ATL: IKE Discussion

[capepoint]

ok, if geraldo is having to hang on to the tree to stand up, why is the guy in the orange rainsuit walking with no difficulty on the seawall street in the open behind him?

[jinftl]

Dr, Lyons on TWC says Houston will probably see sustained hurricane force winds..but it will happen in stages...On map says wind structure damage likely in galveston to north and east and possible as you move west through houston....drop off pretty quick after that.

That is an update from the map he showed before....when track foecast was a bit further south the core of worst winds expected included houston proper...now shifted a bit to north and east. Not a huge shift...but enough to maybe make a difference as you move to west side of the city.

[USTropics]

The last solid readings at the 2 piers on Galveston showed water levels at 9.84 feet before they stopped functioning. That was over 2-3 hours ago. It is to my understanding that only certain portions of the walls extend to 17 feet but maybe someone with a better geographical understanding of the area can confirm this.

[fasterdisaster]

SO, does that mean that all thees people saying Galveston is at 20 ft are wrong and that most of galveston near the seawall is actually more like 11-12 ft?

No, it WILL be 20 feet, it just isn't yet.

[Category 5]

ok, if geraldo is having to hang on to the tree to stand up, why is the guy in the orange rainsuit walking with no difficulty on the seawall street in the open behind him?

It's hard to stand up against make believe 125mph gusts.

I gotta give props to Steve Lyons. He's been working tirelessly on the air this whole time.

[Deathray]

11 foot surge in Galveston at least already

UTM (or UTB?) first floor flooded

Anyone got an online TWC Stream? (I'm Canadian, so I can't get it directly)

[soonertwister]

ok, if geraldo is having to hang on to the tree to stand up, why is the guy in the orange rainsuit walking with no difficulty on the seawall street in the open behind him?

He must be faking. It's probably only blowing 30-40 there. After all, he's a good 40-something miles from the center of the eye.

[PTPatrick]

I dont mean 20 ft surge...I mean Galvestons elevation. If the seawall is the highest point then it cant be much more than 10-15 ft above MSL in most of downtown

[kurtpage]

ok, if geraldo is having to hang on to the tree to stand up, why is the guy in the orange rainsuit walking with no difficulty on the seawall street in the open behind him?

He must be faking. It's probably only blowing 30-40 there. After all, he's a good 40-something miles from the center of the eye.

I can promise you that 30 - 40 miles from the eye is seeing much greater than 30-40 mph winds....

[Wx_Warrior]

FYI: It's going to billions of dollars of damage. Jogging to the east will not save much guys. The worst is happening.

This is not "going to be bad"...IT IS BAD.

[tifanij]

They are showing the water ON the seawall blvd...NOT lapping onto it...wouldnt that make the surge ALREADY at 16-17 ft?

No, I've tried to tell people, but the seawall is only 10 FEET above sea level. Erosion has caused this in the last century.

This is right - it varies in places, but I don't remember it being 17 feet anywhere...

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ ... y-pic2.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_LQGVu9BqEmc/Ri5IM ... 000200.JPG

[jinftl]

Mike Bettes on TWC was in winds that looked as bad as you know who's reported 100mph earlier....except mike was saying gusts to 60mph. Reality check.

ok, if geraldo is having to hang on to the tree to stand up, why is the guy in the orange rainsuit walking with no difficulty on the seawall street in the open behind him?

He must be faking. It's probably only blowing 30-40 there. After all, he's a good 40-something miles from the center of the eye.

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

FYI: It's going to billions of dollars of damage. Jogging to the east will not save much guys. The worst is happening.

This is not "going to be bad"...IT IS BAD.

It is the difference between a Gustav and Katrina. Both are bad, but one is worst, in had killed thousands.

[mvtrucking]

Will the highest surge come all of a sudden or will it continue to be a slow steady rise? I had thought as the eye came onshore that there might be a wall of water that would inundate all at once?(I understand at its peak the high tide and waves will may it even higher correct?) Just curious. Thanks.

[johngaltfla]

KHOU- 4 people arrested for burglary tonight on Galveston Island.

Tugboat en route to the freighter dead in the water.

Some good news at least.

[mtm4319]

Still 110 at the midnight advisory. 35 miles SSE of Galveston, moving at 12... maybe another advisory at 2, just as it's making landfall.

[fasterdisaster]

Wikipedia says an estimated 7 billion of damage occurred in the US as of THIS MORNING. Was the surge really that bad on the north Gulf Coast or is this BS?

[capepoint]

FYI: It's going to billions of dollars of damage. Jogging to the east will not save much guys. The worst is happening.

This is not "going to be bad"...IT IS BAD.

agreed. And when houston gets the thick of it, with high buildings funneling wind, its going to be really bad. I hope no idiots are in the streets around those tall buildings. Broken glass will cut them to shreads.

[johngaltfla]

Wikipedia says an estimated 7 billion of damage occurred in the US as of THIS MORNING. Was the surge really that bad on the north Gulf Coast or is this BS?

It was that bad. Estimated damage is 100,000 homes in immediate impact area. That does not include LA.

4 levies breached in SE LA.

[CrazyC83]

Wikipedia says an estimated 7 billion of damage occurred in the US as of THIS MORNING. Was the surge really that bad on the north Gulf Coast or is this BS?

That is based on insurers' estimates, so it really should have been $14 billion. It will likely be higher though.