Preparing for IKE

[todd11231]

he was talking about his folks house. and btw, the national news likes to overblow things to create ratings and panic. i don't think houston is destroyed or anywhere close to that, but there's going to be some messy cleanup. galveston, is another story however, since they are up on the coast.

btw, have you ever lived in a hurricane prone area? just asking.

Im there right now...are you? Neither is he. And by the way the national news coverage of Ike is about 75% less than what they covered on Gustav. I'm watching the local news...i didnt say it was destroyed but it's a hell of a lot worse than hes trying to make it out to be. Much more than flooding. He was the one popping off about how much he knows about hurricanes.

How about next time yall get hit with a hurricane over in Fl I can get on here and say (from Texas) that it's not that bad...yall dont know what yall are talking about its just gonna flood, I know I've been through some hurricanes...the news is all BS...hes the one saying it's just a "weak ass cat 2" and that he "doesnt even give a rats ass". Tell that to the folks in Houston, tell that to the people whos houses are on fire but are not able to be put out due to flooding...tell em.

 

[CorvusCamenarum]

Ike is already doing heavy damage to us in Ga. Gas prices have jumped .26 cents in one day.

Only 26¢? You're lucky. Here it went from $3.70 on Thursday to $4 by noon yesterday to $4.50 by last night. Most local stations are limiting sales to 10 gallons per customer.

I'm wondering if the laws against price gouging apply to this...

 

[furcalchick]

Im there right now...are you? Neither is he. And by the way the national news coverage of Ike is about 75% less than what they covered on Gustav. I'm watching the local news...i didnt say it was destroyed but it's a hell of a lot worse than hes trying to make it out to be. Much more than flooding. He was the one popping off about how much he knows about hurricanes.

How about next time yall get hit with a hurricane over in Fl I can get on here and say (from Texas) that it's not that bad...yall dont know what yall are talking about its just gonna flood, I know I've been through some hurricanes...the news is all BS...hes the one saying it's just a "weak ass cat 2" and that he "doesnt even give a rats ass". Tell that to the folks in Houston, tell that to the people whos houses are on fire but are not able to be put out due to flooding...tell em.

i only asked because i didn't want to hear the same stupid panic i hear from those who never have been through one act like every single hurricane will be an andrew type. but i did hear it was getting bad down there. hurricanes always screw with the area and create some chaos and cleanup afterward, and they can ruin halloween and thanksgiving, literally. sorry.

and btw, the media is just horrible in coverage...you can tell they only think it's a big story if new orleans is going to be destroyed, but that's another talk for another day.

 

[aristobrat]

I might like to clarify. Ike is not really project to hit Houston directly. It is projected to hit land far amount south of Houston.

Wait, what? Wouldn't than then put the north-east part of the storm going over Houston? The north-east part is typically the worst part of the storm, ... worse than a direct hit.

 

[furcalchick]

Wait, what? Wouldn't than then put the north-east part of the storm going over Houston? The north-east part is typically the worst part of the storm, ... worse than a direct hit.

we like to call that the dirty side of the storm. and i would like to know the impacts of ike on the dfw metroplex, since i have some friends over there as well and is another major population center.

 

[todd11231]

we like to call that the dirty side of the storm. and i would like to know the impacts of ike on the dfw metroplex, since i have some friends over there as well and is another major population center.

I'm not positive but I think Dallas/Fort Worth is fine.

Just FYI, Rodimus Prime, this "weak ass category 2 storm" tore huge sections out of the Reliant Stadium that was built to withstand 140 MPH winds. I think that's a bit more than Allison did....if I remember correctly.

Heres a few pics:

I didn't take these there from Yahoo...no pics of reliant stadium yet...thats all i got at this time.

 

[Xenious]

West Houston represent

Well the far west side of houston (Katy if you're looking on a map) is not too bad at all. Some downed street signs, power outage and broken trees. From the news it looks like Galveston took a lot of damage. Lots of flooding along the Buffolo Bayou and windows broken out downtown.
-Jim

 

[todd11231]

Talked with my parents in Friendwoods (1/2 between Houston and Galveston on I45) and they lost power last night at around 10:40pm and as of 8:00am this morning they are still with out power. No major damage. Few fences blown over and a small tree in the backyard was split.

Most of the damage from this storm is going to be from the storm surge and flooding.

I saw downtown houston skyscrapers had a few windows blown out.

Was this the small tree that was split?

Caption:

A tree is uprooted as Noah Mitchum rides his bicycle through a storm damaged neighborhood in Friendswood, Texas. Gigantic hurricane Ike barreled into Texas early Saturday, bringing a monster ocean surge, knocking out power and flooding coastal areas where tens of thousands remained holed up in their homes.
(AFP/Getty Images/Scott Olson)

 

[MacNut]

Todd, I think Prime was talking about what his parents house got, I don't remember him giving a report on the whole city.

