Ed B: Are you in the path of a hurricane?

[edblysard]

Alive and well...power back on, water still off...Kemah is pretty hammered, Galveston got it good too...

Only lost a vent off the roof, others in my neighborhood got trees through the roof and other stuff not so pleasent..out with the Jeep and a long tow chain clearing roads into the neighborhood...will check back a while.

[Mookie]

Notice what washed up in the storm?  (Three posts above.)

Yeah, he probably commissioned a ship from the Navy to deliver the bottle! 

[alcodave]

 I hope everything is good with ED B. Gas prices in my part of Ohio went up to 4+ dollars a gallon already "Due to the hurricane".

[jeaton]

Notice what washed up in the storm?  (Three posts above.)

[CShaveRR]

Glad to hear that, SJ!  I'm sure that if you toss said bottle out the window, it'll get to us sometime tomorrow.  They were saying that it could be over a week before power's restored to some folks.

[Mookie]

Just got home and found a message in a bottle.  Hard to read, but something about all Blysards are ok.  No power.  Lots of water.  Won't have to cut the lawn this weekend. 

Now about the rest of the eastern US.....

Mookie

[dharmon]

My parents live not too far away from Ed's neighborhood.  Power is out, some trees down but not too much standing water yet.  Overall from their perspective that part of town is doing okay so far.  Can't speak for Ed'd neighborhood but it's only a couple of miles away. 

Hope you're doing okay Ed.

 

Dan 

 

[tree68]

This site allows you to watch all four Houston stations simultaneously.  You can control the volume for each one.

[TimChgo9]

I have been watching....  Ed , I hope you and your family is okay, praying that you all come out of this okay. 

 

[tree68]

     Wow!  On the weather maps, Houston looks like the bullseye of a dartboard!

Yep - My first look this morning makes it appear that the eye went right over Houston.

[Murphy Siding]

     Wow!  On the weather maps, Houston looks like the bullseye of a dartboard!

[moelarrycurly4]

10 pm I am watching all the news channels from ther 13 ,11,2,26 still up and streaming

[edblysard]

Big Q..

Thanks...I worry about the folks on the east side, they will flood and get the worst of it.

Sustained winds in Houston at 43 to 50 mph

[Modelcar]

.....Lots of members on here thinking of you and your family Ed....Keeping it all in our prayers for you.

[edblysard]

Boat repair facility at the yatch basin in Galveston on fire, along with the warehouse...fiberglass and associated chemicals burning...Galveston FD is going to let it burn itself out, no need to risk personnel.

No serious rain yet, but wind gusting up to 40 mph...Galveston is closed, real danger is the storm surge already have flooding in east Harris county, all the bayous full.

So far, one storm related death...young man was struck by a tree he and his father were cutting down because it was damaged in the last storm and they didn't want it to blow over on their house...he was trapped under the tree when it went over.

 

All our hospitals are in lock down mode...everyone is ordered to remain in place...curfew in place...police will arrest anyone found out in the mandatory evacuated areas.

 

If you're not out of town by now, its too late.

Hatches all battened down, and I am surprised phone lines and internet still up...525 thousand people in the storm surge area...expected to be with out power for several days.

[moelarrycurly4]

There were some people who tried to stay on Boliver pennensula (might as well be in the bay) and the storm surge flooded thier houses so they had to be rescued. There was a warehouse fire in Galveston and some sort of Housefire there. not a lot of rampant destruction just flooding.

[Last Chance]

Im hearing stories on satellite tv that people already are being trapped on roofs and fires going on there.

Be safe wherever you are in that area. Gonna be rough.

[selector]

Good luck, Ed.  I would say "good bye", but our modern use would make it seem a morbid farewell instead of its original, "God be wi'ye."  I'll say a prayer for those who couldn't manage to find a way out of Galveston.

-Crandell

[Modelcar]

....We're thinking of you and your family Ed.....Hope you can hunker down low and secure enough in your home and long enough to make it through it safely. 

[Goober]

Expecting 100mph winds in a hour...all the reporters on Galveston just figured out it really is going to be a bad place to be in the next few hours...they all sound shocked that the wind and rain is whipping them up...storm surge is expected to reach several miles inland...hope they have all the ships on the ship channel on lose wharf lines, gonna be a wild few hours.

Still no serious rain in northwest Houston, but you can see smell and feel it coming...

yeah ha...

Ed, thank you for the updates.  Please stay safe, we need you more than the updates.  Our prayers are with you and yours. 

Jared

[edblysard]

Expecting 100mph winds in a hour...all the reporters on Galveston just figured out it really is going to be a bad place to be in the next few hours...they all sound shocked that the wind and rain is whipping them up...storm surge is expected to reach several miles inland...hope they have all the ships on the ship channel on lose wharf lines, gonna be a wild few hours.

Still no serious rain in northwest Houston, but you can see smell and feel it coming...

yeah ha...

[moelarrycurly4]

Seem's like ike is taking the path of Alicia and going to come in on the west side of Galveston Island.

seems like Hurricanes alawys sneak on shore at night when you can't see them.

We stayed during Alicia and it was a cat 3 storm.  we almost flooded but did not. I remeber hearing trains moving on the santa fe during the storm. I wondered why they were doing this. Most of the refineries continued production during alicia if I recall.

[Limitedclear]

Rails Close Ahead of Ike
9/12/2008

Texas-based BNSF Railway, along with Union Pacific Railroad and Kansas City Southern shut down freight operations in the path of Hurricane Ike, the second time this month that a major storm threat has halted rail service in the Gulf Coast area.

Ike was expected to strike at Galveston, Texas, and then move inland toward Houston, but it brings a wide wind path that could cause damage and flooding across a much broader region.

