Ike Yikes!

[epiphany65]

Best wishes, and stay safe everybody.

I bitch about the cold winters up here om the Great White North, but at least we don't have to deal with poisonous snakes and other critters, as well as the fury of mother nature when she's pissed. I hope you all manage to ride this one out safely! Take care.

 

[trysail]

If you watch this animation and NOAA's forecast proves accurate, Galveston Island will be completely submerged. There's a reason the forecasters have suggested that those who remain on Galveston should prepare for the storm by "writing their social security number in magic marker somewhere on their arms." If the forecast is accurate, "certain death" is an apt warning.

NOAA animation of Galveston Bay storm surge:

ftp://ftp.tpc.ncep.noaa.gov/surge/Latest/i47_gl2.gif

 

[trysail]

(Fair Use Excerpt)
Hurricane Ike Slams Texas Coast Hours Before Landfall
By Brian K. Sullivan and Tom Korosec

Sept. 12-- Hurricane Ike battered the coast of Texas hours before landfall later today near Galveston, as officials warned of flooding and damage to the region's oil production.

Parts of Galveston were already flooded, and tropical-storm force winds were buffeting the area. A storm surge as high as 25 feet (7.6 meters) could occur in some places, the National Hurricane Center said. About 1.2 million people have evacuated the area around Houston, the fourth-biggest U.S. city, Texas Governor Rick Perry told CNN.

Houston Mayor Bill White said at a press conference that a dawn-to-dusk curfew would be enforced in areas under mandatory evacuation orders to deter looting tonight and tomorrow.

Ike ``has the potential to produce a catastrophic effect,'' said Michael Chertoff, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on a conference call. It's not time ``to play chicken with the storm.''

The storm was a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 110 miles per hour (175 kph), the center said in its 8 p.m. Houston time advisory. Ike is following a track similar to the 1900 Galveston hurricane that killed 8,000 people, the deadliest storm in U.S. history...

...About 40 percent of Galveston's 57,400 people have decided to stay and ride out the storm, Steve LeBlanc, the city manager, said in a televised press conference. The storm surge may be 3 feet higher than the city's 17-foot seawall, he said.

Neighborhoods and coastal communities in the path of the storm surge ``will be inundated during the period of peak storm tide,'' the hurricane center said earlier today. ``Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single-family, one- or two-story homes face the possibility of death.''

Ike's projected path would make it the first storm to hit a major U.S. metropolitan area since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. Ike has the potential to cost insurers $25 billion, ranking it behind Katrina as the second-most expensive storm in U.S. history, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu estimated.

Houston's population is 2.2 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and its metropolitan area, with a population of 5.6 million, is the sixth-largest in the U.S.

``We expect the center of Ike to travel right over downtown Houston after landfall,'' said Dan Kottlowski, expert senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.com in State College, Pennsylvania.

Skyscrapers in downtown Houston may be battered as gusts over 100 mph slam the buildings with debris, he said.

``Our advice is for people to get out of those high-rise buildings,'' he said. ``That's not a good place to be.''

Governor Perry also warned that a 20-foot ``tsunami'' of water may surge up the 54-mile Houston Ship Channel, which serves area refineries.

The area is home to 23 percent of U.S. refining capacity. The region was devastated by Alicia, said Jim Rouiller, a senior energy meteorologist with Planalytics Inc. in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

``The refineries were down for months,'' said Rouiller, who accurately predicted the path of Hurricane Gustav, which struck Louisiana Sept. 1. ``The whole infrastructure around the Houston metropolitan area was devastated.''

Ike's eye was about 70 miles southeast of Galveston, the hurricane center said in the 8 p.m. local time advisory. The system was moving west-northwest at 13 mph. Hurricane conditions are expected to reach the coast later today and Ike's center will be near the coast by late today or early tomorrow, the agency said.

Officials expect 7.8 million people will lose power, Kevin Kolevar, assistant secretary for electricity delivery and energy reliability for the Department of Energy, said on a conference call...

...Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough told reporters that about 200 people had taken shelter in a high school on Galveston Island and that rescuers in high-water vehicles were taking others there. On the Bolivar Peninsula, just east of Galveston Island, an unspecified number of people were rescued by air Friday afternoon as the sliver of land was inundated, he said...

