Hurricane Ike Damage Watch Live Video

Hurricane Ike continues to pummels the Gulf coast. Watch live coverage of the storm from Houston, Texas.

There are some serious problems going on now in Texas.

Hurricane Ike Video

One death as Ike edges toward Category 3 power – CNN.com

Hurricane Ike claims its first victim. A 10 year old boy who died after a tree fell on his head.

more about "One death as Ike edges toward Categor…", posted with vodpod

Hurricane Ike Storm Footage

The footage coming in is brand new. Here are a couple of storm chasers before the eye hit the coast. Watch the end of the film. There is a tremendous wave that hits the seawall.

Hurricane Ike Damage

Hurricane Ike Damages and pummels the Galveston coast. Will Galveston exist any more after today? Find out in future posts.

Hurricane Ike Makes Big Waves

Video of hurricane Ike making waves on the shores of Galveston TX.

more about "Hurrican Ike Makes Big Waves", posted with vodpod

Hurricane Ike Raw Video

Here is the earliest Hurricane Ike Storm footage. This is raw video from residents to the Hurricane area.

Even News Reporters get effected by Ike. See Geraldo Rivera get hit by the surge.

Hurricane Ike Warning

NOAA HURRICANE PODCAST

This was issued by the National Weather Service. I have never seen a warning like this issued in my lifetime.

PERSONS NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN
SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY HOMES FACE THE POSSIBILITY OF DEATH.

HURRICANE IKE LOCAL STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1123 AM CDT FRI SEP 12 2008

…TIDES INCREASING ALONG THE UPPER TEXAS COAST WITH THE APPROACH
OF IKE…

AT 1000 AM CDT…THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IKE WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 27.2 NORTH…LONGITUDE 92.6 WEST OR 195 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TEXAS.

IKE IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 12 MPH. A
TURN TOWARD THE NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY…WITH A TURN
TOWARD THE NORTH EXPECTED ON SATURDAY.  ON THE FORECAST TRACK…
THE CENTER OF IKE WILL BE VERY NEAR THE UPPER TEXAS COAST BY LATE
TODAY OR EARLY SATURDAY. HOWEVER…BECAUSE IKE IS A VERY LARGE
TROPICAL CYCLONE…WEATHER WILL BEGIN TO DETERIORATE ALONG THE
COASTLINE SOON.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS REMAIN NEAR 105 MPH…WITH
HIGHER GUSTS.  IKE IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE
SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE BUT COULD REACH THE COAST AS A CATEGORY
THREE…MAJOR HURRICANE.  STRONGER WINDS…ESPECIALLY IN
GUSTS…ARE LIKELY ON HIGH RISE BUILDINGS.

IKE REMAINS A VERY LARGE TROPICAL CYCLONE. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS
EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 120 MILES FROM THE CENTER…AND
TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 275 MILES.

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE FROM A RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT
IS 954 MB…28.17 INCHES.

LIFE THREATENING INUNDATION LIKELY NEAR THE IMMEDIATE COAST AND
BAYSHORE AREAS!

NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE AFFECTED BY THE STORM SURGE…AND POSSIBLY
ENTIRE COASTAL COMMUNITIES…WILL BE INUNDATED DURING THE PERIOD
OF PEAK STORM TIDE. PERSONS NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN
SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY HOMES FACE THE POSSIBILITY OF DEATH.
MANY RESIDENCES OF AVERAGE CONSTRUCTION DIRECTLY ON THE COAST WILL
BE DESTROYED. WIDESPREAD AND DEVASTATING PERSONAL PROPERTY DAMAGE
IS LIKELY ELSEWHERE. VEHICLES LEFT BEHIND WILL LIKELY BE SWEPT
AWAY. NUMEROUS ROADS WILL BE SWAMPED…SOME MAY BE WASHED AWAY BY
THE WATER. ENTIRE FLOOD PRONE COASTAL COMMUNITIES WILL BE CUTOFF.
WATER LEVELS MAY EXCEED 9 FEET FOR MORE THAN A MILE INLAND.
COASTAL RESIDENTS IN MULTI-STORY FACILITIES RISK BEING CUTOFF.
CONDITIONS WILL BE WORSENED BY BATTERING WAVES CLOSER TO THE
COAST. SUCH WAVES WILL EXACERBATE PROPERTY DAMAGE…WITH MASSIVE
DESTRUCTION OF HOMES…INCLUDING THOSE OF BLOCK CONSTRUCTION.
DAMAGE FROM BEACH EROSION COULD TAKE YEARS TO REPAIR.

 

Listen to live hurricane Ike information.

You can listen to this radio staton for live and local Hurrican Ike Information. While the hurricane hits, please use caution because the coverage can get raw.