UP told customers, "All rail operations have now been suspended into and out of the Houston area."

It also said authorities in New Orleans had closed a bridge into that city used by both rail and highway traffic, so the storm was interrupting connections there with other rail lines. Already, UP was having to reroute some traffic away from that city as it continued repairing damage left earlier Sept. 1 by Hurricane Gustav.

BNSF also closed facilities at Galveston, Houston and New Orleans as Ike approached, and KCS embargoed traffic bound for Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, where it interchanges with the two larger rail lines.

All the carriers move equipment out of the projected storm's path when they activate their hurricane plans, and station repair materials and crews to come in quickly afterward to get service restored.

[edblysard]

Right now it's a cat 2 storm tracked directly into Galveston, Houston and curving up and through Conroe.

The seawall in Galveston is 13 feet tall, and the waves, not the surge, but just the waves, are cresting at 16 feet...Galveston was built up after the 1906 storm, they raised most of the center part of the island by 8 to 10 feet...but it still stair steps down from the seawall or Gulf side to sea level on the bay side.

So you can pretty much figure all the homes on Galveston will get some pretty heave damage.

So far, at 4.06, nothing on the northwest side of Houston but a light rain...they backed up the landfall prediction to sometime after midnight.

The railroad called, said not to come to work tomorrow we will close...what sweethearts.

They also wanted to know if I would work the midnight shift in the yard...I asked the crew caller where the regular crews were...she said they all marked off.

[CShaveRR]

Let's see, a 100# infobabe can stand outside in a hurricane and broadcast telling me at 6'5" and well over three hundred pounds that I am in grave danger of certain death for staying in my house?  Apparently all you have to do to survive is get press credentials and stand outside.  Cheap solution and no more fear of life broadcasts.

The "certain death" quote was referring to anyone on Galveston Island who would be stupid enough to try to stay put and not evacuate.  The predicted storm surge is 20-25 feet whereas almost the entire island is less than 10 feet above sea level.  Like most barrier islands, it's not much more than a glorified sandbar.

The story I heard this morning is that these people "may face certain death".  Talk about mixed messages!

(Will they, or won't they? We all will, sooner or later.)

As for gas prices, the "surge" is for real--in the eight-plus hours between driving to work and driving home, the station I frequently use had its price go up 19 cents--and they're still underselling the Shell across the street by a dime (he's up to $4.25).

[Last Chance]

Not to be callous but I have sat and watched fox live cam on Galveston and witnessed light vehicles plowing through water at the seawall. One vehicle drove right up to the wall and sat taking wind readings and other weather data. While that was happening a wave broke and rolled water up to all 4 of his wheels and made good undertow on the way back out towards the next wave.

Then I watched a reporter bent over into the wind eating old greybeards with words not understood into the microphone. That microphone happens to be attached to a wire that is now in 2 feet of sea. With debris on top threat to cut the wire or slash at the legs.

 

Hurricane coverage is wonderful, but the media dont understand that enough is enough and they should get out of town too.

[miketx]

For some reason they haven't opened up the contraflow at Brookshire on I-10 going west.  That's where the Interstate goes from 4 lanes to two lanes.  So if you're trying to leave town that way, it could be a long wait to get away.  I live near Gonzales, and there are already over 800 people housed in the various school gyms, and more are expected.  We're about 120 miles west of Houston.  

As for storm surges, my wife's 80 year old uncle has ridden out hurricanes for decades, but with this one, he boarded up and left to north Houston. 

As for the info-babes out in the weather...wait till tonight,they'll be having a field day. 

 

m

[jeaton]

Back to the real subject of this thread, the forecasts suggest the real threat of this storm is the storm surge.  Exceptions to this of course, but a house built with hurricane risk in mind can probably handle sustained Cat 3 winds, but a 12 to 15 foot wave crashing against that house is going to move the place into the next county.

In the circumstances, residents on Galveston Island would be quite smart to get out of town.  Appearantly that is the suggestion or order of the local government emergency types.  On the other hand, folks like Ed in Houston taking precautions will probably fare reasonably well.  Anyway, that is my wish for Ed, his family and neighbors.

Jay

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Let's see, a 100# infobabe can stand outside in a hurricane and broadcast telling me at 6'5" and well over three hundred pounds that I am in grave danger of certain death for staying in my house?  Apparently all you have to do to survive is get press credentials and stand outside.  Cheap solution and no more fear of life broadcasts.

The "certain death" quote was referring to anyone on Galveston Island who would be stupid enough to try to stay put and not evacuate.  The predicted storm surge is 20-25 feet whereas almost the entire island is less than 10 feet above sea level.  Like most barrier islands, it's not much more than a glorified sandbar.

[jeaton]

Yeah.  A little rain and wind in Houston is nothing compared to the dangers faced by Bear Grylls in the Discovery Channel's Man vs. Wild "South Dakota".  Gives me a new respect for people who live there.   Can you imagine endless treeless plains broken only by the occasional stampeding buffalo herd, land erosion run amok and hills that are super lightening rods?

     Oh yeah!  *Reality* TV   I suspect that when they do Chicago episode, that cat will be chased by Al Cpone and his hinchmen, firing at him with tommy guns.

       Actually,  it's hard to see all those buffalo, what with all the corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, oats, milo, sorgum,sunflowers.......

Where I live in Walworth County, WI has much more danger than Chicago.  Google "Beast of Bray Road".  I am sure that is why Grylls has refused the Discovery Channel's urging to do a program in our area.  It is really too bad.  I am sure the videos of him being torn limb from limb by Bigfoot's cousin would do wonders for ratings.