Major Hurricane Ike

Galveston Hospital is taking on water, first floor (all or part, no clarification) is under water.

Haven't heard from Jim Cantore since he walked off camera. Oddly, another TWC anchor (Stephanie Abrams, I believe) is in Galveston with Jim, and she mentioned a short while ago via audio that she's been trying to get hold of him. She's taking shelter in a stairwell at the hotel's parking garage, or at "a" parking garage. The audio was a little choppy, couldn't tell for sure.
I hope Jim's okay...

Here's Ike.

...simple observation: NYT reports, "40 percent of the city’s 57,000 residents had ignored an order to evacuate" Galveston. Their HOSPITAL is nearly inoperable; the water itself has reached heights north of any HUMAN BEING. Wi-fi here is slow, slowing for live-feed news -- any reports of these potential missing persons, rescued?!!

www.nytimes.com...



[edit on 13-9-2008 by arktkchr]

Sabine Pass, on the TX/LA border, has just reported the highest water (surge) level on record, beating the surge of Audrey in 1957 by half a foot.
-MSNBC

And the worst of the storm surge has not reached land yet...

I think 57,000 was the total pop. of Galveston. It was in an article on page 11 I think. 20,000 stayed behind. Thats still too many...

reply to post by HERACAT


...thanks for the heads-up -- info. overload.



[edit on 13-9-2008 by arktkchr]

725k without power now, and the number will go up dramatically. Power restoration estimates are being measured in weeks, not days.

Galveston is going to take a direct hit. Landfall looks to be about 90 min away. The outer edge of the eyewall should cross Galveston within 45-60 min.

From what I heard on CNN on the way home today, there were "some people" who stayed behind and had to be rescued, but there was only one still in Galveston who has yet to be found. Oh, and a couple that stayed behind lost their dog..

Really.. some people's behavior seems to be the equivalent of standing on top of a mountain, in the middle of a thunderstorm, wearing copper armor and screaming "I hate god!"

You have to do what's smart in these sorts of situations..

reply to post by Inannamute


Not sure if that was Galveston, I do know that there was a 19 year old who they had to give up searching for down near North Padre Island though.

So, the eye is about to touch land?? Could people with access to tv and/or wherever the updates are coming from, keep the rest of us updated?
I cannot believe people actually wanted to stay behind and take this storm on.

EDIT: typo

[edit on 13-9-2008 by LostNemesis]

Originally posted by Inannamute
From what I heard on CNN on the way home today, there were "some people" who stayed behind and had to be rescued, but there was only one still in Galveston who has yet to be found. Oh, and a couple that stayed behind lost their dog..

"Some people" = over 20,000. Here are some of them.
I don't know what you mean about "only one still in Galveston who has yet to be found;" could you expand on that?

Galveston Officials: Forty percent ignoring mandatory evacuation

reply to post by LostNemesis


See my satellite picture posted above. The eye has already touched land. You can see updated satellite pics here.

Hm, maybe I misheard ( I listen to CNN on satellite radio in my car, so sometimes I miss things since I don't have a tv screen ).. they may have been talking about some random town, I'm not sure..

Originally posted by LostNemesis
So, the eye is about to touch land?? Could people with access to tv and/or wherever the updates are coming from, keep the rest of us updated?

Galveston radar loop - you'll be able to watch the eyewall hit land.
I'm updating from several sources as new, important info comes out. I'll be here for awhile!

TWC just showed footage of one of the anchors (Mike Bettis maybe?) in Houston get blown off his feet and into some bushes. That's pretty far inland still.

Sorry Hellmutt, but your satellite image shows a dry slot, not the eye:

AT 1 AM CDT...0600Z...THE CENTER OF LARGE HURRICANE IKE WAS
ESTIMATED BY NOAA DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR TO BE NEAR LATITUDE 29.0
NORTH...LONGITUDE 94.7 WEST OR ABOUT 20 MILES...35 KM...
SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TEXAS. THE NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF THE
EYE SHOULD BE MOVING OVER THE GALVESTON AREA IN THE NEXT HOUR OR
TWO.

reply to post by Shugo


Ok. I thought it was the eye. It'll make landfall soon then, I guess...

Apparently a lot of structures fires in Galveston, Houston. Brennan's in Downtown HOU burning down, famous place.

How Bizarre and Awful. Like, all of the elements coming together at once.

Thanks guys, for keeping this thread updated.

Damn having to work late into the night, and not having a tv in the bedroom. =/

Tomorrow maybe we will be able to see and know more... This storm looks huge, though, for sure

Ike developed its circulation in the open Atlantic, where most storms curve northward into the ocean, harmlessly becoming "fish storms." Of the 67 storms since 1900 that had passed within 170 miles of Ike's location, only eight made landfall in the United States.

And just one of those tracked into the Gulf of Mexico.

Perhaps it should have told us something that the one storm to defy climatological norms was the powerful 1915 hurricane that made landfall just southwest of Galveston with 135 mph winds.

Only the island's new seawall, built in the aftermath of the historic 1900 storm that killed at least 6,000 people, prevented a repeat of a similar death toll.

www.chron.com...

Man my thoughts and prayers are with all of you who have to endure this horrible storm. I cant imagine the kind of night the people near the gulf of mexico are having right now.

Any updates from people around taht way?