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)
Thanks for checking in. I hope others that were on the thread yesterday check in soon.
We are expecting the remnants here in central texas this afternoon. Wind starting to pick up already.
For people in the Golden Triangle area I saw on KFDM, Greg Bostwick reporting at about 5:00 am that the levee system in Port Arthur held. The storm surge didn’t break through or overtop the levees. Surge was about stayed below the lowest point of the levee system which is about 14 1/2 ft.
The article:
http://www.kfdm.com/news/power_27797___article.html/causes_southeast.html
The level rose to more than 11 feet in Port Arthur. The lowest point of the levee is about 14 1/2 feet.
The Sabine Pass tide was 14.24 feet. The levels began receding at about 4 a.m.
With that type of tide, storm surge damage can be expected.
There are also reports of flooding in the Bridge City area, but until daylight, the extent of the flooding won’t be known.
We have received reports of damage from viewers across the area, including some reports of tree and wind damage to homes.
Entergy Texas reports about 175,000 customers without power in its service area. Those numbers are expected to rise.
You can call 1-800-9Outage to report a power outage.
DRILL HERE DRILL NOW.
That would be because of the wacko environmentalists. The regulations are from Congress - and we have let it happen. We lost a refinery over 20 years ago in NE TX due to those regulations. That would have been a dim congress, and the pubbie congress did not change it.
That is good news! Wonder how Texas City has faired?
A belated thanks for checking in and your local report. Please keep us updated when you can.
The Coasties are going to be busy today.
That is UNBELIEVEABLE! You are lucky. I lost power for 2 weeks after Fredrick and 1 week after Ivan.
I looked at your location on the map and this storm must have been all surge and little else. Prayers up this holds true for most.
Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst addressed Hurricane Ike’s impact on the Southeast Texas coast Saturday morning.
“This was a very, very serious tragedy,” said Dewhurst.
Dewhurst spoke of the damages already reported, such as blown-out windows in high-rises and deaths.
Officials are narrowing in on rescue efforts after much of the Texas coast was battered by Ike’s powerful Category 2 wind and rain early Saturday morning.
“Anyone who can hear my voice, call your local officials,” said Dewhurst. “We will do everything we can to rescue you.”
Dewhurst urged anyone in need of rescue to make the necessary phone calls, stating that thousands of people are ready to go in and commence rescue efforts.
“We’ve learned a lot of lessons,” said Dewhurst.
There were 12,000 people removed from the Galveston Hospital, and Dewhurst mentioned the GPS system added to buses.
KXAN.com
President Bush is up
Lots of people will be busy today and for sometime in the future. But you are correct they will have their hands full.
Ok- is it just me from being overtired, or did the president seem extremely sober this morning?
Mornin’ all..
Short night.
President Bush just suspended The EPA reformulated fuel requirements...
I was listening, not watching. I did hear about the gas regulations being suspended.
What did he say? (I was on TWC)
Did Jim Cantore ever make another appearance on the Weather Channel? He was in a bad way last time he was on TV.
September 13, 2008
Galveston family finds refuge at 11th hour
Steven Rushing heard the warnings, but it all sounded so familiar.
When Rita came three years ago, everyone was warned to leave or face a likely death, and when the storm turned away, people rode bicycles on the streets of Galveston.
Even as Ike bore down on the island where he has lived all his life and worked as a commercial fisherman, he felt assured, whipping up a bowl of chili for himself and six family members and cozying up in his living room to watch TV.
``I thought this was going to be like that. I was very wrong. It’s bad, real bad. We barely made it out.’’
At about 11 p.m., he took a look outside and saw the water. Before he knew it, the surge flooded through the door and the electrical sockets, up to his feet, his knees and his waist. His mattress and couch began to float, his 12 year-old son threw up in the bathroom and his 19 year-old son wrote down his social security number on his arm, assuring his father that he wasn’t scared, but wanted to make sure he could be identified.
``We were staring down death,’’ he said.
Rushing decided to try tying himself and his family members to a tree outside in hopes they would be rescued.
Just as he broke a window in the living room, though, something very unexpected happened: the eye passed over.
``It’s like somebody pushed a button and turned off everything,’’ said Rushing, 37. ``It was eerie.’’
So he loaded up his wife, pregnant daughter, two sons, nephew, cousin and two dogs on a ski boat made for five people and navigated the streets, which were flooded with six to eight feet of water.
They were 20 blocks from the San Luis Hotel, where the city’s leaders and emergency operations personnel were staying. The boat ran aground about four blocks from the hotel, and the whole crowd ran straightaway from there, making it before the fierce winds picked up again.
Once he arrived, he spoke wide-eyed to reporters and firefighters, almost in shock, while his family slept.
``I’m beat up, I’m traumatized,’’ he said, wondering if the shrimp boat he depends on for his livelihood had been destroyed. ``My wife’s mad at me. She wanted to evacuate. Next time, we’ll leave a week early.’’
LINDSAY WISE
Houston Chronicle blog
What a compelling report!!
“...and his 19 year-old son wrote down his social security number on his arm, assuring his father that he wasn’t scared, but wanted to make sure he could be identified.”
Forgive me, but that made me laugh.
This is one lucky family.
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