An Ike Story

24 Hours in Fema 3 Hours Late?

2008-09-14T22:31:00.002-05:00

Just heard the evening press conference with Houston officials on 740 AM radio.

Apparently, supplies were originally supposed to be delivered to Reliant Stadium, the Texas state government was supposed to take these supplies to 17 'Pod' sites across the greater Houston area.

However, while the supplies were delivered on time, Texas was unable to fulfill its obligations because most of the rest of the Texas coast is a giant pile of rubble right now. Because of this the National Guard troopers supposed to transfer food and ice to 'Pods' were instead deployed to look for survivors in the wreckage of the gulf coast.

Such deployments of resources and supplies sound incredibly reasonable to me. I mean, we have our health and house and there is a mexican restaurant open with power not 10 miles away from us... lets leave the National Guard to find the people who are treading water (literally) in Galveston...

oh, 'POD' = Point of Distribution

Instead of Texas distributing the materials, Bill White (Houston Mayor) and Judge Emmett (Harris County Judge) offered to have city volunteers distribute the supplies to the PODS.

The PODS have emergency ice, water, and some basic food items.

The Net result of all of this drama? The PODS were brought online at 7 PM instead of 4 PM. This is mainly because the City received an additional 3" of rain today from another front that moved through.

Why are the press trying to tear these guys apart? 24 Hours after Katrina, the first levees were breaking... I think Texas, Bill White, FEMA, and Judge Emmett are doing a pretty damn good job so far if you ask me.

They told you ahead of time, to have non-perishable food, a grill, a generator, and some basic food stuffs. We are 24 hours after the storm. Eat some cereal, have some crackers, there is a cold front coming through, so enjoy the great weather, and quit complaining people. This is a natural disaster on a major scale. There are people who died. Get over not having cable.

Alive but Damaged after IKE

2008-09-14T12:54:00.002-05:00

Had a car get a rear winshield blown out and beat up pretty good. House made it through okay. Intermittent cell bandwidth access. When I can get access to EVDO I'll upload a ton of pics and videos.

Most people here are safe but some people are starting to get hungry...

Have had virtually no news since the storm hit.

Will update again as able.

Pressure Dropping

2008-09-13T01:02:00.002-05:00

The pressure is dropping here very quickly. My ears are constantly popping and the doors in the house keep swinging on their hinges (no, they don't normally do that).

Eye of Ike over Galveston

2008-09-13T00:52:00.002-05:00

The first edge of the eye is over Galveston. Looks like the seawall is pretty much being destroyed by the minute. Here in Spring the rain is intensifying a bit and the power is mostly on but flashing on and off. The last flicker put our power down for about 3 minutes, the intervals are getting longer with each interruption.

So far we are hanging in there.

81 Billion in possible Damage?

2008-09-13T00:28:00.002-05:00

Govenor Rick Perry is talking right now saying that the storm could cause 81 billion dollars worth of damage to Texas. I talked a little bit about the most destructive storms yesterday and...

power just went. signing off for a bit.

Storms picking up

2008-09-13T00:18:00.001-05:00

Midnight here and the very first outer bands are starting to run through. Getting some decent wind gusts and starting to rain a bit.

Sill have power but have had it pop on and off a few times.

Galveston looks like it's being hit really hard right now

Going Ike Surfing...

2008-09-12T19:32:00.003-05:00

taken by a local station almost 10 hours ago... can't imagine what Galveston looks like right now.

90,000 body bags?

2008-09-12T19:19:00.005-05:00

An estimated 90,000 people in the Houston and surrounding counties with mandatory evacuation orders have chosen not to leave.

They only declared mandatory evacs where officials felt that the surge would be so bad that life was unsustainable. They had everyone else stand pat so the mandatory evacs could get out.

Sometimes Texas stubbornness makes me a little sick to my stomach...

edit: Just heard that 20,000 of those people are on Galveston Island alone.. 7:20 PM

Batten Down the Hatches

2008-09-12T18:51:00.003-05:00

Currently busting out flashlights, closing up the rest of the doors etc.

