That thing is scary. I hope it doesn't hit us here in Louisiana but I feel sorry for whomever it does end up hitting. We don't live below sea level. I live in Lafayette, LA so I'm not exactly on the coast but hurricanes can extend many miles inland. With hurricane Gustav, catagory 1 hurricane force winds were felt all the way up in Alexandria Louisiana, over an hour drive north of where I live. If it looks like it's heading our way I'm taking down all my skirting myself before it arrives. If I don't then that hurricane will rip off the rest of my skirting and possibly damage someone else's property. I'll be looking for an article that appeared in our local paper regarding New Orleans. I think you'll find it interesting that someone over a hundred years ago knew better than to build in what is now the 9th ward that flooded in Katrina.
Can't find the article now. Basicly it was about a hurricane that hit back in the 16 or 1700s and some people wanted to build in the marshy area where the 9th ward now sits and many people, including the engineers and builders were all saying it's a bad idea to build there because of the flooding and soft soil there. The original sections of New Orleans that are more than a hundred years old were hardly effected by Katrina and flood waters. One reason why Louisiana is having problems is the levees and Corps of Engineers all contribute to the problem of erosion of our coastline and marshlands that would normally have lessened the impact of storm surges. The oil rigs actually help the local wildlife. Area fishermen know to drop their lines near oil rigs because the fish use them like a manmade reef. Local area birds also use them for nesting and for fishing. They perch somewhere on the rig and watch the water for signs of fish then dive in.
Hi Dave: ___Just like Charlie in NO before, if that thing is heading your way, get the heck out of its. ___I was watching the aftermath and quite a few NO residents said they will never leave again. I just shook my head saying would you like to play a little Russian Roulette because you have a 5 in 6 chance the bullet will not go into your brain? ___If Ike is even close, get the heck out of there because IKE looks even more menacing than Gustov right now. ___Good Luck ___Wayne
Yeah - I'm in Key West, FL right now. I'm leaving, though. Amazingly a few shops are still open - Walgreens, CVS, a local coffee shop, and Starbucks. I just had to go get some coffee at both the local coffee shop and Starbucks today. **Not to thread-hijack, but...*** I kind of like Key West. Most people ride bicycles or mopeds. I was on my bicycle yesterday, passing cars like there was no tomorrow. On a side note - I saw 2 Hummer H1s here. What do they need those for in Key West? I have a picture of one parked... it's a full 20" wider than the car parked behind it.
To give you the mentality of New Orleans people, keep in mind that the first business to open it's doors after Katrina was a bar. If Ike comes our way I can't leave. I have to stay for the hospital. My wife and father-in-law will be leaving though. Either they will go with relatives up north or they'll stay at the hospital in an area designated for employee family and pets.
Just in case, we haven't unpacked our vital documents and other items from the trunk of our cars yet. I did take down the home videos but left them in the duffle bag. Should we have to pack up and leave again it won't take as long this time. All we'll have to pack is clothes, bathroom items, food, and prescriptions. Everything else is already in the car.
We've moved inland from our old house in League City which we lived about a mile from Galveston Bay. We now don't have to worry about the storm surge but will or could get the winds. Just need to get our son out when it gets closer as he still lives down there. Keeping a watchful eye on it but if it hits there is not much anyone can do. The weather people on the tv are salivating as they always do whipping people into a frenzy. The s@%t we have to live with, oh well and life will go on. kevin
Well looks like we're going to a slight breeze in the next day or so here in the Houston area, hey nothing we can do so I'll just make light of it. Got our son here so he's out of the storm surge area and thats what matters most to the wife and I. Just hope I don't get held over at work in the morning. kevin
Even NASA has plans to move from Houston to Austin is necessary. Ike is over the deepest/warmest part of the Gulf so it will be Category 3 - even 4 when it hits.
Ike is unusual because its minimum central pressure is very low compared to tis maximum wind speed. Minimum central pressure is the most reliable indicator of the storm's energy content. This one has a lot of energy. Anywhere in the watch area, especially the northern half of it, expect some damaging winds. The damage will not be limited to the narrow central track of the storm. Houston, you have a problem. DAS
Well, I've been asking Ike to make up his mind about his path, and it looks like he finally did - the least desired. Stormpulse.com shows it's supposed to hit my house in College Station (between Austin and Houston) as a category 3. I have friends evacuating to my house as they live right by Galveston. I'm currently planning on staying here. I do have a boat in the driveway. If it gets bad, we can row to Austin.
College Station is a good ways inland I doubt it will still be a CAT 3 by that point. Looks like the Corpus area and just east of that will get the brunt of it.
You will have had a boat...before the storm blows it away. What is that....future-past-present tense? Wish you wouldn't stay in its path, but if you do....good luck!
College Station hourly report: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin...uery=77840&hourly=1&yday=256&weekday=Saturday Looks like a windy day.
Dan, I recant - I want the hypermiling meet this weekend. I want to FAS on I45 all the way from Houston to Dallas with Ike at my back.
That's a relieve. She had me worried when she said it was going to hit her house as a cat 3 -- that house and everything in it would simply be gone!
Wunderground's blogger-guy is talking about total storm kinetic energy -- on the order of 230 *tera*joules ... git them windmills a-standin' tall, fellas! . _H*
