IKE and Houston

[johnnyironboard]

5:00 AM cdt Thursday.
My brother and sister and families left Houston last night and are now west of San Antonio. The forecast track has moved north over 200 miles in the last couple of days from Corpus to 30 miles south of Houston. My brother is tuned into the weather- he checks the hurricane sites hourly so I consider him prepared- I'm afraid most in Houston are not and today might be a panic.

[wide lats]

Is there another hurricane due in USA?

[johnnyironboard]

Is there another hurricane due in USA?

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/grap...large#contents

[wide lats]

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/grap...large#contents

I hope everyone gets out of there before 1 on Sunday. Steal cars if they have to.

[johnnyironboard]

I hope everyone gets out of there before 1 on Sunday. Steal cars if they have to.

Most people in Houston are smart enough not to leave their keys in their cars.

[wide lats]

Most people in Houston are smart enough not to leave their keys in their cars.

Hotwiring is no problem if theres death on the horizon ... i said steal cars, not borrow them.

[johnnyironboard]

Hotwiring is no problem if theres death on the horizon ... i said steal cars, not borrow them.

Houston is high ground dumba$$. The vast majority of hurricane deaths come from storm surge.

[Guff]

I live in Houston. We'll be leaving later today to head to my dad's fortress.

[johnnyironboard]

I live in Houston. We'll be leaving later today to head to my dad's fortress.

Good luck- Gasoline should be a top priority before you get on the road. When the mass evac's set in with Gustav gasoline went quick- guys were filling all sorts of gas tanks for generators and such. Which direction are you heading?

[Jimislash]

Good luck- Gasoline should be a top priority before you get on the road. When the mass evac's set in with Gustav gasoline went quick- guys were filling all sorts of gas tanks for generators and such. Which direction are you heading?

Holy heck you are right!!! The lines were full at gas stations last night and a couple of them were already out of gas. People were starting fights and yelling.

[johnnyironboard]

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/...ni-weekly.html

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/dataph.../2008253at.jpg


Hopefully the water temp anomaly and heat potential will keep development down. The heat potential shows the final approach shouldn't have any hot spots and the water temp anomaly looks to be normal.

[farsscf]

Houston is high ground dumba$$. The vast majority of hurricane deaths come from storm surge.

I seem to remember Houston flooding pretty bad after a tropical storm a few years ago. Below is a link to a beach cam by me in NW florida, we are not even close to the storm

http://www.destinpasslive.com/index....d=63&Itemid=87

[johnnyironboard]

I seem to remember Houston flooding pretty bad after a tropical storm a few years ago. Below is a link to a beach cam by me in NW florida, we are not even close to the storm

http://www.destinpasslive.com/index....d=63&Itemid=87

that was from tropical storm Allison- the only tropical storm ever retired. Some parts of Houston got over three feet of rain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Allison

On a side note they induced labor in my sister in law a week before the storm- her due date was the worse day for Houston.

[farsscf]

And you don't think it could happen again with this storm? I live in NW FL and we have roads washed out today from Ike.

BTW, I was there for Allison, it was pretty bad

[johnnyironboard]

And you don't think it could happen again with this storm? I live in NW FL and we have roads washed out today from Ike.

BTW, I was there for Allison, it was pretty bad

no Allison was slow moving came ashore- went north- turned around came back and stalled out for a while. This thing is going to move a lot faster.

wind and lack of power is going to the be the big issue. Lot's of water oaks will come down- shallow roots and heavy trees- they get uprooted.

[Guff]

Houston floods like crazy. It doesn't take much of a storm for many of the areas to be under water. We have a huge drainage problem.

[dartol]

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http:%...711914&t=h&z=7

I live halfway between Houston and Galveston in League City... I am out boarding up now. My area shouldn't flood from storm surge unless it is a 5, though some parts of League City are lower. I think there is too much panic after Katrina, people lose their heads. I have lived here 13 years and only evacuated once, for Rita... and that was because my daughter was just an infant. Turns out staying would have been fine.

Allison flooded the downtown area because it sat and rained on the city for a couple of days. Rain floods are not usually that much of a big deal but they happen often here because the streets are actually part of the floodwater system. Storm surge is another thing entirely... and a cat 5 hit in the wrong place could flood everything up to Beltway 8, the large 'ring' around the city.

