ATL: IKE Discussion

[CrazyC83]

Have any fatalities been reported?

Just a couple confirmed but I suspect it's going to go a lot higher. The FEMA director wouldn't confirm numbers. I suspect it's going to be awhile before we know the true toll.

AFAIK, there have been 3 confirmed US deaths so far.

[mattpetre]

Why is it that third-world countries seem to always be able to record these peak wind gusts without a hitch, but not the U.S?

I admittedly do not pay as much attention to the other basins, but I've only ever seen "winds estimated at" or "winds up to" reported for systems that make landfall in lesser developed nations

I had no problems with mine in Missouri City, it's just that the peak wind in our area was only around 70mph...

[capepoint]

Pretty obvious that we won't ever have to deal with another IKE. No doubt he will be retired.

[soonertwister]

The mayor of Galveston makes me sick. She botched everything with the evacs, and just now during the press conference she made a comment about one particular area being affected and that it is "47% of our tax base".

That woman has a heart of stone. How could she possibly say such a thing, especially at a time like this?

[Lowpressure]

Why is it that third-world countries seem to always be able to record these peak wind gusts without a hitch, but not the U.S?

I admittedly do not pay as much attention to the other basins, but I've only ever seen "winds estimated at" or "winds up to" reported for systems that make landfall in lesser developed nations

Remember, the NHC lost theirs during Andrew. So the place you would most expect a good wind recording failed as well.

[jopatura]

Have any fatalities been reported?

Just a couple confirmed but I suspect it's going to go a lot higher. The FEMA director wouldn't confirm numbers. I suspect it's going to be awhile before we know the true toll.

AFAIK, there have been 3 confirmed US deaths so far.

Who's the third? I know the 10-year old boy in Montgomery and the 19-year old guy in Corpus. Did one of the Houston burn victims pass?

EDIT: Ah, found it. Tree fell on a woman in bed in Montgomery. It's all so sad.

[bayoubebe]

Have any fatalities been reported?

Just a couple confirmed but I suspect it's going to go a lot higher. The FEMA director wouldn't confirm numbers. I suspect it's going to be awhile before we know the true toll.

Thanks, I'm praying we don't see a high number. Even hearing a couple is sad.

[jlauderdal]

I don't know if it's a media quarantine as much as their equipment got damaged. KTRK was trying to send their engineer down to Galveston, but he kept getting blocked by debris and flooding on the road. Don't know if he made it yet.

people can rip Gerardo all they want but in this case be glad he is there, he would be all over any sort of cover up, quarantine, etc, this guy has made millions buy exposing that sort of thing and he is one of the best in the biz at it regardless of what we think about his 130 mph wind reprt last night

Nobody's covering up anything. The media are being denied access to the most-impacted areas. The truth will be reported, just not right now.

no conspiracy, no coverup...we will get the facts in due time and hopefully its better than expected but i think most of us knew long before landfall that there would be residents of galveston island that wouldn't live to regret their decision

[fasterdisaster]

Apparently the seawall WAS breached, at least the top of it. First time it's been breached since construction.

[jlauderdal]

im watching this khou coverage and if anyone was in some of these collapsed houses in surfiside i suspect they wished they had left assuming they are still alive.

[cycloneye]

Apparently the seawall WAS breached, at least the top of it. First time it's been breached since construction.

Yes,Cantore showed a chunk of it that ended in the other side of the road near the statue of the 1900 hurricane.

[jopatura]

Hooter's, Balinese, Murdoch's are all gone. They aren't very far from the Poop Deck Bar.

[Brent]

Pretty obvious that we won't ever have to deal with another IKE. No doubt he will be retired.

It would be retired for what it did in the Bahamas and Cuba even if it hadn't hit the U.S.

[fasterdisaster]

Can someone tell me what cable network besides KHOU is giving the best coverage of damage reports right now? (TWC, CNN, FOXNews, MSNBC)

[CrazyC83]

SEL3

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 903
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
210 PM CDT SAT SEP 13 2008

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS
FAR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON FROM 210 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 70 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES EAST OF TEXARKANA
ARKANSAS TO 45 MILES NORTHEAST OF RUSSELLVILLE ARKANSAS. FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 902...

DISCUSSION...T.S. IKE WILL CONTINUE NNEWD ACROSS ERN TX AND MOVE
INTO FAR SERN OK/WRN AR THROUGH THE EVENING...ALLOWING ENHANCED LOW
LEVEL FLOW AND BROKEN RAINBANDS TO LIFT NWD ACROSS PORTIONS OF AR.
SHEAR IS ALREADY QUITE STRONG INTO CENTRAL AR...AND WITH FURTHER
STRENGTHENING...THREATS OF ISOLATED TORNADOES/DAMAGING WINDS WILL
INCREASE AS STORMS MOVE QUICKLY NWD.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 18050.


...EVANS

[JessRomero]

Hey everyone I am about 30 miles outside of lufkin and we have no power some people have no running water. I am worried about my house is Pt neches. I have a generator and we r running the tv and fridge and a window unit and my internet!! Does anyone know about my area or know of any videos I can get my hands on to see the damage in port neches. The people we r staying with's hubby is a sheriff here and they r having a hard time getting around woodville trees r everywhere when they go driving again I will send them with the camera and figure out how to load this on the computer!!! WOW this is worse than what I imagined! I hope we get power in a few days here.

[thetruesms]

Why is it that third-world countries seem to always be able to record these peak wind gusts without a hitch, but not the U.S?

I admittedly do not pay as much attention to the other basins, but I've only ever seen "winds estimated at" or "winds up to" reported for systems that make landfall in lesser developed nations

Remember, the NHC lost theirs during Andrew. So the place you would most expect a good wind recording failed as well.

Well, the winds in Andrew may well have exceeded the ratings of the anemometers NOAA uses, though I'm not sure if NHC had a different model than your average ASOS station (I would expect, though). My point is that the issue isn't in the instrument itself, the problem is in that you need to leave the instrument exposed to things that can strike and damage it, and also supply it with power. tallwx mentioned that third-world countries have no problems measuring winds, and I was just saying that I've never seen any measurements in those situations, just estimations.

[jlauderdal]

Can someone tell me what cable network besides KHOU is giving the best coverage of damage reports right now? (TWC, CNN, FOXNews, MSNBC)

KHOU is local houston but available on the net and directv 361, they have more reporters on the ground than any national outfit and know the lay of the land and have the contacts, watch them, furthermore no commercials, no political stuff etc...KHOU is 24/7 IKE if that's your flavor

[HURAKAN]

[Extremeweatherguy]

^^Downtown Houston^^