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
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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)
Live report from Texas City: 2:00 am CDT, 13 Sep - Calm
The hotel apparently has pretty serious damage, because the side of the building that lost its roof has serious flooding down to the first floor— the water has gone all the way down to the ground floor and made a mess. A Fox 7 News was interviewing traumatized guests in the lobby.
The wind and rain continued to pound away in streaks, and I saw (and shot) a restaurant next to the hotel losing roof shingles by the cartloads. The weather seemed to peak around 1:20 or 1:30 am or so, and I had a panicky moment when— parked in a totally exposed location— heavy rain and wind reduced visibility to almost zero and the car really shook badly.
But now the wind has really calmed down— the howling has stopped. Quiet... I’ve opened my window and can barely hear the trees rustling... Warm air is coming into the room— very warm. Guests are walking around in front of the hotel, chatting. Calm...
I presume we’re in the eye?
kerosene fired cooking? grill in garage with “wind blown sparks”?
cigarette thrown /blown into area where greasy rags are?
My friend wasn’t that bright. Just spread gas & lit. Figured the storm winds & rain would destroy evidence. He unfortunately did NOT keep his little plot to himself & “a friend” contacted the insurance company & received a tip/reward.
Winds knock down power lines and transformers. Sparks fly. Wind whips up the flames. Fires are not uncommon.
Perhaps not as entertaining as Geraldo, but Weather Channel reporting “6 feet of water in downtown Galveston”....
Texans are fighters. Only the Democrats among us would think of doing such a cowardly thing. And we don't claim them anyway.
It’s still a Cat 2, eye closing up in fact. 100 MPH wind on surface, NHC still showing 110 MPH.
As of 20 minutes ago, 100+ mph surface winds were reported - it is still a cat 2 hurricane - just ignore that poster.
Are there any damage reports for Galveston yet?
1,300,000 without power, long restoration process.
It may be a CAT 1 or a CAT 2 hurricane, but that doesn’t take into account that it may be carrying a CAT 4 storm surge.
Katrina was a CAT 3 when she hit Mississippi, but she carried a CAT 5 storm surge.
Thanks, NautiNurse.
Prayers for all in harm’s way.
The winds are up big time. My 40 ft. pine trees in the front yard are dangerouly bending. I hope we don’t lose them. So far, we have electricity.
Xenalyte, how are you doing???
Yes its a cat 2 and dying.
Here is the problem:
“Although still of Category 2 strength, Ike remains larger and more powerful than Category 5 Katrina or Category 5 Rita. As I discussed in yesterday’s blog entry, a good measure of the storm surge potential is Integrated Kinetic Energy (IKE). Ike’s Integrated Kinetic Energy has fallen from 149 Terajoules this morning to 124”
This means that some beach homes could be busted up from relentless waves over a long period. But the storm is already dying.
No one is gonna get killed unless they stayed on the beach
I know that. Texas is my sister state and tough!
BTW ...Nice to know more organized is not good. I am never organized!
Further flooding from the bay is expected as the backhalf of the eyewall impacts them, likely resulting in as much damage as the high winds that are expected.
Post Office St on Galveston Island 7 feet under water per Twitter.
Let me share a little here. Actually the levees in Texas City don’t have to HOLD.
They have built around the entire city a huge wall, wide enough for a 2-lane sheet running on top of it. And there is nothing to HOLD. It will keep water out up to a 20-foot tide. Of course, if there is a 25-foot surge or tide, then some water will spill over the wall.
They have build pumping stations every so many miles which will pump OUT any water which comes over the wall.
It is nothing like the levels holding the water back from New Orleans, that is, if it is breached in one place, then the whole thing is breached.
BTW, here in southwest Houston at 2:12 a.m. it is the strongest wind yet. I’d say about 80 mph gusts.
We’ve lost electricity twice, but it came back on within minutes.
Wish us well. I sure don’t want to lose power.
GOod luck, all.
I’d say ‘Yes!”
Duck and cover, FRiend!
Don’t go outside...you don’t know when the backside of the hurricane will hit you.
Love you to hon
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