As this thing comes through I'm going to snap as many pics and videos as possible without endangering life and limb. I'll probably lose power but will be able to log in intermittently using a mobile nextel card and my laptop.

If you want to be on top of it bookmark the blog or snag the RSS feed, the posts will probably be coming in bursts the rest of the way in.

Rescues are going offline for Galveston soon, best of luck to everyone there.

Ike Getting Stronger

2008-09-12T18:04:00.002-05:00

Crazy. The closer Ike is getting to the coast, the stronger he gets. The winds are now at 110mph (1 mph short of Cat 3). Not only that, the pressure is dropping.

Good luck to those 40% of the population that stayed on Galveston Island.

They're predicting 30+ ft. waves.

The seawall is 17 ft. tall. The math does not bode well.

Ike's Getting Closer...

2008-09-12T18:01:00.002-05:00

The Black 'X' is me....

whoaaaa

2008-09-12T17:39:00.002-05:00

Just had our first 20+ mph gust through Spring... still looks like we are a few hours from anything significant but it's definitely not getting sunnier...

Just plain Idiots

2008-09-12T17:09:00.001-05:00

Now, I'm all for a good hurricane party. But these people are just idiots. Good luck and God Bless.

Welcome to Lake Surfside

2008-09-12T17:06:00.003-05:00

every time they show the bridge to Surfside they are another couple hundred yards further inland. It looks like 4-5 ft of water is going almost half a mile into the mainland. I hope that guy got his permanent marker out before it got wet. It's not funny to joke about but I can not believe that guy wouldn't leave...

Ike 1, Geraldo Rivera 0

2008-09-12T16:53:00.006-05:00

Okay, you know Geraldo Rivera is not your favorite person ever. And if you are a Texan, (or from the south) it probably irks you to have some northerner come and try to be a tough guy for the storm. So, here is a little bit of come-uppance for him (he wasn't really hurt, which is why this is funny).

Seriously though, leave the tough guy stuff up to Jim Cantore. Even he is smart enough to be 30 feet above sea level on the balcony of a hotel. Duh

135 miles to go...

2008-09-12T16:13:00.001-05:00

the inner eyewall is currently 135 miles from Galveston, 200 miles from my house. the newest track puts the eye directly over my house in about 12 hours. Daybreak tomm could be very interesting....

Goodbye Surfside, No Help for the Crazies

2008-09-12T15:50:00.002-05:00

image from Click 2 Houston

From all the live videos I'm seeing, Surfside (and island south of Galveston) is basically gone. The whole island is underwater and the one guy who refuses to leave has been told to write his name and social on his arm so they can identify his body..woah.

Galveston still has an estimated 40% of people who were too dumb to evacuate. The island already has water all over it from the shots I've seen and it will probably go higher.

The outer rain bands look like they are about 2-3 hours from Galveston. I think things are going to go downhill pretty quickly from here.

The beginning of 'Strong Language'

2008-09-12T13:01:00.001-05:00

in the most recent updated (1pm cst) the NHC began using some strong language regarding 'loss of life' , 'catastrophic' , and other scary words. This means it's game on for the TV types. Since the NHC is usually quite reserved about using language like that and the track hasn't really changed it's getting more worrisome by the hour...

The first Taste of Ike in Spring, TX

2008-09-12T12:09:00.003-05:00

We just got our first little murmur of Ike. A series of wind gusts is picking up, probably 5-15 mph. Nothing to be afraid of but considering how far away Ike is it's a little disconcerting.

This storm is going to cause a lot of problems...

The Potential Galveston Death Toll

2008-09-12T10:44:00.000-05:00

Jim Cantori finally made his first appearance a few minutes ago... on Galveston Island. Uh oh.

What's more disturbing is that the seawall is already being topped by waves an hour and a half after low tide and there's much more to come.

With that being said, best estimates have less than 50% of Galveston evacuated so far. I really hope that the people still on the island come to their senses and get out of dodge before it's too late. Sheltering above the storm surge is one thing but sheltering under it is another...

