ATL: IKE Discussion

[HURAKAN]

Aerial view of the Bolivar Peninsula

[southerngale]

The town of Gilchrist is "gone".

Is that confirmed? How horrible.
My heart goes out to everyone affected by Ike. This monster caused a lot of damage over such a large area... what a freak of a storm.


I am just in shock at the amount of damage I'm hearing about my area. I knew it would be bad in Galveston and Houston, but I really didn't think it would be this bad over here. Flooding, trees in homes and down all over the place, roof blown off the Jefferson County Courthouse in Beaumont, structural damage to homes and business, downed power lines, scattered debris, NO electricity anywhere in the area, and they're saying to expect it to be out 3-4 weeks.

They're telling citizens do not enter the city. There is no fuel to get back out, no food, no medical help, services, etc. The sewer system has failed. It's a search and rescue at this point.

Beaumont Police reporting possible carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator. A man who stayed tried to back out of his driveway, somehow he accelerated too fast and ran over an elderly woman. Nobody to respond.

I'm so sorry SG. I know how bad Rita was and then to get hit again(and worse?). Plus Humberto and even Edouard...

Thanks, Brent (and others) - unreal, huh? Aside from TS Allison in 2001, nothing else here since Hurricane Bonnie in 1986. Unbelievable (to me) to get 3 hurricanes and a TS in less than 3 years! (On September 24, it will be 3 years since Rita hit). A sign to move, ya think? This is ridiculous.


Update on the elderly woman: a nearby fireman and police officer worked on the woman to save her life. There are no emergency services to call, so they used a piece of plywood to load her onto the firetruck and she was taken to a hospital. I don't know her condition, but thank God someone was around to help her.

Earlier, I heard callers into KFDM asking for help... they're in their attic in Orange County. They said they had 9 people up there, including children. They had food and water, but were scared. Why didn't they evacuate? UGH!! The adults have to do the thinking for the kids...kids don't choose to stay. The local media and emergency officials did a good job telling people to get out. Heck, Thursday night and yesterday morning, they even went around neighborhoods using their loud speaker thing to tell people to get out now. And now people are having to get rescued because they chose to stay after being told to leave.

[southerngale]

Not surprisingly, but Sabine Pass is reported to be completely under water.

[cycloneye]

Not surprisingly, but Sabine Pass is reported to be completely under water.

Kelly,do you know how many people live in that area?

[O Town]

Aerial view of the Bolivar Peninsula

Wow..

[CrazyC83]

Earlier someone mentioned about the procedure for inland watches/warnings if Ike somehow pulled an Erin as a tropical cyclone and made it all the way across.

All Southern Region offices (those in OK, TX, LA, TN, MS, AR among states impacted) issue those watches or warnings when they are warranted (although Tulsa held back for eastern Oklahoma strangely, they must think it will become extratropical soon).

The offices in Central Region (such as KS, MO, IN, IL, WI, MI, KY) do not issue those watches or warnings (although it is not common that they need to). They would issue a High Wind Warning/Watch and a Gale/Storm/Hurricane Force Wind Warning for the Great Lakes.

In Eastern Region, some offices will issue those watches or warnings, while others will not - it is up to the individual NWS office. All offices with a portion on/near the coast will issue them for inland portions though.

http://www.weather.gov/directives/sym/p ... 01curr.pdf

[mathwhizz]

Very bad news in Louisiana, surge was worse than Rita.

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs. ... 1/80913075

UPDATED 6:40 P.M. Cameron devastated, coastal Acadiana flooded

# In Terrebonne Parish, a breached protection levee allowed water into some 26,000 homes, many of them in Houma.

# Water approached the second floor of homes at Cypremort Point.

# Rita-like flooding again filled Delcambre and Erath, including the campus of Erath High School.

# A nursing home in Franklin was forced to evacuate overnight due to rising water.

Storm surge levels in Calcasieu Parish, just north of Cameron, were higher than those generated by Rita. A 10-foot surge was reported at the Port of Lake Charles, 30 river miles inland.

“We’ve got a major flood event,” said Lake Charles Mayor Randy Roach. “The flooding is worse than Rita’s.”

At one point Christus St. Patrick’s Hospital, located two blocks from the lake for which Lake Charles is named, was surrounded by floodwater and was accessible only to high-axle vehicles.

St. Landry Parish weathered moderate wind and rain Saturday from Hurricane Ike, but it was spared a repeat of the destruction Gustav caused more than a week ago.
Lisa Vidrine, St. Landry Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness executive director, said around noon on Saturday that she received no reports of flooding, tornadoes or heavy damage.

Jefferson Davis Parish officials reported power outages but relatively minor structural damage. Lake Arthur Police reported high water in the Lake Arthur Park and beach area.

In Terrebonne Parish, crews worked to plug at least four breaches in a levee. A nursing home in Franklin had to be evacuated overnight, according to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office.

