Hurricane Ike and Topical Storm Hanna

[MissieMt]

Apparently the storm is not weakening like they had expected it too. On this video clip Jim Cantore talks about it in the last 2-3 mins of the video.
http://www.weather.com/multimedia/videoplayer.html?clip=328&from=36hr_outlet_video

 

[Buzz Mills]

Over 4 million without power, which could be out as long as 2-3 weeks.

 

[Sassygerl]

Has anyone seen any reports from Galveston??? If Geraldo could be on camera I know he would! It worries me that we aren't hearing from them, however hopefully they just lost satelittes, etc....

 

[beth272]

Anyone near Sugar Land? Just west of Houston I think...,my best friend lives there with her husband and new baby, I am very worried as I cant get in contact with her. Hope everyone stays safe! Many prayers coming your way...

 

[raisincharlie]

If any of you folks have Direct TV - KHOU has been airing constantly since yesterday and is still on this am - lots of information coming out about specific areas etc. I am in the central time zone and KHOU is being shown on chanel 361.

Hope this will help some of you who may be seeking info about specific areas in and around Houston. It is very bad. Have seen some footage from Galveston this am - emergency crews are able to get out to try and help those who stayed behind. Lots of flooding everywhere.

 

[Dark Knight]

Well for as bad as it is, I have to say praise the Lord that the storm surge was "only" 13.5 feet, rather than 20-25 feet as expected.

 

[mysteriew]

The freighter crew made it.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/09/13/ike.rescue/

 

[mysteriew]

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.

http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2008/09/did_southeast_t.html

 

[mysteriew]

The Houston Chron has worked hard. They updated all last night and are updated today.
http://www.chron.com/

 

[mysteriew]

It remained unclear how many people may have perished as the worst of Ike was passing over the Houston-Galveston area. But even before daylight arrived, damage was considered extensive. Thousands of homes and government buildings flooded, roads were washed out, 2.9 million people lost power and several fires burned unabated as crews could not reach them.

The biggest fear was that tens of thousands of people had defied orders to flee and would need to be rescued from submerged homes and neighborhoods.

As dawn broke, emergency officials were fielding pleas for help from residents along the coast who remained behind and were trapped in their homes. Gov. Rick Perry mobilized 7,500 National Guard troops and his homeland security chief, Steve McGraw, said rescues would start as soon as crews could safely go out.

The eye of the storm powered ashore at 3:10 a.m. EDT at Galveston with 110 mph winds, just shy of a Category 3 storm. Because Ike was so huge — nearly as big as Texas itself — hurricane winds pounded the coast for hours before landfall and would continue through much of the morning, with the worst winds and rain after the center came ashore, forecasters said.

By 9 a.m. EDT, the stubborn storm system had weakened a Category 1 with winds near 90 mph as it moved inland and passed Houston. It was expected to turn toward Arkansas later in the day.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jG1m4XT341oCKXPMIZlKffdhP9vwD935S9M00

 

[mysteriew]

Galveston News is updated! Looks like one or two new stories since I was there last night.

http://www.galvnews.com/

 

[mysteriew]

LAKE CHARLES, La. — Hurricane Ike's storm surge inundated hundreds of homes in Cameron Parish and flooded parts of Lake Charles -- 30 miles north of the Gulf Coast -- as rescue teams waited for winds to calm Saturday before launching search and rescue missions.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...hwest/stories/091308dntxswikela.707602ab.html

 

[Noway]

My brother lives in Houston area and was able to text even when he did not have cell phone service last time they evacuated (Rita, 3 years ago).

For those trying to reach family, you might try that.

I did get message from him through my brother (not sure whether text) and while they suffered tree damage and have no power, they are okay.

This was Richmond, TX area ...

 

[mysteriew]

City officials announced at 9:30 p.m. Friday that they had no reports that Hurricane Ike had caused any loss of life.

However, they are worried enough what they will find after sunrise to attempt to control media access to damaged areas.

“We just don’t know what we’ll find,” said City Manager Steve LeBlanc.

Crews will go out at first light to begin to assess damage.
http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=deafa0e0fe352ae4

So it may be a while before we hear the toll in Galveston.

 

[mysteriew]

My brother lives in Houston area and was able to text even when he did not have cell phone service last time they evacuated (Rita, 3 years ago).

For those trying to reach family, you might try that.

I did get message from him through my brother (not sure whether text) and while they suffered tree damage and have no power, they are okay.

This was Richmond, TX area ...

Thank you NoWay. Good suggestion. And also the more we hear about individual areas, the better idea we can get about the extent of the damage.

 

[mysteriew]

GALVESTON - No one thought it would be this bad. But by 1 a.m., when the eye brought momentary respite from Hurricane Ike’s raging winds and driving rain, island residents began to realize just how bad it was.
http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=042527f1a5909807

The story of a family's escape.

 

[mysteriew]

If this follows the usual patterns, we will hear the survivor stories and the news about outlying areas first. It may be afternoon or even evening before we hear about the hardest hit areas. The good news (I think), I am not seeing the same type of survivor stories as what I saw with Katrina. Even early after Katrina survivor stories talked about seeing dead bodies floating in the streets. The most heartbreaking stories will come after the rescuers start talking.

 

[Sassygerl]

Anyone near Sugar Land? Just west of Houston I think...,my best friend lives there with her husband and new baby, I am very worried as I cant get in contact with her. Hope everyone stays safe! Many prayers coming your way...

I have family there...they are ok but damage there and no power.

 

[mysteriew]

Has anyone seen any reports from Galveston??? If Geraldo could be on camera I know he would! It worries me that we aren't hearing from them, however hopefully they just lost satelittes, etc....

Galveston Resident Rides Out Storm

Marjorie Anderson Henck, 67, heard a cry in the night: a feeble meow of a stray kitten.

She could hear it only because the eye of Hurricane Ike had passed over Galveston and the screaming storm had gone into a temporary hush.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/13/AR2008091301156.html

 

[mysteriew]

The storm flooded Galveton's historic district with 7 feet of water, which has since subsided to 4 feet, according to Galveston County official Margaret Bunch. A foot of water flooded the city's main courthouse, where many people rode out the storm, she said.

A fire broke out at a Galveston yacht basin, where boats are stored and fixed, said Galveston Fire Chief Michael Varela Sr., and firefighters were unable to reach it because the area was flooded with about 8 feet of water.

Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc said about 40 percent of the city's 57,523 residents chose to stay despite evacuation orders. "It's unfortunate that the warnings that we sent out were not heeded," he said.

On Friday, authorities rescued more than 120 people stranded by rising seas along the southeast Texas coast.

iReporter Matteu Erchull was among those who chose to remain on Galveston Island. "We have a lot of faith in the sea wall, and we have boards on the windows. Most people on the island live on second or third stories, so they don't have to worry about the water so much." iReport.com: See Erchull bracing for Ike

Erchull later took shelter on the second floor of a restaurant in Galveston and said late Friday he could see fires burning in the northwest of the island.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/09/13/hurricane.ike.texas/?xid=site-cnn-partner