Hurricane Ike - Texas Watch! (Houston, San Antonio: tornado, living, license)

[AnthonySA]

Based on NHC track.. the storm will come inland around the Matagorda/Brazoria county lines. Here in San Antonio we will still more than likely see Tropical Storm force winds of 40 to 73 MPH on Friday night/Saturday morning. Rainfall in our area will not be nearly as heavy as it will be further east. A landfall slightly west is still possible, and would mean for obviously slightly worse conditions.

Normally we wouldn't expect this from a Matagorda/Brazoria landfall... but the windfield on this storm is so huge that tropical storm force winds will cover the entire eastern half of Texas.

Hurricane force winds will be possible as far north as Bastrop, Texas.

Houston and Galveston will be hit incredibly hard. Here is a direct quote from the NWS in Houston.

GULF-FACING COASTAL AREAS FROM MATAGORDA TO HIGH ISLAND INCLUDING
GALVESTON ISLAND...12 TO 16 FEET

LIFE THREATENING INUNDATION LIKELY!

ALL NEIGHBORHOODS...AND POSSIBLY ENTIRE COASTAL COMMUNITIES...
WILL BE INUNDATED DURING HIGH TIDE. PERSONS NOT HEEDING
EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY HOMES WILL
FACE CERTAIN DEATH. MANY RESIDENCES OF AVERAGE CONSTRUCTION
DIRECTLY ON THE COAST WILL BE DESTROYED. WIDESPREAD AND
DEVASTATING PERSONAL PROPERTY DAMAGE IS LIKELY ELSEWHERE. VEHICLES
LEFT BEHIND WILL LIKELY BE SWEPT AWAY. NUMEROUS ROADS WILL BE
SWAMPED...SOME MAY BE WASHED AWAY BY THE WATER. ENTIRE FLOOD PRONE
COASTAL COMMUNITIES WILL BE CUTOFF. WATER LEVELS MAY EXCEED 9 FEET
FOR MORE THAN A MILE INLAND. COASTAL RESIDENTS IN MULTI-STORY
FACILITIES RISK BEING CUTOFF. CONDITIONS WILL BE WORSENED BY
BATTERING WAVES. SUCH WAVES WILL EXACERBATE PROPERTY DAMAGE...WITH
MASSIVE DESTRUCTION OF HOMES...INCLUDING THOSE OF BLOCK
CONSTRUCTION. DAMAGE FROM BEACH EROSION COULD TAKE YEARS TO
REPAIR.

Please pray for our friends to the east.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by chacharoo

Why would coastal cities such as Corpus Christi not open evac centers? I read that Corpus would not be doing that. Is this because they expect people to leave or just dont wanna deal with it? I dont get it! They arent doing mandantory evac except for elderly, special needs. What am I missing here?

You don't open an evacuation center that is potentially in the path of a storm, at least not that close to it. You don't want to evacuate people from the evacuation centers.

Furthermore, something has to be kept in reserve for locals who DO end up requiring shelter due to flooding after the fact.

[Mister]

PERSONS NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY HOMES WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH.

Can't get much simpler than that, can you? Hopefully everyone will do the smart thing and bug out.

[wCat]

Originally Posted by AnthonySA

Based on NHC track.. the storm will come inland around the Matagorda/Brazoria county lines. Here in San Antonio we will still more than likely see Tropical Storm force winds of 40 to 73 MPH on Friday night/Saturday morning. Rainfall in our area will not be nearly as heavy as it will be further east. A landfall slightly west is still possible, and would mean for obviously slightly worse conditions.

Normally we wouldn't expect this from a Matagorda/Brazoria landfall... but the windfield on this storm is so huge that tropical storm force winds will cover the entire eastern half of Texas.

Hurricane force winds will be possible as far north as Bastrop, Texas.

Houston and Galveston will be hit incredibly hard. Here is a direct quote from the NWS in Houston.



Please pray for our friends to the east.

I have friends that are workaholics that have firms in the 75 story Chase Tower. I hope they are getting this message. I can't imagine being stuck on the 72nd floor without power, lights or AC to get down those stairs. I know they have emergency generator power for low level lighting, but it would still be suffocating. Hopefully Chase will impose a mandatory evacuation for those dummies (yes...MY friends) who think they can ride it out.

Skysrapers and hurricanes don't work well together.

Does anyone remember (I think Summer or Spring of 01) when downtown Houston and the Houston Medical center was underwater? I remember some huge computer server that reached San Antonio shut down banks, gas pumps, just about any business IN SA that relied on that to serve their registers and computers. We didn't really get much weather here....but the effects in Houston left us in a terrible mess. I remember standing in line at PetSmart of all places wondering why the line was taking so long. As it happened the computers went down while we were in the store. No one bothered to tell us....so we waited....and then walked out. (empty handed ) Found out that was happening everywhere.

That's been eons in computer world, so I'm sure there is more server coverage by now. But it just goes to show how one city's disaster can domino to other areas.

[dmmjsm]

PERSONS NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY HOMES WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH.

Wow- this is pretty scary. My prayers are with them all.

[jread]

Wow... things have gotten a lot worse. I'm pretty disappointed that the storm is probably going to miss Austin entirely (WE NEED THE RAIN!!!!), but I hope those along the coast get the hell out of there.

[catman]

It'll be messy in Corpus, but it appears now that it will hit in the worst possible place for storm surge in Galveston Bay. I hope it isn't catastrophic.

jread: Is Austin going to miss out on it entirely? That's not what I thought would happen. Look how big the thing is! I figured you'd at least get some rain and wind. Fort Worth probably will.

[NOTAM]

i find it hard to believe that an official weather service put out such a message. can you give me the link?

[AnthonySA]

Originally Posted by bellestaroftexas

i find it hard to believe that an official weather service put out such a message. can you give me the link?

National Weather Service Watch Warning Advisory Summary ... you'll have to scroll down to see it. It's there.. and certainly unbelievable. That is the most dire message I've read since New Orleans before Katrina:

Originally Posted by Katrina 2005 - NWS New Orleans

A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969. MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. ATLEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALLFAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL.PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOODFRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOMEWALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCHAS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THEWINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLYTHE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BEKILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTUREOUTSIDE!

[aiangel_writer]

just type in CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News and you will see breaking news with this being said. People need to be taking this storm seriously.