Hope Everything will be OK ...

[Whirlpool]

Hurricane IKE

Massive hurricane nears Category 3 strength with winds of 110 mph, threatens to swamp parts of Texas.

How are you doing Texans?

[filrabat]

I hope all the fellow all the fellow SE Texas/SW Louisiana posters are safe.

This Texas resident (not a native) --- doing fine, but I'm 300 miles away from the coast.

The Galveston Bay area is getting it rough as of now. Winds gusts up to 105 MPH (168 kph).According to the Weather Channel, the Eye is right over Galveston Island/Galveston Bay at 2:10 am Saturday (Central US Time, GMT -6). Storm surge of about 11 feet in most spots. The surge topped the sea wall. Galveston County CH is under 6 feet (1.8 meters) of water. As of about 1 or 2 hrs ago, Houston's Hobby Airport recorded sustained winds of 83 MPH (133 kph) I stayed up to watch The Weather Channel for the Landfall. Significant power loss in the area.

Tomorrow: Inland Hurricane Warning for areas due north of Houston to about 150 miles (250 km) inland. Dallas-Ft Worth, NE Texas, and NW Louisiana will have an Inland Tropical Storm Warning, starting 3 Hrs from now (it's farily calm now). So I'll have something to wake up to (grrrr).

Canceled my first orienteering meet, scheduled for this afternoon. Yep, I decided orienteering is something to check out (racing with a map and compass, finding objects). Well, time for me to shut this down,,so I can shut my eyes.

Will take care here, even if only lots of rain and only 25 to 35 mph (40 to 65 kph) winds (gusts to 50mph/80kph)

[geonuc]

My brother-in-law decided to stick it out in his mobile home in Dickinson, TX (between Galveston and Houston). I hope that worked out well for him. Not sure how much input sis-in-law had in that decision.

[jrkeller]

I left for Dallas on Thursday. While it took me longer than usual to get here, the evacuation was much better than Rita.

I'm sure my home was damaged, but hopefully not flooded.

[mahesh]

http://static.die.net/earth/mercator/1600.jpg

http://www.die.net/earth/?zoom=2 *

the latter one is latest.

looks quite vicious. i hope for the best, for all. thinking of you.

*edit: live link...obviously will change.

[sarongsong]

Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /earth/mercator/1600.jpg on this server.

[jrkeller]

According to some Bulliten Board posters on one of the local TV News sites the Clear Lake Area, where NASA is, did not flood. Some areas even have power. Lots of broken tree limbs, but not much else. The local weather stations reports about 60-75 mile an hour winds with gusts to 90s.

Looking at the wind direction, which was from the North in my area, it appears that most of Houston was on the west side of Ike.

[Argos]

Been thinking of you. I hope you all folks are Ok.

Btw, what´s the real situation in Galveston [since the news media seem to be pretty unreliable with their end-of-the-world tales]?

Stay well.

[mahesh]

saronsong i'm sorry you couldn't open it. it said the same for me after link/test, but i refreshed it and it's been fine.

here are a couple i saved from early hours today. they open with MS windows / fax viewer (on mine).

and this, about two hours ago.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7613598.stm

y'all in our thoughts....

[jrkeller]

From the news reports and what I know of Galveston, it looks like it survived. Lots of flooding, but nothing excessive.

[KaiYeves]

So, MOCR is okay? Thank goodness!

[geonuc]

My BIL and SIL are OK in Dickinson. Some damage to the garage and barn but nothing major. Not sure if they have any power.

[Jim]

We were planning to ride it out; our home is in Zone B and can (in theory, anyway) handle a 1 or 2. However, Thursday morning Ike was forecast to reach Cat 3 by landfall, with 20' storm surge. A mandatory evac was called for Zone B.

So, I left work and hurried home to board up and get out to Fort Worth.

The evac was easier this time... fewer people leaving. But, there were still some problems with traffic snarls. No contraflow this time, and it showed. We averaged 50mph on I45, and did have some stop and go periods, too. (Some people should just stay off the roads at times like these; they can't handle it.)

We stopped for dinner in Huntsville and spoke with a couple from NoTex who had gone to La Marque to evac their boat.

We'll head back as soon as they'll let us. Based on reports on the KHOU site, our area did fairly well... tree limbs down, fences down, some roof damage... and some areas still have power (seems to be those with underground lines, which we have).

We were able to watch a KHOU live feed on Direct TV, so we got to see the guy in a teddy bear costume walking Seawall Blvd Friday evening, and the guy flying a kite outside the KHOU studios later that night.

[danscope]

Hi Jim,
Hope all is well for you and all.
May this be the last storm to weather for this season.
Best regards, Dan

[Tinaa]

I was worried about you Jim. Glad you posted.

[Hydro]

A huge pine forest should not be in a hurricane zone! People compare East Texas with the Pacific Northwest, but without the mountains.

We had several trees snap and fall, as the tall pines tend to do that. I live about 50 miles from the gulf due north, and the outer bands here were at least 60-70 mph sustained, and we were probably 60 miles from the eye.

After Gustav just grazed us recently, and now Ike's near miss, I sure hope the next one is not the bullseye!

All in all, not near as intense as Rita was for us here in East Texas. Still without power however.

[jrkeller]

I talked to the ex this morning. She made a trip to her home which is in Clear Lake too. She said a tree hit her chimney and a little water got inside, but it was wind driven rain and not flooding. Since she's at a lower elevation and closer to the water than I am, I know I don't have any flooding. I do however have two big trees near my house. Hopefully they are still standing.

[alexvorn2]

Great that I'm not from Texas.

[chrissy]

Great that I'm not from Texas.

I think your response in this thread is not called for, we are lucky we don't live in a country that doesn't have any serious hurricanes, but we worry for others who are suffering because of the bad weather they have to endure every year.


I am glad Tinaa and Jim are ok. Nice to hear from you guys.

[Neverfly]

I think your response in this thread is not called for, we are lucky we don't live in a country that doesn't have any serious hurricanes, but we worry for others who are suffering because of the bad weather they have to endure every year.


I am glad Tinaa and Jim are ok. Nice to hear from you guys.

I'm glad that I'm not in Canada

[chrissy]

I'm glad that I'm not in Canada

I think canada might be greatful for that small mercy

[Neverfly]

I think canada might be greatful for that small mercy

Hey now! I had some interesting offers...

[mugaliens]

Thanks, Chrissy, for your comments. Having grown up mostly in hurricane country, and having spent a few more years there as an adult, including trees landing on my roof during a hurricane..., I thank you.

Neverfly - thanks for the comic relief. I didn't know you placed personal ads in Canada... Anything promising?

[Neverfly]

Neverfly - thanks for the comic relief. I didn't know you placed personal ads in Canada... Anything promising?

Promising? no.

Interesting? Yes. Hang on and I'll PM you the picture of the hairy man in the wedding dress.

[chrissy]

It wasn't this one?

[chrissy]

Your welcome Mugs.

[Neverfly]

It wasn't this one?

No. That one was from Turkey.
Whole different story... I was pretending to be an illegal transvestite New Yorker in London back then.

[Whirlpool]

It's nice to hear that all of you are fine despite the Calamity.

I'm thinking of you all.

[Drunk Vegan]

Allow me to throw in my best wishes as well.

I was supposed to fly down to the Johnson Space Center today, but my trip was canceled days ago in anticipation of Ike.

Had my flight been a few days sooner I would have been stuck down there as well.

Hope everyone's okay and luck is with you all in Texas.

[jrkeller]

The sewer plant in my town got flooded and is out for a few more days. Because of that, city officials are not lettig anyone back into the city. You can visit, but not stay. Still no power.