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)
I haven't caught up on this thread yet; what is going on there. Do you think FEMA is incompetent or is misleading people? (Or both, I guess.) What do you think is going on? Does this have to do with the misssing 'missing' people?
Thanks
Probably some truth in saying anyone west of the eye would have headed out to sea while anyone east of the eye would head inland - like the guy who rode a floating house across the bay from Bolivar Peninsular or maybe should be called Bolivar Archipelago now.
Most of these people probably had access to boats. I’m hoping and praying that many were able to get out before ike hit.
Most of these people probably had access to boats. I’m hoping and praying that many were able to get out before ike hit.
Weather Channel’s Stephanie Abrams just said Ike’s toll should be ‘nowhere close’ to Katrina’s (~1800).
So thankful. The numbers of people who didn’t leave have had me paralyzed since landfall, waiting for some horrible casualty #s.
If it’s less than 1000, Thank God.
Got a little windy at The Compound did it? (And apparently at "The Keep" as well).
Wonder what midgets consider a liberating experience.
Glad you dodged the flood bullet. Insurance may cover that camera if the need arises. If looters outnumber you, throw the Glock at them. When it kabooms, you can take out several squads of bad guys at once...
...or so I hear.
What about the midget? Did he get blown away into Arkansas or some other godforsaken place?
Glad to hear y'all made it through OK, even if some your "stuff" didn't.
Location where the staircase guy fetched up?
History’s rife with accounts of long windy trips across barrier island bays, only to link up with old friends on arrival. One lady got spit out of her house, bobbed across about a mile of Napatree Bay, called it a night on the far shore, and woke up reunited with her dinette set.
Hey,,,Been skimmin’ back through the posts,,,
JMHO,,,
All that lumber/people/etc. must have gone out to sea,,,
Fact,,,
Those poles that were sheared off were 10’+ in the ground.
Set in concrete,,,6” slab under the beach-house to park
boats and had the showers to keep sand out of the house,,,
Those were 30’ poles 10’ deep,,,10’+ space under the house
that went all the way to the top plate(10’?+-) = 30’,,,
Ain’t been there since 65’ but that’s IIRC,,,
You did your homework well...
Don’t remember exactly. This was a different guy I think. Afraid I’ve read so many stories inthe last few days !
I know the Salvation Army does a good job, anyone else seen anything ?
I haven't checked Houston area 'papers/TV stations yet. Thanks
“The article brought up the troubling math again, >20K riding it out, and ~4K rescued/found.”
As the Galveston journalist quoted at Comment 3098 reported the SAR people are going into houses where if they find bodies, they leave them and continue to search for the living. The article also said instead of putting big red X on the houses with bodies, they are putting on discrete markings. Not to mention the houses that don’t even exist any more. Not to be a pessimist, but this could end up being worse than Katrina.
“The article also said instead of putting big red X on the houses with bodies, they are putting on discrete markings.”
~~~
This really bugs me,,,
Why try to hide the Facts ?
Looks like a big CYA on the way...:0(...
I agree with you. Everyone does have months to plan for each hurricane season. Why people don’t have several weeks of canned goods to hold them I can’t fathom. When my husband was failing with Alzheimers, I accumulated about a 3 month supply of canned meats, vegies, fruit, and some evaporated milk, because I figured there would be a time when I could only rarely go out to shop because he would no longer be able to walk to the store. My daughter-in-law in Miami grew up in Puerto Rico. Every spring she buys about 6 crates of bottled water. The Mormons tell their people to have a one year supply of food on hand for emergencies, including such things as unemployment.
It is ridiculous that the state and FEMA go through the foolish dance you describe when they have had so much time to coordinate and put supplies in place.
“a big tree branch...Is there an alternative to a chainsaw to cut it down?”
I had some large branches down from a storm. Took my circular saw [only works if you have electricity] and set it to the deepest cut, about 2 inches. Then I cut all around the branch. As it was 6 inches in diameter this left about a 2 inch core uncut. This I cut with a hand saw. Also if you cut off all the smaller branches, then sometimes you can pull the remaining larger piece out of the way.
Because the big red X got interpreted as “Looters, Free Swag Here!”
Ain’t that the truth,,,
There should be a Shoot To Kill order for looters,,,
I reeeally hate to think how many people may have died
in this storm,,,
No wreckage at all in some places,,,
Low number of people accounted for,,,
I sure hope I’m wrong...
FR mail....
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