Some random pics of some Ike happenings…

Pics I took before and after Ike before the flood that drove us out.

Random pics I found from another person that was in Houston as well.

Once I have more I will post.

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Ike! has gone and so have we….

Currently I am writing from Bastrop, Texas approximately 30 miles south of Austin, Texas.

The Ike hurrican we survived with little water damage in one of the lowest rooms of the house, but then we had thunderstorm showers that started at about 2a.m. on Sunday morning that brought in lots, and lots of water. The end result we woke up to approx. 1 foot of water inside the entire home. Only enough time to pack up the essentials and get out of there. Everyone got out okay and we secured and left our home aka fish tank

We are now up here in Bastrop at the Days Inn waiting for things to get back to normal once again in Houston. No sense in going back right now no electricity, no water and no fuel to get out in case you need to.

Hopefully things will get back to normal I feel bad for all those people in Galveston that completely lost everything except the lot that their house once stood on. For us we just get to go home and now have a two-tone wall unless we go and use the color match thingamajiggie from Home Depot.

I was not able to get any pictures of the water in the home, not a pretty site I might add but I do have some pics post home flood which I will upload soon.

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11:35am Ike / Houston Update

Well as previosly posted Ike made landfall at about 5am on this side of Houston. We are still getting some rain and strong wind gusts I would have to say that the wind gusts are approx. 30-40 miles.

Damage so far is as follows:

Power across Houston is out with what I last heard was approx. 3.5 mil households.

Flooding is taking place across most parts of Houston and we got water in the lowest room in the house. Storm surge has passed now just for the water to start heading south again.

Trees down, tree limbs everywhere. Once water starts going down will get out there and take some pics.

Wooden fences down everywhere we also had a portion of the wooden fence knocked down by the wind gusts.

Home damage is our neighborhood is mostly from debris and trees ripped out from the ground and falling on them. We cannot tell at this time if we have any home damaage at this time.

Hopefully power will be restored soon as we did not get a chance to pick up a generator. I am having to blog from my cell providers service, Verizon so I am glad this is still working.

Will update as time permits.

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1a.m. Ike in Hoston update

Up on the north side of Houston (I-45 N @ Gulf Bank) we are currently starting to see high winds. Rain will soon start coming down on this end. Earlier went out to move vehicles and saw several tree limbs everywhere. I spoke to family earlier that live on the east side of Houston (I-10 east @ Normandy) high winds lots of rain and fences goiing down as well as some trees.

Will update in a few hours as nature allows the time is now 1:08am.

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Ike’s eye will likely look over Houston!!

HURRICANE IKE ADVISORY NUMBER 42
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL092008
1000 AM CDT THU SEP 11 2008

…IKE CONTINUES TO GROW IN SIZE BUT HAS NOT STRENGTHENED YET…
…HURRICANE WARNING ISSUED FOR NORTHWESTERN GULF COAST…

AT 10 AM CDT…1500 UTC…A HURRICANE WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FROM
MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA TO BAFFIN BAY TEXAS. HURRICANE CONDITIONS
COULD REACH THE COAST WITHIN THE WARNING AREA BY LATE FRIDAY.

AT 10 AM CDT…A TROPICAL STORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FROM SOUTH
OF BAFFIN BAY TO PORT MANSFIELD TEXAS. A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS
IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM EAST OF MORGAN CITY
TO THE MISSISSIPPI-ALABAMA BORDER…INCLUDING THE CITY OF NEW
ORLEANS AND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA…INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS…PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AT 1000 AM CDT…1500Z…THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IKE WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 25.5 NORTH…LONGITUDE 88.4 WEST OR ABOUT 580 MILES…
930 KM…EAST-SOUTHEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI TEXAS AND ABOUT 470 MILES
…760 KM…EAST-SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TEXAS.

IKE IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 10 MPH…17 KM/HR. A
GENERAL WEST-NORTHWESTWARD MOTION IS EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT DAY OR
SO…AND THE CENTER OF IKE SHOULD BE VERY NEAR THE COAST BY LATE
FRIDAY. HOWEVER…BECAUSE IKE IS A VERY LARGE TROPICAL
CYCLONE…WEATHER WILL DETERIORATE ALONG THE COASTLINE LONG BEFORE
THE CENTER REACHES THE COAST.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 100 MPH…160 KM/HR…WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. IKE IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE.
IKE IS FORECAST TO BECOME A MAJOR HURRICANE PRIOR TO REACHING THE
COASTLINE.

IKE REMAINS A VERY LARGE TROPICAL CYCLONE. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS
EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 115 MILES…185 KM…FROM THE CENTER…AND
TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 275 MILES…445 KM.

