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)
TWC reporter just fell while showing heavy damage to the Flagship Hotel. The ramp from the hotel to land appears to be destroyed. Extensive damamge to pavement along the sea wall road. Large rip rap scattered on the road.
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/hotel_seekers_ask_for_nagin_sp.html
Live thread over at NOLA.com
The
guy
just
doesn’t
learn.
No power. Cell towers might be down. I did see one live video report, so the wind must have dropped enough for a TV truck to get it's antenna up to shoot a signal back to Houston...but that report dropped out after a few minutes of live coverage.
There are other subtle factors that could have made a difference like the dry air that entered from the SW in the early evening. But I think the main factors predominated, and of course the seawall.
Ouch. A deputy in Plaquemines Parish was injured when his vehicle ran into a submerged rock levee. He is in serious condition.
Do you think Ike will make a beeline for the Eisenhower Expressway?
Checking in from Cypress, TX (Hwy 290 35 miles NW of downtown).
The storm is leaving our area now. I have no visible signs of damage. My sister in The Woodlands has a tree in her living room. The bailed to her mother-in-law’s house.
I’m checking in via dialup and battery power. Electricity went out at 4:30 and hasn’t returned.
Thanks for the update! Glad you are OK!!
And they go alotta trees in their yard!
It is not brilliant for me to predict that more than one doctoral thesis will be written that examines Ike in detail.
Very glad to know you and your family are safe. Hang in there!
They do still have the tunnel system. As to their condition, I'm not sure. I'm not in Houston now and I doubt the tunnels are open since I heard downtown sustained some damage to the skyscrapers. They're probably keeping people out of the area while they clean up debris.
I'm with you....I think that tunnel system is GREAT.
I am so glad you got a call from your son and he is safe!
From KHOU they said that there have been 6,000 calls to 911 for help and they aren’t able to get to them.
People aren’t supposed to call unless it’s a life threatening emergency.
Debris is littering some highways. It looks like a city dump was deposited on the road.
I can’t believe that Ike is still a cat 1 storm this far inland. Winds picking up in DFW now!
Very large debris field in Seabrook. Road to bridge is blocked by debris. There is a maroon desk chair in the middle of the road. Boats did not weather the surge, beached on the roadway.
placemarker
Look at it this way...if they can call, they survived:’)
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