You won’t hear the radio station if you use a Firefox browser. It only works on Internet Explorer.

Hurricane Ike Headed for Galveston – Houston.

WATCH AMAZING COAST GUARD RESCUE FOOTAGE FROM IKE

All evacuation buses gone by tonight.

Residents who signed up with the city for evacuation assistance will be off the island by tonight, according to city officials.

By 4:30 p.m., everyone who wanted a seat on a city-chartered bus had one, said Mary Jo Naschke, city spokesperson.

The last of the buses were just waiting for Texas Department of Public Safety escorts to head over the causeway, she said.

The evacuation would have been complete by this afternoon but the early round of escorts arrived later than expected, she said.

About 3,000 people registered for evacuation assistance. Officials will not know until this evening how many people, or how many buses, left the island.

Local officials, who called for a mandatory evacuation of Galveston and some low-lying areas of Galveston County this morning, assured residents the trip north would be smoother than it was in 2005.

Officials in Houston and Harris County are asking residents there to stay put unless they live in flood-prone areas.

If Houston residents follow instructions, Galveston County evacuees should be able to get out, Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough said.

“It will be a long trip — there’s no question,” he said. “Just be patient.”

Evacuation Assistance

Residents who need evacuation assistance will board buses at the Island Community Center, at 47th Street and Broadway.

City officials have ordered 75 buses, the first of which arrived on the island about 10 a.m.

Mainland residents who need assistance are boarding buses at the Charles T. Doyle Convention Center in Texas City, 2010 Fifth Ave. N.

Island residents who can get to the community center on their own should do so, City Manager Steve LeBlanc said.

Island Transit buses will be collecting people at any bus stop and bringing them to the community center. Local buses also will collect homeless people from the Salvation Army shelter at 23rd Street and Broadway.

Those who can’t get there should call 409-765-3710, and a city staff member will arrange to pick them up, said Carolyn Cox, evacuation coordinator.

Evacuees should bring a pillow, blanket, change of clothes, snacks for the trip and any medication they need in its original bottles, LeBlanc said.

People with children should bring toys. People evacuating with pets should have their animals in crates and remember to bring an adequate supply of food for at least a week.

Evacuees will be taken to shelters in Austin, where medical services and food will be provided.

Buses will begin leaving the island as soon as they are full, LeBlanc said.

There is no planned time for the last bus to leave, but officials hope to have everyone who needs assistance off the island by the time the storm makes landfall, he said.

No shelters will be opened on the island as originally planned.

Anyone who stays will do so at his own risk, Yarbrough said.

Best To Leave

Standing next to Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas, Yarbrough said the constantly changing forecast for Hurricane Ike made them call for the mandatory evacuation, something Thomas insisted on Wednesday she would not do.

The decision to make the evacuation mandatory was a very tough call to make, Thomas said.

“But our intent is to saves lives,” she said. “It’s best to leave.”

Forecasters shifted the landfall prediction for Hurricane Ike even closer to Galveston late Wednesday night. The storm is still a Category 2 storm, but it is expected to strengthen by the time it makes landfall late Friday.

Ike will land somewhere between Matagorda Bay and Galveston, and while the track may shift 20 miles east or west during the next 24 hours, those minor changes will not make much difference in the effects felt on the island, said Chris McKinney, a forecaster with the National Weather Service’s League City office.

At this point, the weather service does not expect Ike’s path to change much, McKinney said.

Forecasters predict Ike will bring tides of up to 16 feet, he said.

The storm’s speed is the only good news, McKinney said.

Ike is moving pretty quickly, and forecasters do not expect it to hang around for long dumping rain on Galveston County, he said.

Widespread rainfall is not expected to top 4 inches, but isolated totals could be as high as 10 inches, he said.

Wind speeds likely will reach at least 100 miles an hour on the island, although the maximum wind speeds will probably be recorded south of Galveston, he said.

Not Pretty

Although island residents have less than 24 hours to evacuate before tropical storm-force winds begin, state officials do not intend to open contraflow lanes to help people get through Houston, Yarbrough said.

With the last-minute evacuation decision, the Department of Public Safety did not have time to get troopers in place to open the contraflow lanes, he said.

In preparation for re-entry after the storm, island residents only need a valid picture identification card, LeBlanc said.

Yarbrough said he was sure the island would survive Hurricane Ike.

“It won’t be pretty,” he said. “But we’ve had worse over the years.”

(Fair Use – State of Emergency Declared in Texas)

Where is Hurricane Ike Going to hit?

Hurricanes can be unpredictable. But forecasters have the technology to give fairly accurate forecasts when it comes to tracking hurricanes.

I found a great site that has awesome graphics that will track hurricanes.

It’s called StormPulse. Here is a graphic from that site.

Storm Pulse