ATL: IKE Discussion

[Frank2]

I'll let you all know a secret - I had two jobs at the time of Andrew, and, was on the missing list for two days with the full-time job because I could not reach them by phone, but, in all the confusion, someone at the hospital I worked at as a second job forgot to make note that I had called in the day after the hurricane, and, because I had to stay at my sister's house in the next county and could not report for work, I ended up on their missing list for over 2 weeks...

Needless to say they were upset with me when I did get relocated and called in to say I'd be returning to work the next day - they said that they were convinced that I'd been killed (I was not fired, thankfully)...

It's very important that people have more than one phone number or e-mail address when letting others know you are safe, in case more than one contact number or e-mail address is out of service...

Frank

P.S. Thankfully, almost all of the Andrew "vicitms" were actually people like myself who were misplaced and could not contact someone right away due to phone outages - I hope the same is true now...

[jlauderdal]

Jim Cantore just said that he has information not confirmed about many people missing in the eastern part of Galveston.

If thats true, I'm not surprised

there is alot of unconfirmed information, lets here what he has or cantore shouldn't even be mentioning it

[Bunkertor]

Anahuac, Beach City, Smith Point, Bolivar, Crystal Beach, etc. all much worse than anything on tv right now.

What is the common stuff to heat the homes over there ? Gas or oil ?

Natural Gas is the most commonly used heating source

Ah, OK, that´s the reason for the fires. Gas companies should have clipped the supply before storm impact, i suppose. They know what´s going on...

[Frank2]

Yes, I agree - the media should not be in the business of airing unconfirmed information during times of crisis...

Actually, I thought they had ended that practice after 9/11...

[thetruesms]

Anemometers fail due to power loss or damage to the instrument or the pole it's mounted on, though you have a good point - they need to build one that can be rated up to 200 mph...

The problem is that it needs to be mounted high enough (a certain number of feet away from buildings) to make the reading accurate, and, that makes it vulnerable to damage to the instrument or the pole itself...

Sometimes we do get the rare anemometer that records gusts that high, but I'm sure it gets frustrating when you're looking into a hurricane effect's and find that every single anemometer along its path failed with cat 1 gusts. I mean, they are built to measure WIND speeds after all.

Power failures OTOH I can understand more but surely there's a way to overcome that?

Oklahoma Mesonet anemometers are rated to 134 mph IIRC, and I would assume that the ASOS anemometers are rated similarly. I'm quite certain that the issue does not lie in the insrument's ability to measure the wind at all. However, protecting the anemometer and supplying it with power are very weak points in the system. Protecting the instrument is particularly tricky - for an accurate wind measurement, the instrument cannot have any obstructions. Thus, you cannot devise any scheme to protect the instrument from being struck without tainting your measurements.

[tallywx]

Anemometers fail due to power loss or damage to the instrument or the pole it's mounted on, though you have a good point - they need to build one that can be rated up to 200 mph...

The problem is that it needs to be mounted high enough (a certain number of feet away from buildings) to make the reading accurate, and, that makes it vulnerable to damage to the instrument or the pole itself...

Sometimes we do get the rare anemometer that records gusts that high, but I'm sure it gets frustrating when you're looking into a hurricane effect's and find that every single anemometer along its path failed with cat 1 gusts. I mean, they are built to measure WIND speeds after all.

Power failures OTOH I can understand more but surely there's a way to overcome that?

Oklahoma Mesonet anemometers are rated to 134 mph IIRC, and I would assume that the ASOS anemometers are rated similarly. I'm quite certain that the issue does not lie in the insrument's ability to measure the wind at all. However, protecting the anemometer and supplying it with power are very weak points in the system. Protecting the instrument is particularly tricky - for an accurate wind measurement, the instrument cannot have any obstructions. Thus, you cannot devise any scheme to protect the instrument from being struck without tainting your measurements.

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?

[soonertwister]

Yes, I agree - the media should not be in the business of airing unconfirmed information during times of crisis...

Actually, I thought they had ended that practice after 9/11...

Cantori probably got that information directly from a first responder. With no confirmed information available to them, what are reporters on the scene supposed to do, hit the hotel bar?

[jopatura]

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.

[jlauderdal]

Yes, I agree - the media should not be in the business of airing unconfirmed information during times of crisis...

Actually, I thought they had ended that practice after 9/11...

Cantori probably got that information directly from a first responder. With no confirmed information available to them, what are reporters on the scene supposed to do, hit the hotel bar?

he is supposed to follow reporting 101 guidelines, confirm it from two separate sources than run with it and keep your mouth shut until its confirmed and you can report it

[bayoubebe]

Have any fatalities been reported? Though Texas got directly hit with Ike and has the worst effects, they're not the only state effected:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/09/1 ... index.html

Just north of Cameron Parish, in Lake Charles, Mayor Randy Roach echoed the concerns of the Cameron Parish sheriff, telling The Associated Press that flooding there is worse than it was during Hurricane Rita.