I don't know what the top wind speed was but if this topped out at 110 and Reliant stadium was damaged it means 1 of 2 things, either the stadium was built badly or there were extreme winds in the storm.

A hurricane does not need to be big to do damage, even 80 mph winds could do damage. Every tropical cyclone has embedded tornadoes that can cause a lot of damage while a few miles away they don't get much at all. It all depends on where the eye wall traveled to determine who got the worst of it. This storm was not considered a monster storm in terms of wind but it was a big storm in terms of size.

 

[todd11231]

Todd, I think Prime was talking about what his parents house got, I don't remember him giving a report on the whole city.

I don't know what the top wind speed was but if this topped out at 110 and Reliant stadium was damaged it means 1 of 2 things, either the stadium was built badly or there were extreme winds in the storm.

A hurricane does not need to be big to do damage, even 80 mph winds could do damage. Every tropical cyclone has embedded tornadoes that can cause a lot of damage while a few miles away they don't get much at all. It all depends on where the eye wall traveled to determine who got the worst of it. This storm was not considered a monster storm in terms of wind but it was a big storm in terms of size.

Here are a few quotes from Prime:

[I might like to clarify. Ike is not really project to hit Houston directly(It did get hit directly). It is projected to hit land far amount south of Houston.

The problem from Ike and Houston is going to be flooding a lot like Alison. Wind wise it is not going to be that bad (flooding doesn't blow out windows and rip roofs off of stadiums).

By the time it gets to Kate it will be at most a class 2 and will of lost a lot of its strength.

I would not panic to much if you live in Houston.

I am saying this as some one who grew up just South of Houston in a town called Friendswood and my parents live there. They are not worried about it because it is hitting south of them and they will ride out the storm.


The news is making a big deal over it. Houston is not going to be evacuated because it is going to be rain but not damage wind and storm surge.

Umm do not insult me. I do know quite a bit about hurricanes. I stated it will be flood damage but that is about it. (Wrong)
It be be like Alison on Steroids at worse and yes I was there for Alison. I grew up in Houston. Rita had my worried but like I said before I grew up in Houston and I only got out of college last Christmas so it is not like I been away for a while...... I may be in Dallas but I still know about hurricans ....

Just I am not going to let you add to the media BS(why would the downplay it? They're trying to scare idiots into evacuating so they dont die...and if they do live they'll do what there doing right now...sit around and bitch about no electricity, no running water, no help...they told them to get out. But people like this think they know better...he lives in friendswood...that makes him a hurricane expert. why should we listen to your BS wheres your degree?) they been putting out. I listen to the news and been keeping an eye on it. I lost a lot of interested in it when I saw it was going to not be hitting Houston head on.

The Media is making it out to be 10x worse than it really is. When they where making a big deal out of a weak class 2 that hit early I stop giving a rats ass on what they had to say. Anything less than a class 3 head to Houston it is not a big deal. Plus with out even an advisor to leave it is not as bad. Just going to be a lot of rain and by a lot yes a lot. If you are in a low line area it will suck... I know quite a few houses in my home town will get flooded because it happen multiple times before. Parents house will be fine.


All in all I do not expect this storm to cause the damage Alison did. I-10 will not have people on jet skis going down it again. It is not going to be that messed up.

Best of luck to you. But do not get freaked out about it. It just be a lot of rain and some 70+ mph winds. I do happen do know you are in the 90 mph wind zone so everything there is designed to handle at least 90mph sustained wind loads.

And that last pic was in his parents community of Friendswood...He just really pissed me off for some reason and is just being ignorant about the whole situation. His description from his parents would be like me looking out my window and saying that Ike only caused some wind and rain with a few downed leaves. That's all I see...and he's not even there, his information is all second hand! Maybe I missed when he posted his Meteorology degree...that at least would give him a reason to be completely wrong.

 

[MacNut]

Every storm is different. Just because the winds are not as bad as other storms doesn't mean anything. A lot of variables go into causing damage. Don't be lulled into a false sense because the experts say it is nothing to worry about. A hurricane is coming take it serious no matter what the size.

 

[todd11231]

Every storm is different. Just because the winds are not as bad as other storms doesn't mean anything. A lot of variables go into causing damage. Don't be lulled into a false sense because the experts say it is nothing to worry about. A hurricane is coming take it serious no matter what the size.

Exactly my point.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I figured I post an update on this since most people there are currently with out power (88%) as for 7pm last night.

