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)
Great to hear, Allegra!
Of course I don’t have anything against boats. Unfortunately, a whole lot of boat owners don’t properly secure their vessels in the face of a storm. As a result, they cause damage to other vessels and property. Others try to ride out a storm on their boats, and cry like babies when the surf gets too rough.
I do. Let’s hear ‘em!
More wonderful news!
I drove along the Gulf coast from Tampa to New Orleans in Jun 2006. A number of really large homes were being rebuilt right along the water. Places where everything had been washed away for several blocks inland. I can understand people wanting to build by the water, but it should be small, cheap cottages. not big houses supported by insurance money.
Large convoy of National Guard headed to Houston from San Antonio now. 500 vehicles in all!! (On a local DFW station now)
Hey, one of the models has Ike headed to Montana! Ya never know! ;-)
Oh wow- what a relief :) sending you a hug too!
I hear ya. It’s a completely different place now than the calmly wild ocean desert I remember from vacations when I was a kid. At least much of the coast itself is undeveloped. My dad’s family is in Martin Co.
I spoke with my friend in Pasadena earlier (who i tried to get to evacuate with me) and she said she would never ride out another one, no matter what the mayor said... she said her neighbors and family around there are very very angry about being told to shelter in place instead of evacuate... and the city had all those people stay and didn’t have 911 up at all last night. She said they everyone was saying “they should not have told is to stay if they were not able to even halfway serve in emergencies.” just FYI, but i expect there will be backlash from all that...
Live broadcast of Galveston damage on CNN.com right now.
Is there anything at all about what the condition of the Boardwalk is?
Any condition of the piers in Galveston? That hotel?
Right before the show he was broadcasting ended (about 11:50 pm PT...though he was still going to do the live stuff in other shows it sounded like) in the middle of the eye, he was talking about the palm tree.
He basically said that he didn’t think he could have gotten through it without the palm tree and he was sort of patting/leaning against it affectionately.
If you have ever heard the kids song many learn in Sunday school growing up, “Zaccheus was a wee little man” all I could think was replacing Geraldo’s name, and crazy for wee, climbing up a palm tree instead of sycamore, and for the hurricane he wanted to see instead of the Lord. LOL
Honestly, it was a classic Geraldo moment. Someone posted a picture of him, I’ll see if I can find it...but I’m sure there will be youtube eventually! It was great!
John Scott was the in studio co-anchor and he had this flat affect almost while interacting with Geraldo and would blandly say he was going to read Geraldo some email questions, and in the corner you’d see Geraldo flapping around in his “trusty tree” (as John later said!)
At one point his blackberry got washed away, as well.
There’s a gazillion sites talking about him and the palm tree (and some just using Geraldo and tree in general instead of saying it was a palm) but I still can’t find video for you. I’ll keep trying!
Looterguy is an entrepreneur with a monopoly now!
I haven’t heard of any reported deaths, have you?
yes, tree fell on a lady in Montgomery County.
Another death in Pinehurst(sp?), Montgomery County...Tree fell on a woman’s home and killed her while she was in bed. That’s two in Mongomery County killed by falling trees. Sad.
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