Anyway, I plan on riding it out here, as soon as I finish boarding up, we'll be all set. It's quite a workout since I have a 2-story!

Darren

[magnumfreak]

Everyone in Houston be careful. Ike may try to treat you like Tina.

[johnnyironboard]

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http:%...711914&t=h&z=7

I live halfway between Houston and Galveston in League City... I am out boarding up now. My area shouldn't flood from storm surge unless it is a 5, though some parts of League City are lower. I think there is too much panic after Katrina, people lose their heads. I have lived here 13 years and only evacuated once, for Rita... and that was because my daughter was just an infant. Turns out staying would have been fine.

Allison flooded the downtown area because it sat and rained on the city for a couple of days. Rain floods are not usually that much of a big deal but they happen often here because the streets are actually part of the floodwater system. Storm surge is another thing entirely... and a cat 5 hit in the wrong place could flood everything up to Beltway 8, the large 'ring' around the city.

Anyway, I plan on riding it out here, as soon as I finish boarding up, we'll be all set. It's quite a workout since I have a 2-story!

Darren

Be careful Houston hasn't gone through a real hurricane in 25 years.

[farsscf]

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http:%...711914&t=h&z=7

I live halfway between Houston and Galveston in League City... I am out boarding up now. My area shouldn't flood from storm surge unless it is a 5, though some parts of League City are lower. I think there is too much panic after Katrina, people lose their heads. I have lived here 13 years and only evacuated once, for Rita... and that was because my daughter was just an infant. Turns out staying would have been fine.

Allison flooded the downtown area because it sat and rained on the city for a couple of days. Rain floods are not usually that much of a big deal but they happen often here because the streets are actually part of the floodwater system. Storm surge is another thing entirely... and a cat 5 hit in the wrong place could flood everything up to Beltway 8, the large 'ring' around the city.

Anyway, I plan on riding it out here, as soon as I finish boarding up, we'll be all set. It's quite a workout since I have a 2-story!

Darren

Good luck, BTW I used to live in Clear Lake Forest.

[glwanabe]

This is beginning to look a lot like Rita. Houston is now centermass. The next 36-48 hours will be very interesting. With the trend in East movement on the track due to land based surface front movement, it looks like we will be on the West side.

We are in North Houston in Humble, out by IAH. My job is putting us up in rooms out in the woodlands area, and then we will run our operations from a secure hardened facility.

We are set for a few weeks of food and water. Got gas in both vehicles, and we have places to go if the area is uninhabitable.

[farsscf]

FYI, I took this a little while ago at Navarre Beach in NW Florida. The surge here today is some of the highest I have seen. Wherever this hits will be hit hard.

[dbx]

Hotwiring is no problem if theres death on the horizon ... i said steal cars, not borrow them.

Houston is high ground dumba$$. The vast majority of hurricane deaths come from storm surge.

Johnny, Wide Lats has a good point. If people on the high ground start stealing cars...well...I just think death may indeed, become imminent .

[dbx]

FYI, I took this a little while ago at Navarre Beach in NW Florida. The surge here today is some of the highest I have seen. Wherever this hits will be hit hard.

Awesome pic! I just heard they're experiencing 26ft high swells of NO. Not a good thing. This storm is so large that even if it veers westward, NO may well get a piece of that NE corner that does so much damage.

[farsscf]

Another

[dbx]

That's cool too, but the 1st one has the pier for better reference of scale. I wouldn't think that pier could take that kind of beating for more than a day or two.

[farsscf]

It hasn't been usuable since Ivan in 04, maybe it will fall completely soon. These guys are enjoying the wind though.

[johnnyironboard]

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/...ni-weekly.html

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/dataph.../2008253at.jpg


Hopefully the water temp anomaly and heat potential will keep development down. The heat potential shows the final approach shouldn't have any hot spots and the water temp anomaly looks to be normal.

As of the 4:00 am advisory still a 2 hopefully it stays that way. The final approach still seems in not prime area for strengthening- although the physics of making landfall at a 90 degrees might be bad.

[dartol]

Yeah it is getting in the shallower water already at least. I was hoping for more of an eastward turn in the update this morning, but no dice. The current track puts it almost right on top of my house.

Darren

[uncleroman]

Yeah it is getting in the shallower water already at least. I was hoping for more of an eastward turn in the update this morning, but no dice. The current track puts it almost right on top of my house.

Darren

omg people are freaking!