...The U.S. weather center said Ike may strengthen to Category 3, meaning sustained winds of at least 111 mph, before crossing the coast, placing it in the middle rank of the Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity.

Ike's winds cover an area larger than that of Katrina, said Jeff Masters, director of meteorology at private forecaster Weather Underground Inc. Hurricane-force winds stretch across 240 miles, equivalent to the distance between New York to Washington.

The storm is so big that some New Orleans area levees, which were tested by Gustav, again are having water wash over them, Chertoff said...

...The storm has shut 97 percent of Gulf oil production and 93 percent of natural gas output, the Minerals Management Service said yesterday.

 

[trysail]

WTF?
Again?
I am bein attacked by killer hurricanes.
Did I slap a nun and don't remember or sompthing?

Me and Scooter are used to tornadoes, not hurricanes. He hides under the bed when it thunders, if a hurricane comes through he will prolly dig a hole under my bed.

I have 3 oil lamps and a big ice chest. So if the power goes off I can still see and have cold ice tea. Also lots of ritz crackers, peanut butter and pancake syrup.

I think that is all the essentials, food, drink, and lights.

I don't understand how come these hurricanes aren't all goin to Seacat's house like usual, don't hurricanes like florida more than texas?

You'n Scooter are gonna need some rain gear but I think I succeeded in talking Ike into hanging a bit of a right well before "Lisa's House." Unfortunately, I wasn't able to talk him out of dumpin' a fair amount of rain on you. It's good to hear that you're all fixed up with a supply of iced tea and crackers— just keep your powder dry!

I did the best I could with Ike. Sorry— my powers just aren't what they used to be.

 

[trysail]

Station 42019 - Freeport, TX 60 NM South of Freeport, TX

Combined Plot of Wind Speed, Gust and Air Pressure:

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/show_plot.php?station=42019&meas=wdpr&uom=E&time_diff=5&time_label=CDT


Significant Wave Height:

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/show_plot.php?station=42019&meas=sght&uom=E&time_diff=5&time_label=CDT

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/flt/t3/avn-l.jpg

 

[sophia jane]

Tx folks- check in ASAP.

 

[snap1415]

Other than losing the railing from my balcony, a nights' sleep & a year's growth, everything is okay here.

The power came back on just after 8:00.

Huge sigh of relief.

 

[trysail]

Unconfirmed reports are that the storm surge on Galveston Island was much lower (12') than the predicted 25'. Galveston may have (at least partially) dodged a bullet.

 

[R. Richard]

Ike is now in Texas and STILL a hurricane. Galveston is flooded. Houston took major damage. A disaster of incredible proportions. As has been requested before, Texas literotica people please check in. Prayers for those in the path.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/143912.shtml?3day?large#contents

 

[R. Richard]

Ripped off from the Houston Chronicle. Things are bad, but could have been much worse.

Posted by Eric Berger at September 13, 2008 08:18 AM

Did Southeast Texas escape the worst?

For a lot of residents it sure won't feel like it today, or in the coming weeks or months. But here's a preliminary assessment from University of Texas engineer Gordon Wells. I consider the information to be credible.

Galveston Island: Storm surge peaked at 12.4 feet at 02:12 CDT. That measurement places 6-7 feet of water in the bayside area of the city, including UTMB and The Strand.

Galveston Bay communities: All sensors failed during the rising stage of the surge, so no direct measurements are available. Based on the Galveston gage record, storm surge elevations in the communities along the bay and in the Houston Ship Channel should peak in the range of 12-14 feet.

Port Arthur: The gage at Sabine Pass peaked at 14.24 feet at 02:42 CDT. The Port Arthur gauge, which reports hourly, stood at 11.92 feet at 04:00 CDT and was still rising very gradually. It appears that the storm surge along the Port Arthur seawall will peak between 12 and 13 feet, or 1.5-2.0 feet below the threshold for overtopping. Unless the levee fails before water recedes, Port Arthur will survive Ike.

Comment: Damage from inundation caused by storm surge will be widespread across the region, but should not reach the catastrophic level that would have occurred, if several model predictions materialized. Heavy rains continue across the Houston metropolitan region, and bayou flooding may replace the storm surge threat, but if Ike exits the region on schedule, Southeast Texas will have escaped the worst.

