Hurricane Ike Live Thread IV

NOAA/NHC ^ | 14 September 2008 | NOAA/NHC

[metmom]

My guess is less ethanol. I think that’s what they add.

[penelopesire]

Good idea. Not expecting it to get too bad here..maybe 40MPH sustained winds. Much worse a little south and east.

We lose our electricity everytime the wind blows though..(eye roll).

Wonder if the TCU game has been cancelled? My son was going to go. I asked him to come stay with us for the day, but he is stubborn with a independence streak 5 miles wide..:)

and that’s a good thing (although nerve racking for his mom.)

[McLynnan]

If I can do anything to help any of you contact loved ones or friends let me know. I'll be back and forth on the computer all day and am more than happy to do anything I can.

Where are you Penelopesire? I'm in the southern Waco suburbs. We've had light rain and wind squalls since 6:30 AM. Could have started earlier than that but that's when I woke up. So far nothing alarming. I'm relieved to see so many Houston area FReepers are posting this morning and made it through the night. What a mess!

[NautiNurse]

Hwy 25 near the Hwy 6 exit in Brazoria County (Alvin)—major road flooding. This area was not an evac zone.

[Marathoner]

Wonder if the TCU game has been cancelled?

No, just moved up from 6PM to noon.

[NautiNurse]

Make that Hwy 35 near Hwy 6.

[MEG33]

My SIL and daughter just called from Shenandoah just n of The Woodlands..They have lost trees in front yard..some trees down on houses on their street...they lost power hours ago.Their back fence went down as they were talking..They were experiencing very high winds ..Careless neighbor left out gas cans..cans hit their car.

They are stressed but they are safe so far. No way to recharge their cell phone so I won’t hear more today most likely.
Prayers for all in harms was..
I just slept 3 hours..Hope this is lucid.

[McLynnan]

Allegra, please see my post #623. My cell phone has lots of extra minutes if you need text help.

[metmom]

They’re showing shots of downtown Houston under a couple feet of water.

There are sheets of what looks like metal that have been peeled off high rise buildings.

Sheets of glass have shattered as they fell and there’s glass everywhere.

Old oak trees have been uprooted.

[Uncle Ike]

****trail of breadcrumbs****

[penelopesire]

You are sweet to offer. We will be OK here. We are near the DFW area. I just worry about the trees around our lot. We have lots of very big ones! A few fell earlier this summer and it cost us mucho bucks to remove because we live on a sloping ravine with limited access. A few of them lean over our house which is a bit disconcerning.

Waco will probably get it much worse, so my prayers are headed your way!

[metmom]

Upper windows in high rises blown out.

Bus shelters overturned.

There’s still power in many buildings.

Roofs ripped off.

Underpasses flooded.

Could be weeks before power is restored to some areas.

[stlnative]

I did see the Chase Tower damage on CNN - 1/2 the windows blown in or out on one side of the building.

Nothing on Galveston yet?

[DollyCali]

Good news Meg. I know you are relieved

I only slept a few hours also

naps later for both of us!!!

I find the idea of using a car battery fascinating. I would have no clue how to use it however

[penelopesire]

Thanks for the info on the game.

[NautiNurse]

FNC reporter on Galveston Island: 300 emergency calls for rescues when residents changed their minds about sheltering in their homes. Anything on a pier is heavily damaged or destroyed. Hotels & restaurants have disappeared.

FNC satellite dish is down.

[SaveTheChief]

What did President Bush mean when he spoke about reformulated gasoline to permit increased imports? Is this more or less ethanol?

Haven't a clue and I am not sure what you are talking about. I could take a guess, but I probably would be wrong :-P

[LA Woman3]

View from at 12th floor window in Galveston

The view from the 12th floor of the San Luis Hotel on the Galveston Seawall at 7:30 a.m. was ominous. To the west, literally, was a lake.

Roofs were visible, and the the tops of trees. It looked like the Gulf had come on in.

Behind the hotel, to the northwest, most of the streets and parking lots were clear, and a car even drove by. But only the nearby area behind the wall could be seen; the continued rain and overcast cut visibility to less than a mile.

Seawall Boulevard was covered with broken glass and other debris, but was not under water, although tall waves continued to crash along it.

Wind was gusting and bits of trash continued to fly through the air all around. Palm trees leaned in the same direction, their fronds all pointing east.

No sirens were heard because conditions had not improved enough for patrols to begin. These were expected to start about 9 a.m.

--Lindsay Wise

LINK Posted by Tara Young at September 13, 2008 08:37

[mad_as_he$$]

I just got an emergency call from the facilities superintendent for one of my clients; a very large chemical company that operates several giant facilities from Houston up to NOLA. They are requesting some of our products that can only mean that three of their facilities have been seriously damaged. He is a level headed guy and I read him as in total shock on the phone. We are to charter a plane and fly my experts with the gear out immediately to land at the nearest open airport when they get there. In addition, bring enough food water and shelter for two weeks time for our crew. This will require a a large aircraft (737 or bigger)to accomplish. I have never had this client make this kind of request even when facilities blow up etc.

I am now making the prediction that this storm will make Katrina look like a picnic as far as effect on the rest of the country. Katrina caused a small spike in coffee and energy prices and effected a large area in the South. Ike is going to kill gasoline production in the area for quite sometime and have major ramifications country wide.

[McLynnan]

Glad to hear that. I have family in McKinney who were expecting lots of rain and wind as of late last night. The Waco forecast has been revised for just a few inches of rain and winds up to 40 mph. Yesterday the forecast was much worse. Hopefully this trend will hold as Ike moves through the state and into Arkansas. I am praying the loss of life will be minimal in the Galveston/Houston area. It must have been the night from hell.