Local on the 8s

2008-09-12T09:19:00.001-05:00

I think my favorite part of watching the weather channel for 24 hours a day is looking at the week long forecast.

They predict:

Thunderstorms and possible high wind.

Thank you captain obvious.

My Hurricane Experience and Background

2008-09-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd provide a brief history of my hurricane experience etc. so if you think you are just reading ramblings from some yahoo I could maybe change that to 'informed' ramblings from some yahoo.

I went to school in New Orleans from 2001-2005 receiving a degree in engineering and toughed out many TS and light hurricanes that passed through such as Ivan, Isabelle, Lily, etc.

I was in the city of New Orleans 48 hours before Katrina hit and returned to visit less than 30 days after the storm.

I currently work for an environmental consulting company in Houston and specialize in Storm Water management and control as well as permitting.

I guess I'm a professional storm nut...

This blog is being written from my home in Spring, Tx right at mile marker 68 on I-45 north of houston. That means that Galveston island is just about 70 miles directly to the south of me.

I'm not evacuating and will be riding the storm out here and updating people as long as I can keep power going to my laptop.

Flooding starting in Galveston

2008-09-12T08:40:00.000-05:00

Just showed a helicopter shot of Galveston (West End i think). Looks like there is already a few inches to a foot of water across the entire island.

Tiki Island can't be in good shape. Looking for some pics to post.

BTW, I'm planning on posting pics and videos from my home in North Houston (Spring) as the storm rolls through. If I get to posting a lot and you think you miss some pics or vids, I'll also be adding them to this static page on my story of Hurricane Ike.

Where is Jim Cantori?

2008-09-12T08:31:00.000-05:00

Jim Cantori is the Weather Channel Meteorologist that always appears wherever the storm is worst, without fail. When he appears it is usually a death knell for the surrounding area. I heard he was in Houston somewhere but hasn't made an appearance yet...

If anyone sees him let me know.

Holy moly, Ike takes up the whole gulf.... (watching weather channel)

8 AM press conference

2008-09-12T08:06:00.000-05:00

The Press Conference with Bill White just started. Some notes:

If you live in an evac zone get the hell out.

if you live in a mobile home get the hell out.

in High rises every 100 feet above the ground you are, the intensity of the storm raises by a category.

If you are not in evac zone hunker down and they'll 'see us on the other side..'

Topped of the Morning

2008-09-12T07:43:00.000-05:00

They just showed pictures of waves over topping the 17 ft. seawall that protects Galveston. The storm is still 20 hours out... That seawall is pretty much all the protection that the island has. This is not good...

20 Billion in Damage is a lot

2008-09-12T00:04:00.000-05:00

Weather Underground is predicting $20-$30 Billion dollars in damage from Ike.

For perspective, that would make Ike the second most expensive Hurricane EVER after Katrina (35 Billion bucks) and Andrew ($20 Billion).

Yikes.

Passing the time...

2008-09-11T23:48:00.000-05:00

Watching the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas....

Never knew Dolly Parden looked so much like Anna Nicole Smith when she was young.

'It'll be like putting 2 bowling balls in a marble bag' .... hrmmm....

Ike still coming to crush Houston... hasn't broken up in the last 20 minutes unfortunately..

10 PM Sept 11 Ike Track

2008-09-11T23:37:00.000-05:00

Emergency Meeting - Mother Nature is the Law

2008-09-11T23:07:00.000-05:00

Just got done watching the emergency meeting with the County Judge and Houston Mayor Bill White. They are some cool cats under pressure.

Quote of the announcement:

Bill White responds to a question asking about the legal implications of not leaving during a mandatory evacuation by saying

"Mother Nature will impose a penalty far worse than the law ever could"

whoa...

Ike Storm : A narrative of Hurricane Ike

2008-09-11T23:01:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Ike Storm. Today is 9/11/08 and I am in Houston Texas. I am running a continuous narrative of Hurricane Ike and it's effects on the Houston area. I will be here as the storm passes through and post as much as possible, power permitting.

If there is any information you want that you don't see, let me know and I'll try and throw it up but for the majority of the time, this will be my experiences of the storm.