They land line service to most of the area has gone down as well which is understandable since they been with out power for over 24 hours. The system is designed to run on a battery back up to keep the phone lines powered in case of a power outage. Just not designed to handle the size and scope of this power outage which is a record number in the US. It beats the NY black out a few years ago. Houston is still dark.

Some school's cancellation servers are down because of the lost of power. Pain in the rear if you are trying to look up information for people

 

[aristobrat]

They land line service to most of the area has gone down as well which is understandable since they been with out power for over 24 hours. The system is designed to run on a battery back up to keep the phone lines powered in case of a power outage.

Weird.

In our area (coastal VA, also subject to hurricanes), the local telco substations all have diesel backup generators.

During our last hurricane, POTS never went down even though we had no power in this area for days.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Weird.

In our area (coastal VA, also subject to hurricanes), the local telco substations all have diesel backup generators.

During our last hurricane, POTS never went down even though we had no power in this area for days.

Would not be surprised if they those to. Just the scope of the damage is beyond what the system was designed to handle. That or the crews are doing what they can moving the generators around.

24 hours may of been the limit to the full supply. I was guessing on the battery part based on something my aunt told me about a hurricane that struck VA. They had crews driving around moving generators to the battery stations to charge them. Their biggest problem was the generators getting stolen.

 

[scotthayes]

looks like you took a bit of a battering (BBC News)

It's the massive size of the hurricanes that blows my mind. If one like Ike was to hit the UK from the south it would pretty much cover the whole country.

take it all from MR are OK.

 

[iJohnHenry]

Some members around Houston are without power, so are absent today.

That might last a while.

 

[furcalchick]

Some members around Houston are without power, so are absent today.

That might last a while.

could be up to a month or more to restore all power. we were out of lights for 10 days after wilma and i think some spent thanksgiving with no lights.

and don't forget, phone service could be gone as well (we had no phone for a week), so all but cut off from the outside world without a generator.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

could be up to a month or more to restore all power. we were out of lights for 10 days after wilma and i think some spent thanksgiving with no lights.

and don't forget, phone service could be gone as well (we had no phone for a week), so all but cut off from the outside world without a generator.

projection I read from Centerpoint Energy they are projecting about a month to get everything back up and running. With at the max 2.1 mil out of 2.26 mil customers that lost power it will be a while.

 

[Vivid.Inferno]

Ike is already doing heavy damage to us in Ga. Gas prices have jumped .26 cents in one day.

Gas jumped about the same in Canada. I filled up on Thursday night at 117.5 / ltr. On Friday morning at 6:30 am when I was driving to class, it was up at 136.8 / ltr. It's brutal, especially for a student.

Edit: I do hope all are ok.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Gas jumped about the same in Canada. I filled up on Thursday night at 117.5 / ltr. On Friday morning at 6:30 am when I was driving to class, it was up at 136.8 / ltr. It's brutal, especially for a student.

Edit: I do hope all are ok.

It is not going to get any better. With 2 hurricans so close together. Reserves where already very low when Ike hit. Ike just made it worse. Plus it hit land in the heart of the Texas Refineries so it will be a little while before they are all back up and running. It be Monday when they start looking at the damages plus they need the power turned back on for them as well.

 

[Vivid.Inferno]

Ike is already doing heavy damage to us in Ga. Gas prices have jumped .26 cents in one day.

Gas jumped about the same in Canada. I filled up on Thursday night at 117.5 / ltr. On Friday morning at 6:30 am when I was driving to class, it was up at 136.8 / ltr. It's brutal, especially for a student

 

[Vivid.Inferno]

It is not going to get any better. With 2 hurricans so close together. Reserves where already very low when Ike hit. Ike just made it worse. Plus it hit land in the heart of the Texas Refineries so it will be a little while before they are all back up and running. It be Monday when they start looking at the damages plus they need the power turned back on for them as well.

I'm really not sure why that posted twice, I apoligize for that.

[rant] Anyway, what I REALLY hate is that the oil reserves in Texas are holding Canadian Oil. It drives me nuts that the US buys it from us, then sells it back to us for an even higher price *pulls out hair* [/rant]

 

[katie ta achoo]

This is what's blocking easy entrance to my apartment right now.

There's also a branch leaning on my roof. It's like 80% tree supported, 20% roof supported. Hopefully that'll get moved soon!!

And some downed trees around town.


I live very close to the Medical Center so I've had power since about 4 pm yesterday. Stuff is starting to open again: walmarts, groceries, taco cabana... Lines go out the door!

Oy vey, I'm tired... I haven't done much but it's still tiring. Hope everyone in Houston is doing well.

 

[rdowns]

Very glad to hear you made it through OK.