Aftermath H Ike - local info

[jj]

Anyone in the Magnolia area of Montgomery County? What is FM 1488 like, is it passable? DH would like to drive along there to reach 290 to drive to Austin.

Thank you so much!

 

[LOL!]

I was on 1488 today from 242 west to I-45 it is passable. I think all major roads are passable as locals with chainsaws have made them so. So 1488 should be passable along it's entire length.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

I am scheduled to work in NW Houston this week, outside the main loop. I'm not sure what the damage is there but expect to have my work there canceled. Is the curfew for the entire city?

 

[LOL!]

Yes, curfew is entire city now: 9 pm to 6 am. With no power, there really is not much to do after dark anyways. Thanks for volunteering to go help the folks there.

If you are going for work-work, then don't go unless there is electriity and you have a place to stay.

Look at www.chron.com for more local info. From a blog there:

Passengers and airport employees are exempt from curfew rules but they should be able to show travel itineraries or airport badges.

The airport's rental car facility at Bush Airport is inoperable and not accepting rental cars.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

No, it's work-work, but in the NW part of Houston outside the loop, so I wasn't sure about the damage, power and livability there. But if there's a city-wide curfew it sounds like I probably don't need to be there, especially since it's overnight work.

 

[Htown Harry]

The curfew applies only inside the city limits so far as I know.

 

[donheff]

My cousin lives in downtown Houston and has(d) a house on Galveston bay. Her son got married on Saturday. Her daughter writes for Time online and is in town for the wedding. She has a series of articles on Ike. Here is her article from Saturday after the wedding.

 

[jIMOh]

The storm hit as far north as Ohio- many businesses here are closed and 1.5 M Ohio residences are without power.

I am sure the coast is worse (they had rain too, we only got the wind). I feel for anyone dealing with significant loss- we lost power last night but got it back this morning.

Sustained winds 30-40 MPH, gusts at 60 mph and a high gust of 74mph I think. We are 2000 miles from the gulf I think (maybe 1000 miles- but a LONG way from the ocean).

 

[Goonie]

I am sure the coast is worse (they had rain too, we only got the wind).

And we didn't get wind...Ike only gave us some his excess rain. The his winds went south of us....thankfully! At our place, we got 5" from Friday through Sunday morning, and winds of 20-30mph. Folks to the north of us got up to about 9-10 inches. The rivers are all in flood stage, with the IL River looking to break the 500 year flood levels before it crests around midnight tonight....the Fox River crested overnight last night. Fortunately very few homes are affected around here, since the Gov't bought out most of homeowners after the last 500 year flood a few years ago. Mostly the only things that are affected by the local flooding are a couple of parks, one school (that's well sandbagged), and a HS football field.

My thoughts are with those of you dealing with Ike's aftermath....hoping all works out well for you and yours!

 

[Htown Harry]

Here's a link to an amazing collection of news photographs from Hurricane Ike:

Hurricane ike photos - Daylife

GALVESTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 18: As the island continues to recover from Hurricane Ike, the sun rises behind the 1900 Storm Memorial September 18, 2008 in Galveston, Texas. The sculpture was dedicated to remember the 6,000 killed when a hurricane hit the island in 1900. Most of the island remains without running water, electricity or gas since the hurricane hit in the early morning hours of September 13.

My favorite so far isn't posted there. This week's cover of the Houston Press, our local entertainment tabloid, featured a picture of Dwight Eisenhower's smiling face pasted over a satellite photo of Hurricane Ike, with the banner headline "You Bastard!"

http://www.houstonpress.com/

 

[Leonidas]

Ike's surge was incredible. I think way too many people fixed their attention to the fact that he would come ashore as a Cat 2 or weak 3, and did not pay attention to the warnings about a storm surge equal to a Cat 4. It's amazing how far and deep the surge reached in places like Baytown, La Porte, etc.

The wind certainly did a lot of damage far inland and after seeing the aftermath I no longer have any regrets about evacuating for Rita. That one was going to hit Galveston with 175 MPH sustained winds. I can't even imagine what the Houston area would have looked like if that scenario had played out.

 

[Htown Harry]

another outstanding slide show:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html

 

[RustyShackleford]

Ike's surge was incredible. I think way too many people fixed their attention to the fact that he would come ashore as a Cat 2 or weak 3, and did not pay attention to the warnings about a storm surge equal to a Cat 4. It's amazing how far and deep the surge reached in places like Baytown, La Porte, etc.

Good (pretty technical) paper about this:

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Powell/BAMS_IKE_Paper_final.pdf

... the gist is that NOAA/NHC may be working on a new way to grade
hurricanes that more accurately quantifies their destructive potential.

 

[Htown Harry]

... the gist is that NOAA/NHC may be working on a new way to grade hurricanes that more accurately quantifies their destructive potential.

Interesting paper, although the acronym IKE (for "integrated kinetic energy") strikes me as a little ironic right about now.

Also ironic:

In 1983, the Chronicle disagreed with the National Weather Service over the practice of categorizing hurricane strength.

 

[Nords]

Interesting paper, although the acronym IKE (for "integrated kinetic energy") strikes me as a little ironic right about now.

When meteorologists discover search-engine optimization...

Perhaps Congress and the NSF are funding new grants for IKE? Or maybe this is a tax deduction due to the effects of hurricane IKE.

 

[Htown Harry]

Texas Monthly has two excellent articles and a slide show covering Ike posted on the web.

There's a funny essay by Houstonian Mimi Swartz that captures what those of us living in the city went through:

I Don't Like Ike: Texas Monthly November 2008

"...The atmosphere remained relatively festive until Mayor Bill White and county judge Ed Emmett held a somber press conference to urge those who lived in particular zip codes to leave. The rest of us were supposed to stay put. With our family’s stay thus justified—my husband, a newspaperman, had no choice—I suddenly realized there was nothing in our cupboards except for the cans of Sylvia’s yams and lima beans I’d bought during Rita. I raced to my neighborhood Target, where they were sold out of the edible canned goods, along with the crank-up radios that had been piled high weeks ago; ditto most of the flashlights and batteries (a few tiny LED penlights dangled pathetically on hooks). Trips to four other stores—I’ll bet RadioShack has a crank-up radio!—and one near fistfight at a gas station left me pooped but prepped, like a Girl Scout who had crammed for her disaster preparedness badge..."
​

The second is a feature story on Galveston. It's sad, especially in its conclusion.
My Frail Island: Texas Monthly November 2008

"Contemplating the past and future, I have come to realize that I love Galveston more from afar than up close. Wherever I might live, I will always consider myself to be from Galveston. But I can’t escape the feeling that its existence is fragile—that the erosion, the subsidence, the lack of sand, the overdevelopment, the memory of the 1900 storm, and the turning of the calendar to the next hurricane season is nature’s way of saying that cities don’t belong on barrier islands two miles offshore. And that we all know in our hearts the sea will win in the end."
​

There's also a narrated slide show of Galveston pictures taken by the photographer whose work accompanies the Galveston story. Even sadder.
Hurricane Ike: Slide Show: Texas Monthly November 2008