UPDATED POST:Prayers For Our Texas, Louisianna, Mississippi, Gulf Coast Friends

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Permalink Reply by genie on September 12, 2008 at 11:10pm

I see that they are having hurricane force winds right now. Been there -- it's no fun. The good news is that the storm is a category 2, which, apart from the coastal flooding problem, is a hell of a lot more survivable than a 3, 4, or especially a 5.

Remember 3 years ago when Rita was bearing down on Houston and everyone tried to evacuate? There was massive road gridlock for six hours and basically no one got out, plus there were many traffic related deaths (more than there would have been from the storm). You think that might keep some people in their houses?

I hope the coastal people do get out and that everyone else has plenty of water, batteries, and prepared foods.

Big prayers for everyone!!

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Permalink Reply by Maxx on September 13, 2008 at 12:14am

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone in the effected areas. sheesh. scary.
I just spoke with my sister in law in Corpus Christi and she says that it seems to have passed over them, thankfully! They are just expecting some strong winds and rain. Im so thankful that they are safe!
I will send all kinds of love, calmness and prayers to everyone tonight!

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Permalink Reply by Bren from Rivendell on September 13, 2008 at 8:13am

LATEST UPDATE

Hurricane Ike leaves 4-plus million without powerStory Highlights
NEW: Crew of 22 safely rides out storm on crippled freighter

Hurricane Ike makes landfall on Galveston Island, 1.8 million customers, or more than 4 million people, lose power
Galveston Island ravaged by flooding, fires; three deaths attributed to storm
HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Ferocious wind and floodwaters from Hurricane Ike severed power to more than 4 million people in the Houston area early Saturday as the Category 2 storm made landfall on Galveston Island.

The storm's official landfall, with 110-mph winds, was at 2:10 a.m. CT (3 a.m. ET), the National Hurricane Center said. But it began its assault on the Gulf Coast 18 hours earlier, pushing Gulf of Mexico floodwaters on to Galveston Island.

Winds aloft in the storm were even higher, and officials feared they could hit Houston high-rises extremely hard as it moves inland.

Richard Kotrla in La Marque, Texas, about eight miles from Galveston Bay, said early Saturday that Ike was "shaking this house pretty good."

"My gazebo is a pretzel," Kotrla said.

Houston officials warned residents to stay put because it was no longer safe to try to escape. Watch as fierce winds whip a Houston suburb. Those who stayed were also largely in the dark.

Floyd LeBlanc of CenterPoint Energy Inc. said 1.8 million of the power company's customers -- or more than 4 million people -- in metro Houston are without electricity as high winds and heavy rains downed power lines. LeBlanc said 2 million customers represent about 4.5 million people.

"It's going to take several weeks to get all this power restored," he said. "We've been saying two to three weeks."

Latest on Ike
Ike made official landfall at 2:10 a.m. CT (3 a.m. ET)
Hurricane-force winds extend 120 miles from eye
Storm surge expected to be 20 feet above normal tide level, 25 feet in some places

Source: National Hurricane Center At 7 a.m. ET Saturday, Ike was centered about 15 miles east-northeast of Houston Intercontinental Airport and about 80 miles south-southwest of Lufkin, Texas, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm should move through southeastern and eastern Texas on Saturday and into western Arkansas on Saturday night, the center said.

Ike's top winds had weakened to 100 mph four hours after landfall.

"Additional weakening is expected as the center moves farther inland, although Ike is expected to remain a hurricane through this afternoon," the hurricane center said.

The hurricane sparked fires and caused heavy damage around Galveston County, according to an initial assessment.

"Much of the Galveston Island is currently flooded, and there are several fires in that area," the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management said on its Web site. "Many roads in the county are impassable [due] to rising water and debris."

To the east, at least 1,800 homes and businesses were flooded by storm surge in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. And 6 feet of floodwater rushed into the town of Lafitte in Louisiana's Jefferson Parish, said Chris Macaluso of Louisiana's Office of Coastal Restoration and Management.

Three deaths have been attributed to the storm.

Helpful Information
Red Cross: Say you're safe; search for others
State of Texas: Hurricane Ike updates
Blog: Helping kids cope with disaster
City of Houston: Ike information
Impact Your World
See how you can make a difference
A 10-year-old boy died north of Houston when a falling tree limb hit him in the head, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said. A 19-year-old man drowned Friday off the coast of Corpus Christi, Texas. And an elderly person died while being evacuated from a home in Brazoria County to a shelter in Bell County, Texas, said Doc Adams, Brazoria's emergency management coordinator.

Authorities in Galveston imposed a curfew to last until dawn Monday. iReport.com: Galveston Island sea wall slammed

Houston's Harris County is under a curfew that begins at 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday.

Ike is 900 miles wide, measuring the cloud cover at its widest point. On Friday, its tropical storm-force winds extended up to 275 miles -- the length of the Texas coastline -- from its center, for a total reach of about 550 miles. City of Galveston had ordered evacuation of the island, but City Manager Steve LeBlanc said about 40 percent of the city's 57,523 residents chose to stay. "It's unfortunate that the warnings that we sent out were not heeded," he said.

LeBlanc said that by 9 p.m. all city personnel would be hunkered down and would not be able to respond to calls until after the storm passed.

Only a few more than 150 people were in a shelter of last resort, he said.

A fire broke out at a Galveston yacht basin, where boats are stored and fixed, said Galveston Fire Chief Michael Varela Sr., and firefighters were unable to reach it because the area was flooded with about 8 feet of water. Varela said he was more concerned that new fires might break out elsewhere in the city, where many spots are impassable.

About 200,000 residents have fled low-lying areas of metro Houston.

Brennan's, a popular restaurant in downtown Houston for almost four decades, burned down Friday night as Ike battered the city.

Earlier Friday, authorities rescued more than 120 people stranded by rising seas along the southeast Texas coast. Watch the Coast Guard rescue residents from high water »

The Coast Guard said early Saturday that 22 people aboard a 584-foot Cyprus-flagged freighter that was adrift without power were safe. The Antalina was 170 miles southeast of Galveston waiting for a motor tugboat to bring it back to port, Coast Guard spokesman Mike O'Berry said.

Roughly 3.5 million people live in the storm's impact zone, according to federal estimates.
The storm's counterclockwise rotation is likely to push water into Galveston Bay for hour upon hour, battering sea walls and structures.
"I've decided not to evacuate," said iReporter Matteu Erchull on Galveston Island. "We have a lot of faith in the sea wall, and we have boards on the windows. Most people on the island live on second or third stories, so they don't have to worry about the water so much."

Erchull later took shelter on the second floor of a Spanish restaurant in Galveston and said late Friday he could see fires burning in the northwest of the island. iReport.com: See Erchull bracing for Ike
CNN's Mike Ahlers, Jeanne Meserve, Barbara Starr, Mike Mount and Jason Morris contributed to this report.

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Permalink Reply by Sweetlife on September 14, 2008 at 1:37pm

Believing all is well.

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