ATL: IKE Discussion

[Normandy]

Just to put the scope of this hurricane in perspective.........

Records set for surge in Sabine Pass (Remember some hurricane called Rita hit there........)
13+ foot inundation of everywhere east of Galveston to the TX/LA state line pretty much.

.....And this hit Galveston. Unreal storm. I think this will change how a Cat2 is viewed.

[KWT]

KHOU just reported that "sheets of steel are being peeled off of skyscrapers tops in downtown Houston". Also, buses flipped and downtown skyscraper glass shards falling all over. Sounds bad.

Yes that does sound very bad but given how strong the western eyewall is right now that doesn't surprise me all that much sadly, still in the eyewall as well...

[attallaman]

One of CNN's correspondents stationed in downtown Houston claimed earlier this morning to have had a device to measure the wind speed, she reported a peak gust at one time of 130 mph. I didn't hear of such on TWC. Did the winds get that high in downtown Houston this morning? Any Texans who might be up this morning, I have relatives in Columbus in Colorado County. Will they receive some of Ike's weather in Colorado County today?

[fasterdisaster]

Just in: FOUR MILLION without power!

[3ABirdMan]

Do you think its like Rita for your area surge wise, it did top Rita's and Andreys record.

I don't yet know how bad the surge will end up being here as it's still rising, but just from what I already know, yes, worse than Rita. The winds.... I don't yet know the damage from Ike, but I doubt the wind damage could top Rita's.

Bridge City got NO storm surge from Rita. Being on the western eyewall of Rita, the wind drove the water OUT of town. It appears the OPPOSITE is true of Ike.

I'm hearing reports (KFDM) that the water level is near 11'. That makes it borderline for my house. Most of the areas I'm hearing with 4' - 6' of water in the homes are near major drainages that run into the marsh, so they would have easily backed up with storm surge. I'm just hoping the water hasn't been blown "uphill", and is instead flowing into only the lower elevations.

At least, I can HOPE!

[HurryKane]

KHOU reporter in a stairwell in San Luis Hotel just showed a wall starting to come loose.

[HURAKAN]

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to expect major damage to Houston's downtown and to expect higher winds in this area than in the rest of the region just because of the funnel effect of the skycrapers.

[Time Traveller]

KHOU reporter in a stairwell in San Luis Hotel just showed a wall starting to come loose.

I saw that too. The whole wall was flexing from the wind. Was completely separated at the bottom. I wouldn't be standing there reporting. It could give way at any moment.

[Bunkertor]

How long to go till sunrise ?

[KWT]

Yep very true Hurakan it does look like we should be expecting some very bad damage from the region, we will see very soon....

[dhweather]

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to expect major damage to Houston's downtown and to expect higher winds in this area than in the rest of the region just because of the funnel effect of the skycrapers.

It will be interesting to see how thoat beautiful skyline fared. The tops will look really bad.

[Weatherfreak14]

Wow, it seems that the whole area in houston and galveston is badly damaged.. Prayers for all who is there.

[hiflyer]

Dawn to start at 0639 with sunrise at 0703....more importantly for 4 million folks without power is sunset at 1926.

[HURAKAN]

The typical line continues to be repeated, "I didn't think it was going to be this bad."

[wxman57]

Morning everyone. Hard to sleep last night with all the racket. What was all that noise, a hurricane or something? Weathered the night well in SE Houston just 11 miles from the Bay. In fact, my coworker just drove in from Katy and made it ok. Quite windy. Lots of damage to weaker structures. Wind still howling. I don't know how the surge areas came out. We're just outside the surge zone here in the office. Still have power via our generator and a fiber optic Internet. Probably one of the few with an Internet connection in Houston.

Can't see much outside. I can tell our covered parking area has been redesigned and the new trees planted in the parking lot are toppled (small ones). Will report back when we get some light. Can't even open the doors to our building yet as the wind is too strong and either forces them closed or rips them open.

[Normandy]

The typical line continues to be repeated, "I didn't think it was going to be this bad."

I can tell you many Houstonians who lived through Alica are humbled. Professional mets on another board are saying this storm completely surprised them Re: inland wind.

[HurryKane]

The typical line continues to be repeated, "I didn't think it was going to be this bad."

I guess hurricanes continue to be one of those things most people have to experience to really understand how bad it can be, unfortunately. The ones who know better than to find out how bad are much fewer in number.

[dhweather]

Some lyrics come to mind. Sadly, these are the things that will be going through many heads this weekend.

"Jackson, Mississippi" - Kid Rock

And when the sunshine showed
Her face i felt like i was ready to die
Went lookin for a place to hide
A hole i could crawl inside
Long lines
Whiskey bottles
And the same old song
I smell death in the air
And i know it wont be long

And i could say im trying to change
But thats just another lie
Its been a day and a half
And im still high

And i feel like jackson mississippi
A river runnin
Like jackson mississippi
A river runnin
Like jackson mississippi
A river runnin thru my viens

And when the daylight dissapeared
I took a good look inside
Behind my pride
I sat down and cried
I know im not a fool
But i dont know whats wrong
Mabe its time to pack
And just move on

And i could say im trying to change
But that would just be a lie
Im lookin for some one to tell me why

[HURAKAN]

wxman57, did you experience Alicia in '83? If so, how does it compare to Ike in your opinion?

[dhweather]

Morning everyone. Hard to sleep last night with all the racket. What was all that noise, a hurricane or something? Weathered the night well in SE Houston just 11 miles from the Bay. In fact, my coworker just drove in from Katy and made it ok. Quite windy. Lots of damage to weaker structures. Wind still howling. I don't know how the surge areas came out. We're just outside the surge zone here in the office. Still have power via our generator and a fiber optic Internet. Probably one of the few with an Internet connection in Houston.

Can't see much outside. I can tell our covered parking area has been redesigned and the new trees planted in the parking lot are toppled (small ones). Will report back when we get some light. Can't even open the doors to our building yet as the wind is too strong and either forces them closed or rips them open.

Glad you are ok !!!!!!!!!