2008 Hurricane Season

[texasdave]

Houston we have a problem. It looks like a rough ride this weekend. I plan to be hunkered down as they say in these parts. Best of luck to everyone in the area. Stay safe.

[cumberlandreds]

For comparison, the Category 4 Galveston Hurricane of 1900 (which killed somewhere around 6-12K people) had storm surge of 15 ft.

Here's Wiki's article on that Galveston storm. I hope this one isn't nearly as bad. Galveston was never the same after the 1900 storm.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvest...ricane_of_1900

[Unassisted]

Here's what the National Weather Service in Houston has to say about the effect in Galveston.

GULF-FACING COASTAL AREAS FROM MATAGORDA TO HIGH ISLAND INCLUDING
GALVESTON ISLAND...12 TO 16 FEET

LIFE THREATENING INUNDATION LIKELY!

ALL NEIGHBORHOODS...AND POSSIBLY ENTIRE COASTAL COMMUNITIES...
WILL BE INUNDATED DURING HIGH TIDE. PERSONS NOT HEEDING
EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY HOMES WILL
FACE CERTAIN DEATH. MANY RESIDENCES OF AVERAGE CONSTRUCTION
DIRECTLY ON THE COAST WILL BE DESTROYED. WIDESPREAD AND
DEVASTATING PERSONAL PROPERTY DAMAGE IS LIKELY ELSEWHERE. VEHICLES
LEFT BEHIND WILL LIKELY BE SWEPT AWAY. NUMEROUS ROADS WILL BE
SWAMPED...SOME MAY BE WASHED AWAY BY THE WATER. ENTIRE FLOOD PRONE
COASTAL COMMUNITIES WILL BE CUTOFF. WATER LEVELS MAY EXCEED 9 FEET
FOR MORE THAN A MILE INLAND. COASTAL RESIDENTS IN MULTI-STORY
FACILITIES RISK BEING CUTOFF. CONDITIONS WILL BE WORSENED BY
BATTERING WAVES. SUCH WAVES WILL EXACERBATE PROPERTY DAMAGE...WITH
MASSIVE DESTRUCTION OF HOMES...INCLUDING THOSE OF BLOCK
CONSTRUCTION. DAMAGE FROM BEACH EROSION COULD TAKE YEARS TO
REPAIR.

That's really staggering. My family went to Galveston for spring break this year. It could be a very different place in a few days.

[OnBaseMachine]

The updated storm surge graph is showing some parts of Texas could get 24-27 foot of storm surge.

[OnBaseMachine]

Cubs-Astros expected to be postponed
Chicago to return home after Thursday's game in St. Louis
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com

ST. LOUIS -- The Cubs' weekend games in Houston against the Astros are expected to be postponed, and the Cubs will head back to Chicago after Thursday's game against St. Louis to avoid Hurricane Ike, which is churning in the Gulf of Mexico and heading in the direction of Texas.

The Cubs and Astros are scheduled to open a three-game series Friday at Minute Maid Park. There was talk about having the Cubs and Astros play a day game Friday instead of a night game, but all plans are on hold.

The Cubs expected to make an official announcement prior to Thursday's game against the Cardinals. The Astros will

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[deltachi8]

Have you been through a hurricane? No blizzard ever made me feel as small and insignificant as a hurricane has.

This is my first, but to be fair, I am not in an evacuation zone nor along water. (I am about an hour inland). If i lived in Galveston, I would probably feel different.

Blizzards - a real nasty one - can make you feel helpless as well, and cold, so very cold....

Interesting that the winds of the storm still have not picked up as of yet - still at a Cat 2 (100 mph)....

[OnBaseMachine]

The new updated track has this thing hitting Galveston head on. As for the winds, they are still Cat. 2 at 100 mph but Ike has a central pressure characteristic of a Cat. 3 or 4 which means the winds should eventually catch up to the pressure MB. Most of the meteorologists believe Ike will make landfall as a Cat. 3. This is a huge storm, that's for sure.

[SandyD]

My sister lives in Houston, and she's not evacuating. Be safe, everybody.

I've never been through a blizzard, but hurricanes can be very scary, even for those well inland and not under direct threat of storm surge.

"They say" if you're going to ride one out, sleep in shifts. Someone should be tuned to emergency radio station at all times.

Be safe, guys.

[deltachi8]

Path is shifting ever so slightly north...would not surprise me if it follows Rita's path from 2005 with a Beaumont landfall.

[OnBaseMachine]

Path is shifting ever so slightly north...would not surprise me if it follows Rita's path from 2005 with a Beaumont landfall.

Yep. It looks like the current path has it going straight up the Houston Ship Channel but it seems to be moving to the north with each update.

[OnBaseMachine]

Another note - it looks like Ike may make landfall now as a powerful Cat. 2 instead of a Cat 3., but the meteorologists have said it doesn't really matter what category this one is because it's so huge and will cause serious storm surge.

[harangatang]

The new updated track has this thing hitting Galveston head on. As for the winds, they are still Cat. 2 at 100 mph but Ike has a central pressure characteristic of a Cat. 3 or 4 which means the winds should eventually catch up to the pressure MB. Most of the meteorologists believe Ike will make landfall as a Cat. 3. This is a huge storm, that's for sure.

I think Ike will probably make landfall as a Cat. 3. The spatial extent of the storm is humongous so even those who are fortunate to miss the storm surge and hurricane force winds still have the potential to see tornadoes, especially in Louisiana and a lot of flash flooding all throughout the Gulf coast.

[SandyD]

look at how wide the storm surge spread is

[OnBaseMachine]

Winds have increased to 105 now, still a Cat. 2. The path seems to holding steady now and aiming towards Galveston. The surge data is still showing 24-27 feet of surge in some areas. That's incredible for a Cat. 2/3 storm.

[OnBaseMachine]

Apparently there is a fuel freighter trapped about 90 miles off the coast of Galveston carrying 22 people. The coast guard has called off it's attempt to rescue them for now due to 50 foot waves and heavy wind.