pearland on my way back to Clear Lake. I called my wife and told her that she and my daughter better start looking into a a school in Austin for her to finish her Sr. year. But as it turned out thing were not quite that bad. Damage yes devastation no, at least not in 77059.
Sorry to hear about your barn. Very glad to know you are safe and your home is intact. I surely hope you have your electricity restored before Oct. 6. If there’s anything we can do, just holler.
Ah, Alaska was a long time ago.
In Northern VA, things will be just fine.
Oh I hope she can finish her Sr Year there. It’s a horrible feeling to have to leave halfway between.....or most of the way in if she’s been to her own school for a while. Everyone wants to graduate with friends.... :0)
So, um, who has Tom’s chain saw?
Not I. If I did, I wouldn’t have a half of a tree on my shed. ;0)
Got any C-4, a ribbon charge would make quick work of the branch...
and the tree
and the shed, well never mind:-)
Good luck with the new arrival next year
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Not me!
I'm gonna buy a nice new one when I gets my FEMA card!
Yea, I prefer not to have homeland security coming to my house to check out any mysterious explosions in my backyard...
Hey, FEMA cards are NOT for chainsaws! Such a waste. It’s for cool stuff like video games and beer right? (and according to some freepers lap dances, but I won’t go there).
Back into civilization ...OK.
Vent ... vent .... vent ... and
I do not mean that verbally .. ;)
All OK at your house?
We've gotten closer to our neighbors(we share a well, and they helped us get the generator working, and wire up a plug to run the well). We've been taking turns offering each other various things.
We've been able to cope pretty well, all things considered. Many of our emergency preparations worked very well.
No damage to house or cars (or outbuildings). Not even any sign of a (new) tree down on the property (but have not investigated extensively).
Limited loss of food, etc.
No flooding.
I thought FEMA cards were for jewelry and plasma tv. What is going on here?
“What is going on here?”
All I know is that some freeper uppost tried to suggest that it was appropriate to spend our hard earned tax dollars (AKA FEMA cards) on a CHAINSAW of all things....I was just settin em straight...
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