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)
That reminds me, I have been meaning to buy a small solar panal and a deep-cycle boat battery.
LOL..check on the chocolate! Lots of coffee for this morning and booze for tonight..:)!
Trying to reach some of the others.
Praying in Jesus’ Name for safety for your friend Balde, and that you’ll soon be able to get in touch with him.
Another report from Galleria Westin Hotel. Man describing how the sliding glass door, then the wall of his W facing room imploded around 5:45 CT this morning.
officials say half the residents of Beaumont stayed put
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-ike-evacuation,0,7316363.story
Atta girl:)
Not sure how badly you might get hit- but just in case- wash out the tub and fill it so if your water goes out you have flushing and cleaning water.
Just FYI, the car battery that ran the little tv for days was put back in the car and it started with no problem. Your money.
If McCain gets elected he needs to declare a national emergency and order drilling everywhere and a program to build refineries around the Country on government owned land like current and retired military bases.
Conditions are windy and rainy but it appears that we weathered the storm very well up here -- but keep in mind that observation is based only on what I can see from my limited vantage point.
I'm concerned for those in Galveston and all along the coast who decided to hold out.
Maybe access to Galveston isn’t available or Beaumont is on his way to Galveston.
We need to let him know how we feel.
Need it for my mountain cabin - no electricity.
I did the power budget, a deep cycle is definately called for.
KHOU is having an update of conditions on Galveston.
http://www.khou.com/video/?nvid=178826&live=yes&noad=yes
Galveston live report on Khou now
What did President Bush mean when he spoke about reformulated gasoline to permit increased imports? Is this more or less ethanol?
Does Balde still have Veronica?
If that’s Galveston, there is a good amount of green grass visible.
http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080912_mh_Ike_damage_reports_.6df11e08.html
Limited damage reports coming in here..
please report what they say.
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