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)

[stlnative]

has anyone offered to text him for you yet?

[tarheelswamprat]

I just spoke to The Mom. She and Eaker are OK...they just don't have any power. As far as they can tell right now, they've lost their backyard fence and some tree branches.

That's great to hear! Hope everyone could fare as well, although we know, sadly, that won't be the case. Thanks for the update.

[nobama08]

I am sure it will be a very interesting class. The libs just can’t stand that our great country was really built on faith.

[nobama08]

I am sure it will be a very interesting class. The libs just can’t stand that our great country was really built on faith.

[LA Woman3]

Any word from the reporters in Galveston?

[MrPiper]

I immediately ordered one for my laptop. Good reviews for the gizmo on Amazon.

Thanks for the info, but my laptop battery only lasts about 45 mins.

During Hurricane Ivan a few years ago, power went off about 4 hrs before the eye came over my house. I had a 12 volt TV running the whole time including days after on a car battery. Say La Vee. Its radio for me in the future.

[Sunnyflorida]

I’ve been bouncing from channel to channel and none of the “news” networks have much in the way of actual damage reports. Have you seen any?

[milagro]

Amen!

[NautiNurse]

No news from FNC Galveston. I’m starting to wonder if their satellite truck finally fell over.

[Chong]

"No. I’m just not panicing"

Well, good for you that you are not "panicing," but for those of us who are in the direct landing path of this thing, this is a serious situation.

I am away from home and have no idea what condition our home is in at this moment and VERY concerned as many others are and don't need snide remarks like yours.

[mathluv]

TWC guy just mentioned damage to Lufkin, but not specific.

[patton]

That is a very good point.

[Walleye_Walter]

“Last night we suspended EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) waivers on certain reformulated gasoline, which will make it easier for imports from abroad to make it into our markets,” Bush told reporters outside the White House as the powerful hurricane caused flooding on the Texas coast.

That will drive Pelosi, Gore, Obama and the rest of the dems crazy!!

Sorry for discussing politics on this thread. Prayers up for everyone in the path of Ike.

[penelopesire]

I just went and got our ice because we expect our power to go out in a few hours. We are just getting the first feeder bands now. Not too bad..but worse stuff is headed our way before the day ends. Of course, nothing like those poor folks in Galveston and Houston areas!

[NautiNurse]

I have two batteries for the laptop. One regular size and one heavy duty. It’s a smaller laptop. The bigger battery lasts 4-5 hours.

[Allegra]

has anyone offered to text him for you yet?

Yes, thanks. I pray I get good news.

I'm going to contact a couple of friends who live nearby and ask them to go check when the weather lets up also.

[milagro]

I think it was a CNN reporterette who said that Port Arthur's seawall held--and maybe Beaumont's?

Was flipping btw Fox and CNN--would prefer Fox but the ads about some "enhancement" product plus a lot of Viagra ads just got to me.

Nothing on Galveston yet.

[penelopesire]

Prayers on the way! Please update us when you hear something!

[SE Mom]

Good for you! Got chocolate? :)

Be safe.

[LA Woman3]

Thanks. I checked www.galvnews.com and the reporters haven't updated there either.