Texas Coast Evacuated Ahead Of Hurricane Ike

The massive Hurricane Ike moved toward the Texas coast, forcing nearly a million people to flee inland before it comes ashore in the heavily populated Galveston-to-Houston corridor. Landfall was projected late Friday or early Saturday.
The National Weather Service didn’t mince words as it issued a strong warning for residents in low-lying coastal areas around Galveston. The service’s statement read that those ignoring the evacuation order faced certain death.
Ike is still a Category 2 storm, packing winds of 105 mph, but it was expected to strengthen into a Category 3 storm as it approaches the northeastern Texas coast.

Huge storm surges are expected, and the storm’s impact could extend more than 500 miles. Currently, the hurricane takes up nearly 40 percent of the Gulf of Mexico.
The center of the storm was located about 365 miles east of Corpus Christi, Texas, and about 230 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas, the National Hurricane Center said in its 8 a.m. ET report.

Despite the grim forecast, Houston city officials told residents to stay put. Authorities want to avoid a repeat of the massive traffic jams during the 2005 evacuation for Hurricane Rita, when more than 100 people died during the exodus.
Ike was expected to make landfall early Saturday southwest of Galveston, a barrier island and beach town about 50 miles southeast of downtown Houston and the scene of the nation’s deadliest hurricane, the great storm of 1900 that left at least 6,000 dead.

In August 1983, Hurricane Alicia came ashore on Galveston Island, killing 21 people and causing $2 billion in damage.
Meanwhile, the Coast Guard scrambled to rescue a 584-foot bulk freighter with 22 people aboard that broke down in the path of the storm about 90 miles southeast of Galveston. Ike could cause 50-foot waves and made rescue by ship impossible, Petty Officer Patrick Kelley said.
“They’re so far offshore; you’re looking at only helicopter responses. Then you’re dealing with winds,” Kelley said, adding that the Coast Guard was weighing its response options.

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people and ike

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Hurricane Ike POUNDS Cuba!

In pictures: Hurricane Ike

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Coastal Watches/Warnings and 5-Day Track Forecast Cone

This graphic shows an approximate representation of coastal areas under a hurricane warning (red), hurricane watch (pink), tropical storm warning (blue) and tropical storm watch (yellow). The orange circle indicates the current position of the center of the tropical cyclone. The black line and dots show the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast track of the center at the times indicated. The dot indicating the forecast center location will be black if the cyclone is forecast to be tropical and will be white with a black outline if the cyclone is forecast to be extratropical. If only an L is displayed, then the system is forecast to be a remnant low. The letter inside the dot indicates the NHC’s forecast intensity for that time.

NHC forecast tracks of the center can be in error; track forecast errors in recent years were used to construct the areas of uncertainty for the first 3 days (solid white area) and for days 4 and 5 (white stippled area). These areas of uncertainty are formed by enclosing the area swept out by a set of circles (not shown) along the forecast track (at 12, 24, 36 hours, etc). The size of each circle is set so that two-thirds of historical official forecast errors over a 5-year sample fall within the circle. The historical data indicate the entire 5-day path of the center of the tropical cyclone will remain within the outer uncertainty area about 60-70% of the time. There is also uncertainty in the NHC intensity forecasts. The Maximum 1-minute Wind Speed Probability Table provides intensity forecast and uncertainty information.

It is also important to realize that a tropical cyclone is not a point. Their effects can span many hundreds of miles from the center. The area experiencing hurricane force (one-minute average wind speeds of at least 74 mph) and tropical storm force (one-minute average wind speeds of 39-73 mph) winds can extend well beyond the white areas shown enclosing the most likely track area of the center. The distribution of hurricane and tropical storm force winds in this tropical cyclone can be seen in the Wind History graphic linked above.

Considering the combined forecast uncertainties in track, intensity, and size, the chances that any particular location will experience winds of 34 kt (tropical storm force), 50 kt, or 64 kt (hurricane force) from this tropical cyclone are presented in tabular form for selected locations and forecast positions. This information is also presented in graphical form for the 34 kt, 50 kt, and 64 kt thresholds.

from: www.nhc.noaa.gov

Salvation Army Supporting Shelter and Evacuation for Hurricane Ike

The Salvation Army today is supporting the evacuation and shelter operations ordered by the State of Texas prior to the anticipated landfall of Hurricane Ike late Friday. In anticipation of the growing storm, The Army has deployed a fleet of more than 60 mobile canteen units, along with satellite communications equipment and other materials and is preparing a disaster response operation that could rival the one it mounted for Hurricane Katrina, its largest ever. As Ike heads toward major population centers around Houston, Tex., the Army’s primary mission will be to meet the immediate needs of those affected by the storm, including emergency responders.

“A storm of this size and intensity threatening a metropolitan area presents an enormous danger,” said Major James Taylor, Texas Divisional Secretary for The Salvation Army. “Hurricane-force winds and wide-spread flooding could not only cause loss of life and property, but could displace thousands of people for an indefinite period of time. We’ll need public support to ensure a viable long-term response effort for the many people we expect will be in need.”

As part of its operation, The Salvation Army began staging personnel and resources in San Antonio and Tyler, Tex., earlier this week with everything in place by nightfall today. This positioning will allow incident response teams to attack the storm from two sides immediately after it passes. Many of the resources have been held over from the recent evacuation and response to Hurricane Gustav which struck the Gulf Coast last month. More than 100 additional canteens are on standby from surrounding states as far away as Florida and North Carolina.

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