In Plaquemines Parish, near New Orleans, sheriff’s spokesman Maj. John Marie said floodwaters were higher than either hurricane Katrina or Rita. Local levees were overtopped near Myrtle Grove, though teams of deputies, National Guardsmen and civilians blocked the floodwater with sandbags.

“The storm surge we’re experiencing, on both sides of the Mississippi River, is higher than anything we’ve seen before,” Marie said.

More than 140,000 customers lost power in Louisiana. That’s in addition to the 60,000 still without power from Labor Day’s Hurricane Gustav. Suppliers warned it could be weeks before all service was restored.

More than a mile of levee was overtopped in Plaquemines Parish.

# Tides pushing across Prien Lake caused major flooding in the Cypress Point subdivision in south Lake Charles.

[artist]

My heart goes out to all.

[Steve]

Feeling bad for everyone else. We lost a few electronic items in Ike (xbox, xbox360, television, alarm clock) due to an arc of power during a surge, but the total damage is well under $1,000. We can replace that stuff and will live to see another day. For everyone over toward SW LA, the Triangle and the Upper Texas Coast including Galveston, Houston, Baytown and all points in betwee, the heart of someone who knows what it feels like goes out to you all. Sorry.

Official Lake Charles Newspaper is the American Press (americanpress.com), and Houma's paper is the Courier (houmatoday.com).

[MiamiensisWx]

My heart sunk after reading the preceding article on SW Louisiana...

Oil rigs are drifting free ~100 miles off Louisiana per KHOU...

[superfly]

Moderate damage in Pearland TX (just southeast of Houston), where my parents live. They estimate 70-80% of houses in their neighborhood have roof damage including theirs. 10-20% have blown-out windows, but theirs stayed intact despite not boarding up. Houses all seem structurally intact. Many wooden fences have been blown down, but no trees are down from what that they saw. Power is out in the entire area. They said they definitely received hurricane force winds.

[Brent]

Aerial view of the Bolivar Peninsula

WOW.

[AdvAutoBob]

Flyover of Galveston/League City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nYOt5XYeMQ

[expat2carib]

Why do I get such a bad taste in my mouth reading / watching / listening the coverage of this aftermath of Ike?

Is the whole of the USA in state of denial?

Strange but true there are only confirmed 5 official deaths. And they actually died before the real hit (landfall)

Yesterday 1200! 911 calls where people reciving had no other possibility then to give the answer "Sorry call back tomorrow, there is nothing we can do until the situation is safe for our staff"

10 people reported chained together on a roof. (reported on this board with references) hours before Ike made landfall.

40% of Galveston still on the island.

Whole areas are simply disappeared. Nobody of the 40% that stayed are from there? Or did they just take a swim when their house washed away.

4 heavily wounded persons evacuated -as the first action with helicopters this morning- from the evacuated and closed hospital in Galveston.

If it "just" was reported that "at least" 1 dead body was seen floating, I would not have had this bad taste in my mouth.

Questions and questions...

I really hope I'm paranoid.......but

[lantanatx]

http://www.bolivarchamber.org/Default.aspx

What was there before....

[Texas Snowman]

Expat,

I'll admit that I'm still concerned about the potential for fatality reports to go up.

But the areas between Galveston and Sabine Pass are very sparsely populated - I was there last fall and it's basically marshland with several areas of development. What's more, some of the homes there are second homes or rental properties.

That's where Ike's last "wobble for the ages" put the 20+ storm surge that some have reported on Bolivar Peninsula.

So, while I believe the death toll may rise, it was literally a difference of 10-20 miles that kept Galveston from getting smashed by the 20+ surge that undoubtedly would have killed many.

Time will tell, I suppose.

[fasterdisaster]

I very much doubt the 18 people we heard about in Crystal Beach are still alive.

[AlabamaDave]

Why didn't they evacuate? UGH!! The adults have to do the thinking for the kids...kids don't choose to stay. The local media and emergency officials did a good job telling people to get out. Heck, Thursday night and yesterday morning, they even went around neighborhoods using their loud speaker thing to tell people to get out now. And now people are having to get rescued because they chose to stay after being told to leave.

I guess if you're an idiot, then you don't have the smarts to think about doing the right thing for your kids. How many times do people have to hear the "we floated through the night on hunks of plywood" stories?

[zaqxsw75050]

Well, they haven't got into the area of the worst hit yet. I am sure there will be fatality report tomorrow or so. On KHOU, there was an interview with a woman from Crystal Beach and the reporter asked her does she think people in Crystal Beach make it out ok and her reply was "no way"

[fasterdisaster]

Just because they haven't issued fatality reports doesn't mean they haven't found any bodies. They're doing door to door in Galveston so they probably will be taking an ongoing tally and only after finishing some neighborhood will they actually give the media the figures.