THE LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY A NOAA HURRICANE
HUNTER AIRCRAFT WAS 945 MB…27.91 INCHES.

COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF UP TO 20 FT ABOVE NORMAL TIDE
LEVELS…ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES…CAN BE
EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE EAST OF WHERE THE CENTER OF IKE MAKES
LANDFALL. COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 5 TO 7 FEET ABOVE NORMAL
TIDE LEVELS…ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS WAVES…CAN BE
EXPECTED WITHIN THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING AREA ALONG THE NORTHERN
GULF COAST. ABOVE NORMAL TIDES IN THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO SHOULD
GRADUALLY SUBSIDE OVER THE NEXT DAY OR SO.

IKE IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES ALONG
THE CENTRAL AND UPPER TEXAS COAST AND OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHWESTERN
LOUISIANA…WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 15 INCHES POSSIBLE.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF THE
YUCATAN PENINSULA.

REPEATING THE 1000 AM CDT POSITION…25.5 N…88.4 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD…WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 10 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…100
MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…945 MB.

AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CENTER AT 100 PM CDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 400
PM CDT.

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Hurrican Ike on the terror path!!

Hurricane Watch Is Issued For Port Mansfield Texas to Cameron Louisiana

Hurricane Ike Continues to Reorganizing…..Now a Category 2 Hurricane

Models Shift a Little Closer to Houston

My Greatest Area of Concern for a Category 4 Eye Landfall…..Freeport to Rockport
(Probable Landfall near Sargent)

At 4 PM CDT Category 2 Hurricane Ike Was Located at…..24.5N…..86.1W

This is 609 miles East-Southeast of Galveston
and 658 Miles East-Southeast of Downtown Houston
and 722 Miles East-Southeast of the Corpus Christi Plant
and 758 Miles East of the Hidalgo / Magic Valley Plants

Ike is Moving Northwest (310 Degrees) Near 8 MPH…..A West-Northwest Forward Motion With Some
Occasional Northwest Wobbles Can Be Expected The Next Day Or So

Maximum Sustained Winds Are Near 100 MPH…..with Gust to 125 MPH
Hurricane Force Winds Extend Outward up to 90 Miles from the Center
Tropical Storm Force Winds Extend Outward up to 205 Miles From The Center

Reconnaissance Measured Minimum Central Pressure at 2:39 PM CDT was…..958 Mb’s…..28.29″

Closed Circular Eye 10 Miles in Diameter

The consensus of this afternoon’s objective model guidance suite moved the landfall prediction up the coast a little closer to the Galveston / Houston area. Evidently they are sensing a slightly weaker mid level ridge over Eastern / Northern TX by Friday night. It would not surprise me if the models inch a little closer to the Houston area the next two days. The official forecast will be nudged to the north as well to better align with the guidance. Otherwise…..there is no change to the synoptic pattern as described in my morning report.

Ike continues to reorganize…..and is on its way to becoming a major hurricane. The latest report from the reconnaissance aircraft indicated the pressure has stabilized around 958 millibars for the time being. However…..the very large windfield is gradually responding upward to the corresponding pressure gradient…..and is now at Category 2. A pressure of 958 qualifies for Category 3 but the wind speed is lagging because currently there are two wind maxima areas within 90 miles of the center instead of one. The shear remains light in a large diffluent upper level wind pattern that covers a significant part of the GOM, Caribbean Sea and adjacent areas of the Atlantic Ocean. Outflow continues excellent in all quadrants. Ike is expected to reform a distinct eye structure
later on tonight or Thursday. If the eye gets well established then another round of intensification will occur. There is a very good chance Ike will become a Category 4 hurricane within the next 24 hours or so!

Ike will be a large hurricane…..and could have very similar effects as hurricane Carla produced in 1961 which came inland at Port O’Connor…..Carla had a pressure of 931 millibars and wind gust over 150 MPH in the eyewall…..Galveston had wind gust of 115 MPH. Everyone from the Houston area to our plants in the valley should be ready for a direct indirect direct hit of a major hurricane Saturday. This is especially true for folks in the Houston /
Corpus Christi area. If Ike is a Category 4 at landfall near Matagorda…..then the Houston Metro area can expect
wind gust of 70 to 100 MPH or a little more northeast to southwest across the city. This estimate will be
reevaluated as Ike gets closer to the coast and we see just how strong of a hurricane we can expect at landfall.

The latest official landfall forecast was moved north to near Matagorda…..about 100 miles
northeast of Corpus Christi and 80 miles southwest of Galveston. I have shifted my landfall
forecast window to between Freeport and Rockport…..with a probable landfall near Sargent.

Next Scheduled Update…..10:30 to 11:00 tonight

For storm trajectory or more information

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