Houston-Galveston Could Face Major Damage from Ike

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Houston-Galveston could face major damage from Ike

By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 23 minutes ago
HOUSTON - Gleaming skyscrapers, the nation's biggest refinery and NASA's Johnson Space Center lie in areas that could be vulnerable to wind and damaging floodwaters if Hurricane Ike crashes ashore as a major hurricane.

Forecasters expect the storm to make landfall this weekend somewhere between Corpus Christi and Houston, creating the potential for heavy punishment for Houston even if it's not hit directly. Some forecasts say Ike could strengthen to a fearsome Category 4 hurricane with winds of at least 131 mph over the Gulf of Mexico, and emergency officials warned it could drive a storm surge as high as 18 feet.

If current projections of the storm's path hold up, the area surrounding Houston — home to about 4 million people — would be lashed by the eastern or "dirty" side of the storm, said meteorologist Jeff Masters, co-founder of San Francisco-based Weather Underground. This stronger side of the storm often packs heavy rains, walloping storm surge and tornadoes.

"I expect a lot of damage in Houston from this storm," said Masters, adding that Ike could cause a "huge storm surge" affecting at least 100 miles of the Texas coast. Houston officials were expecting some flooding, the question is how much.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080911/ap_on_re_us/ike

[Up2Late]

1. Yup, tracking it at this link...

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3970896&mesg_id=3970896>

[Kip Humphrey]

2. Here in Houston, it looks like we're about to be waterboarded. Y'IKE!!!

[dipsydoodle]

3. BBC News link

Residents in the US state of Texas have begun to evacuate as Hurricane Ike churns through the Gulf of Mexico.

About one million people have been advised to leave their homes, and the authorities have laid on more than 1,000 buses to facilitate the exodus.

Some officials fear Texas could be lashed with 130mph (208km/h) winds and a 16ft (5m) storm surge on Saturday.

Ike has killed more than 70 people in the Caribbean, with Haiti and Cuba particularly badly hit.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7609878.stm

[bullwinkle428]

4. I hope people don't dismiss this after Gustav turned out

to be somewhat of a "dud" as it related to New Orleans (even though it did some tremendous damage in other places)...