Blow Job from Ike
It’s a sunny blue-sky morning here in Dallas right now. We are some 450 miles away from Hurricane Ike right now in the Gulf of Mexico. It seems to be bearing down for a direct strike on Galveston, and then will trek up I-45 into Houston. Watching the news this morning the waves were already crashing over the seawall that covers the eastern half of Galveston Island. Given the size of the storm, and the storm surge expected, Galveston Island should be underwater tonight. Luckily they have already issued mandatory evacuations for the island and the coastal areas of Texas.
I went through Hurricane Alicia back in 1983. Like Ike, it too was a class 3 hurricane, but it formed in the Gulf just days before landfall. She did not have the same surge that Ike will have when he lands tonight. Alicia also made landfall during the day, and I remember news reporters on the local stations running in downtown Houston as the winds blew out windows in the skyscrapers.
I’m not sure if it was the right decision not to request the evacuation of Houston. Given the disaster for trying to evacuate the city in 2005 when Hurricane Rita was coming in (and missed, hitting Beaumont), I guess they thought it would be better to tell people to stay home rather than clogging up the highways where they may be at worse risk as sitting ducks on the freeway than at home. As someone who was in the traffic jam back then, it’s not an experience that I would want to go through again.
Interestingly enough, Rita was this same week, 3 years ago.
One of the reasons I know they did not evacuate Houston was to allow those who were forced to evacuate from the costal areas the ability to get through. In 2005 people from areas that didn’t need to evacuate filled the roads keeping those in costal areas trapped. Had the storm actually hit Galveston, many people could have died in their cars. Even with Rita going off to the east, the largest number of reported deaths was people who died in the evacuation traffic jam.
Luckily for Houston Ike will pass over fairly quickly. There may be more wind damage than anything else. While Houston has a large problem with flash flooding, and areas will definitely flood, I don’t think we will see anything like Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 where the city received rain from a storm that would not leave. I remember being unable to go home one night due to floodwaters, and having to stay on a friends couch. Allison was hopefully, a once in a lifetime storm.
Ike looks to come ashore with winds between 100 and 115 miles per hour. The storm surge will do all of those things like leave boats in funny places and the wind will tear off roofs and damage trees. As the storm cuts across Eastern Texas, there will be a lot of downed powerlines and pine trees.
I checked up on some friends and my parents last night. Jerry goofycub said he’s staying in the city and should do alright. My parents live about 50 miles north of Houston. Mom’s staying home while Dad has to work in the jail. Except for power problems, they should be OK.
The storm is supposed to quickly move north quickly during the day tomorrow. Dallas will be on the western side of the storm, but we still expect tropical storm winds and rain tomorrow. The center of the stom should be heading for Paris, Texas, and the homes of bearpawly and txredneck’s family. The metroplex doesn’t expect too much damage from the storm, but it could spawn some tornadoes.
On a funny note, the University of Houston moved their game from the campus to the campus of SMU here in Dallas. Not the brightest idea as I don’t see many people wanting to come out in the rain to see a crappy football game from an out of town team. They should have moved the game to San Antonio, which shouldn’t receive much from Ike at all.
Well, as I write this, a few clouds are starting to creep up from the south. My dad just emailed me about the storm and, different from what my mom said last night on the phone, wanted my mother to come up to Dallas. Hmm. Well, I think she’ll be OK in the house, but I understand that he’s worried since he will have to be at work. Now he’s got me worried.
I hope everyone stays safe. Including mrdreamjeans who is also having to ride the storm out at work tonight. Hopefully Ike will blow over quickly and cause as minimal of damage as possible.
I went through Hurricane Alicia back in 1983. Like Ike, it too was a class 3 hurricane, but it formed in the Gulf just days before landfall. She did not have the same surge that Ike will have when he lands tonight. Alicia also made landfall during the day, and I remember news reporters on the local stations running in downtown Houston as the winds blew out windows in the skyscrapers.
I’m not sure if it was the right decision not to request the evacuation of Houston. Given the disaster for trying to evacuate the city in 2005 when Hurricane Rita was coming in (and missed, hitting Beaumont), I guess they thought it would be better to tell people to stay home rather than clogging up the highways where they may be at worse risk as sitting ducks on the freeway than at home. As someone who was in the traffic jam back then, it’s not an experience that I would want to go through again.
Interestingly enough, Rita was this same week, 3 years ago.
One of the reasons I know they did not evacuate Houston was to allow those who were forced to evacuate from the costal areas the ability to get through. In 2005 people from areas that didn’t need to evacuate filled the roads keeping those in costal areas trapped. Had the storm actually hit Galveston, many people could have died in their cars. Even with Rita going off to the east, the largest number of reported deaths was people who died in the evacuation traffic jam.
Luckily for Houston Ike will pass over fairly quickly. There may be more wind damage than anything else. While Houston has a large problem with flash flooding, and areas will definitely flood, I don’t think we will see anything like Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 where the city received rain from a storm that would not leave. I remember being unable to go home one night due to floodwaters, and having to stay on a friends couch. Allison was hopefully, a once in a lifetime storm.
Ike looks to come ashore with winds between 100 and 115 miles per hour. The storm surge will do all of those things like leave boats in funny places and the wind will tear off roofs and damage trees. As the storm cuts across Eastern Texas, there will be a lot of downed powerlines and pine trees.
I checked up on some friends and my parents last night. Jerry goofycub said he’s staying in the city and should do alright. My parents live about 50 miles north of Houston. Mom’s staying home while Dad has to work in the jail. Except for power problems, they should be OK.
The storm is supposed to quickly move north quickly during the day tomorrow. Dallas will be on the western side of the storm, but we still expect tropical storm winds and rain tomorrow. The center of the stom should be heading for Paris, Texas, and the homes of bearpawly and txredneck’s family. The metroplex doesn’t expect too much damage from the storm, but it could spawn some tornadoes.
On a funny note, the University of Houston moved their game from the campus to the campus of SMU here in Dallas. Not the brightest idea as I don’t see many people wanting to come out in the rain to see a crappy football game from an out of town team. They should have moved the game to San Antonio, which shouldn’t receive much from Ike at all.
Well, as I write this, a few clouds are starting to creep up from the south. My dad just emailed me about the storm and, different from what my mom said last night on the phone, wanted my mother to come up to Dallas. Hmm. Well, I think she’ll be OK in the house, but I understand that he’s worried since he will have to be at work. Now he’s got me worried.
I hope everyone stays safe. Including mrdreamjeans who is also having to ride the storm out at work tonight. Hopefully Ike will blow over quickly and cause as minimal of damage as possible.