All of this doesn't speak to the potential devastation in Galveston, especially for areas beyond the seawall on the island's west end. That's a story that will continue to unfold for days and weeks.

 

[R. Richard]

Ike also hit Louisiana. Any Literotica people from the South Louisiana area? Please check in.

Ike Brings Serious Flooding to Louisiana Coast

LAKE CHARLES, La. -- Officials along the Louisiana coast are reporting serious flooding from Hurricane Ike.

Now that the winds are calming, rescue teams are starting to venture out and answer calls for help. Hundreds of homes have been flooded. Gov. Bobby Jindal says 160 people were rescued Friday and more would likely need help Saturday.

Lake Charles Mayor Randy Roach says flooding there is worse than in Hurricane Rita three years ago. Ike's storm surge has breached levees and flooded areas still recovering from Hurricane Gustav earlier this month.

In Plaquemines Parish near New Orleans, sheriff's spokesman Maj. John Marie says floodwaters are higher than in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Only one injury has been reported there, a deputy whose vehicle hit a submerged levee

 

[matriarch]

Big bro just called in....surprisingly, his phone is working......but there;s no power and no water.....damage consists merely of a few tiles off his roof, and a couple of trees down in the garden.

The main trouble, is, like everyone else........no powere = no AC, no fridge, no cooking, no hot water, no showers.......he has a barbeque so he's cooking food on that, he has a camping gas stove to boil water for coffee and tea....but of course, like everyone else, the freezer contents will have to be binned.

They've been told the power will be off for at least 2 weeks, his power company has around 2,000 customers. I have no idea how many electric companies there are in that area.

I'm just delighted he's ok, his house is ok.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Big bro just called in....surprisingly, his phone is working......but there;s no power and no water.....damage consists merely of a few tiles off his roof, and a couple of trees down in the garden.

The main trouble, is, like everyone else........no powere = no AC, no fridge, no cooking, no hot water, no showers.......he has a barbeque so he's cooking food on that, he has a camping gas stove to boil water for coffee and tea....but of course, like everyone else, the freezer contents will have to be binned.

They've been told the power will be off for at least 2 weeks, his power company has around 2,000 customers. I have no idea how many electric companies there are in that area.

I'm just delighted he's ok, his house is ok.

All right, that's the first good report. Now we need to hear from Sweetness as soon as she finds out about her relatives and friends and TxRed, Lee, etc.

 

[R. Richard]

Big bro just called in....surprisingly, his phone is working......but there;s no power and no water.....damage consists merely of a few tiles off his roof, and a couple of trees down in the garden.

The main trouble, is, like everyone else........no powere = no AC, no fridge, no cooking, no hot water, no showers.......he has a barbeque so he's cooking food on that, he has a camping gas stove to boil water for coffee and tea....but of course, like everyone else, the freezer contents will have to be binned.

They've been told the power will be off for at least 2 weeks, his power company has around 2,000 customers. I have no idea how many electric companies there are in that area.

I'm just delighted he's ok, his house is ok.

If you live in hurricane country or earthquake country, you need to have an emergency generator for no power times. You can then extract a day's food from the 'fridge'/freezer and then run the emergency generator long enough to re-establish the proper temperatures. The manufacturer can tell you about how long.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

If you live in hurricane country or earthquake country, you need to have an emergency generator for no power times. You can then extract a day's food from the 'fridge'/freezer and then run the emergency generator long enough to re-establish the proper temperatures. The manufacturer can tell you about how long.

I think that may be on our "To Do" list coming up right smart, here. Good advice, bro.

 

[sweetness6280]

All right, that's the first good report. Now we need to hear from Sweetness as soon as she finds out about her relatives and friends and TxRed, Lee, etc.

I have heard from most of my family, and everyone is fine. Some flooding, some wind damage, but fine. My sis-in-law's home is close to an area that sustained some major damage, but she is in California on vacation, so we won't know for a bit how her house fared.

I don't know anything about my friends yet, but I really was not expecting to hear anything until things settle down there. If they sought shelter (crossing fingers), it may be a while before they are able to call.