In Plaquemines Parish near New Orleans, sheriff's spokesman Maj. John Marie told AP that floodwaters are higher than they were during hurricanes Katrina and Rita

[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

[soonertwister]

Yes, I agree - the media should not be in the business of airing unconfirmed information during times of crisis...

Actually, I thought they had ended that practice after 9/11...

Cantori probably got that information directly from a first responder. With no confirmed information available to them, what are reporters on the scene supposed to do, hit the hotel bar?

he is supposed to follow reporting 101 guidelines, confirm it from two separate sources than run with it and keep your mouth shut until its confirmed and you can report it

He did absolutely nothing wrong. He said the information was unconfirmed. Check. He said that it sounded bad. (his take on what he was told) All information given after he said the story was unconfirmed must be assumed to be not reliable per se, but information that merely reflects what personal information he has at this time.

There would be no necessity of unconfirmed reports if the authorities would simply let the media do their jobs.

[ncbird]

A fifth of the nation's oil refining capacity has been shut down, so I would not be surprised if gas jumps to $5-6 dollars per gallon.

Reports are saying it already has, and I thought the 13 cent jump to $1.36 was bad here in Canada.

I think the high prices are local, but it'll spread to the rest of ya'll soon enough.

Gas prices here in New Bern, NC started going crazy yesterday. $3.79 in the morning and by afternoon some stations were charging $4.49. There were cars lined up for blocks to get gas and some stations ran out. Governor Easley declared a state of “abnormal market disruption” under North Carolina law, which charges the Attorney General with enforcing the price gouging statute. According to a statement issured by Governor Easley “As a result of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, oil refineries in Texas and Louisiana have temporarily interrupted some gasoline supplies to the pipelines that serve North Carolina. Therefore, there may be temporary limitations on our gas supply."

[soonertwister]

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.

[cycloneye]

Cantore showed the Statue of the 1900 hurricane that survived the power of the waves.However the reading of the history of it that was in the base of the statue was blown away.

[Shoshana]

Anahuac, Beach City, Smith Point, Bolivar, Crystal Beach, etc. all much worse than anything on tv right now.

What is the common stuff to heat the homes over there ? Gas or oil ?

Natural Gas is the most commonly used heating source

Electric is also popular and out in the country, propane.

[Brent]

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.

[Extremeweatherguy]

This from Jeff Masters:

Houston Hobby Airport on the south side of town recorded winds of 75 mph, gusting to 92 mph, at 6 am CDT today. The winds likely were higher, but the anemometer failed. The airport measured a central pressure of 960 mb as the eye passed just to the east. Houston Intercontinental Airport on the north side of town recorded top winds of 56 mph, gusting to 70 mph. Eagle Point on Galveston Bay, at the northern end of Texas City, recorded sustained winds of 68 mph, gusting to 87 mph, at 1:34 am CDT. Top winds measured at Galveston Pleasure Pier were 60 mph, and the station recorded a pressure of 952 mb as the eye of Ike passed over. Top winds at Sabine Pass on the Louisiana border were a sustained 70 mph. Much higher winds undoubtedly occurred on Galveston Island and nearby coastal areas, but the anemometers failed before these winds were recorded. An experimental wind analysis done by NOAA's Hurricane Research Division suggests that Category 2 force winds probably only affected a 40-mile stretch of coast northeast of Galveston. There were no weather stations there to record these peak winds.

Where is Jeff Masters getting 56mph gusting to 70mph at IAH? The last report I saw out of there (before the anemometer failed) was a gust to 72mph. Since the station then went offline, I would assume that winds probably gusted even higher than that. I have already talked to two people in Spring who have trees on their houses, fences down, etc. So I am inclined to believe that a few of the gusts probably exceeded 80mph up in northern Harris County.

[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

[CrazyC83]

Missouri City, TX -- It was a long night, but no big damage in our immediate area... roof shingles off, fences down, and a few trees down here and there (ok, numerous branches.) We got out power back at 12:30... thank you CenterPointe! The following were my measurements from weather station I just bought. (No idea how accurate.)

Max Wind Sustained = 47.4 mph
Max Wind Gust = 69.1 mph
Min Barometric = 969 hPa
Max Barom (before storm) = 1012 hPa

Just a little more info to share. Prayers with those that were in worse parts of the storm.

Seems like you made it through quite well...I wouldn't expect a great deal of structural damage in your area as you were on the west side of the storm...probably that is why the power came back so quickly there. If you have friends or family in areas without power for a long time, once the roads are safe, you should maybe help them out (i.e. send them hot food and stuff).