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)
Sep 13, 2008 7:05 AM
About 2 million homes/businesses without power (that is just one power company -- does not include other power companies).
There was a report somewhere that all of Galveston was without power, but I don't recall where I saw that.
I sure hope the hospitals checked their emergency generators before this storm...
Power companies might as well take their time restoring power. Two million homes/businesses cannot be restored overnight...
REPAIR CREWS NEED TO BE SAFE AND PACE THEMSELVES
And they will have to wait until the storm passes and storm surge waters subside.
There are alot of snakes that will probably be in the waters. The San Jacinto area is swamp area (around Battleship Texas).
So people had better concerned about snakes if they have standing water especially to the Southeast of Houston...
Thanks....
Afraid that when sunup comes, there’re gonna be some pretty horrible pictures....
From about 55 minutes ago... the coverage (spread) of this storm is a real eye opener (no pun intended). By the way, there's another hurricane thread here at FR, that just started up. The author posted the type of radar image that both you and I attempted/wanted to post. ;0) I better let this be my last post. Goodnight everyone. May those riding out the storm in TX, and LA, remain safe.
Why people are this stubborn, I will never know. But we all are this way at times. God help us.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A Hurricane Ike evacuee from Houston has been arrested on charges of firing nearly a dozen shots in a Corpus Christi hotel parking lot.
Nueces County authorities say the 28-year-old began firing after a car struck a luggage cart carrying his 5-year-old son. No one was injured.
I'd love to see it, but with our current nanny-state mentality (especially after Katrina), FEMA-guilt, and white-guilt in general, that would go over like a fart in church, especially at the federal level. First politician to suggest it would be hoisted on his own sword.
goodnight and thanks for the info.
I got up a bit ago and have been quickly scrolling through this thread.
FOX doesn’t have Whorealdo on or any correspondent from Galveston yet.
Anyone have an update on the situation at the hotel they were taking shelter in?
The guy at the grocery store (or some kind of store) who was on FOX last night? The lady who was staying in the Victorian house? The dummy Mom with 2 kids interviewed on the beach? Thx for the updates.
alicia in 1983, nt 1993.
it is massive in size...
it will be many hours before we learn of the true damage.
Tragic and all that, but how bout you thread hijackers STFU.
Sunrise about 7:06 AM.
Source:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/mrst.php
Using height of 5 meters (15 feet).
from the Houston Chronicle’s storm blog: The Texas Emergency Operations Center says Galveston County has experienced widespread damage. More from the Chronicle:
The east and west ends of Galveston Island are under water, and water is pouring over the seawall. Power and utilities are out. There are multiple fires; rain is helping extinguishing some.
Infrastructure has also been heavily damaged, according to the Chronicle. No word yet on the status of nearby refineries.
faye was a lot like Allison here in htown in 2001. damn thing kept going out to sea filling up n dumping again. terrible devastation, far worse than Alicia, and it ws only a ts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/content/article/2008/09/13/pm-galveston13.html?hpid=topnews
“I Am Afraid For Everyone Here”
Steve Harrigan has been on.
I would speculate that any equipment vans they have with the reporters are under water or have water soaked equipment.
They may have trouble getting INFO out -- as cameras and satellite links require some power (Where is that Energizer Bunny when you need it).
For example, even cell phone sites (that receive cell phone calls) will go out in hours without power. They have limited battery backup.
Atlanta, in January 2000, found that out the hard way after an ice storm. No phones and no cell phones...
FEMA and other public officials that might be on the Island probably have back up power or are just roughing it out.
But there are reports of over 2 million without power, and the storm has not yet reached the area of Houston Intercontinental Airport (further North than the current position of the eye).
That is more because of Gustav than Ike, but with North Texas playing Baton Rouge, Texans might need to be warned.
Additionally, the Morning Advocate is saying that attendance will be down at the games as people are still without power from Hurricane Gustav.
So now you have Texas having millions without power (and the number climbing), and there are exhausted crews here in Louisiana trying to restore power in areas affected by Gustav.
Hurricane Ike will require some Texas sized numbers of repair crews to restore power, and Louisiana/Mississippi may not be able to help much...
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