Thankfully, Ike stayed on the low end of predictions. Maybe this means we are looking at rescue efforts today, and few, if any, recovery efforts.

TxRad is probably still getting hit, based on what the radar looks like now. Lee will be without power, probably for a while. Keeping them, and those around them, in my prayers.

 

[R. Richard]

By the way, the telephone companies have battery backups on their land lines and then emergency generators. When there is no power and nothing else works, the telephone still works.

If the land lines are down, the repair crews go out as soon as the storm/earthquake has passed. They get the lines back up quickly. When the phone guys have proved that it's safe, the government people ease into action.

 

[Lisa Denton]

Still only light rains in north texas but its early yet and I wouldn't be surprised at some severe weather later.

I was checking around, bad damages and at least one death and the search and rescue crews still haven't been able to get into many areas.

News report about FEMA:

*********************************************************

HOUSTON (AP) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency says search and rescue teams are at the ready in Houston, poised to go to the aid of those stranded by Hurricane Ike.

But a FEMA spokesman, Mark Stone, says crews hadn't received any rescue calls by early Saturday afternoon. And Stone says teams don't "go out blindly" until calls come in.

At a sports arena in Houston, tractor-trailers and large sport utility vehicles sat idle as the vast storm churned northward across the state. Stone says federal officials are now seeking to pinpoint the hardest-hit areas.

Elsewhere in Texas, authorities say they have already been deluged by emergency calls from people on cell phones awaiting rescue from flooded homes.

******************************************************

The news could get worse as reports come in, but some good news is coming in. In one small town the single resident who didn't evacuate was drunk and waving to rescue workers who arrived.

Hoping for less bad news, and more good news.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

So far, so good, folks. Y'know, I really think God loves us perverts. Got a sense of humor, He does.

 

[Lisa Denton]

Winds gusting like hell occasionally, but just a nice steady rain which we have been needing here.

Hope the rescue crews there risking thier safety to get into those badly hit areas all come out ok.

 

[R. Richard]

Winds down to 45MPH as of 4PM Eastern. Ike moving North and East. Probably a lot more rain, but probably a tropical depression now.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/143912.shtml?3day?large#contents

 

[SlickTony]

My daughter and my mother live in Taylor Lake Village, in the Clear Lake area of Harris county. Yesterday they decided it would be best for them to evacuate to the house of my daughter's fiance, who lives farther inland.

She said that now it's all over, but they have no power. The fiance doesn't have a generator, but he does have battery packs to run a DSL connection. Now there's a guy who has his priorities straight. Communications uber alles!

She and my mother don't think their house got flooded or anything--true, TWC showed some pretty apocalyptic looking stuff going down in that area, but she feels TWC always shows he worst stuff.

My sister and her husband live on Galveson Island. I had naturally assumed they had evacuated, as they did in Rita, but can you believe it? They stayed.

My daughter said she'd heard they were doing ok. Of course they're in campout mode because of no power, but so is everybody else.

 

[R. Richard]

Ike is now a tropical depression and should be in Missouri or Illinois. The damage in Texas and Louisiana is now over and the cleanup begins. Any word from Literotica people in Texas or Louisiana?

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/143912.shtml?3day?large#contents

 

[Lisa Denton]

Ike is now a tropical depression and should be in Missouri or Illinois. The damage in Texas and Louisiana is now over and the cleanup begins. Any word from Literotica people in Texas or Louisiana?

I'm still here.

Gov Perry, who is not only a republican, but also a asshole, made the right decisions and sent in the national guard.

Downtown Houston is a mess, and under curfew.

Worst news I have heard so far is that the causeway (roadbridge) to Galveston is not just closed but actually buckled in some spots. That will make getting those people food and water harder.

I have heard of a few deaths, search and rescues crews warn that bad news awaits amid some rubble, but the "certain death" phrase appears to have been just the national weather services way of saying "never listen to us."

In north Texas we got the rain we have been needing, some wind damage we never need, but not much else.

Anyone who wants to send some good vibes to the search and rescue crews, they still desperately need it.

 

[AvoidingRealWork]

Ike's starting to come through where I live now. Not a lot of wind, but it's raining cats and dogs.