Monster Ike is bearing down on the Upper Texas Coast... get out of there!!!

MY SKY WATCH FRIDAY POST IS BELOW THIS ONE...

It's no surprise that Hurricane Ike is now being referred to as a MONSTER! Having started out as a relatively small hurricane, Hurricane Ike is now FAR FROM SMALL, which becomes one of his biggest threats. In his previous size (about the size of West Virginia...), he wouldn't have had a huge impact even as a powerful hurricane; however, now, in his current size which is larger than the state of Texas, spanning the entire Gulf of Mexico, with convective bands impacting Florida's west coast and Texas's east coast simultaneously, Ike is a force to be reckoned with... A few key facts influence the very serious dangers associated with Hurricane Ike. First, his size, which means he will make a huge impact over a large area. Second, already buoys are sending reports of 30 ft. waves, which will make the 14 ft. sea wall outside of Galveston, TX, a joke. People who think that little wall is going to protect them are in for a BIG surprise. Already with the only tropical storm force winds coming into the west coast of Texas (since the tropical storm force winds span 275 miles!!!! from Ike's center), the waves are crashing over the wall. That doesn't even consider the stronger hurricane force winds that stretch 120 miles from Ike's eye. Ike is already making his arrival very well known, and it will get much, much worse before it gets better... Folks, we are looking at a very strong and very LARGE category 2 (possibly category 3 at landfall) hurricane with possibly 30 ft. plus waves crashing in. The storm surge (expected to be as high as 20 ft.) from this storm WILL be devastating, especially when you consider a 3rd point that the expected landfall will occur right around high tide. People should not focus their attention too much on where the exact landfall will be, or what category this monster of a hurricane will be coming in as because Hurricane Ike WILL BE DEVASTATING. A fourth point is that even after landfall, that southeastern side of Ike has packed the strongest punch so far, and more surge, more rain and more wind than that before the landfall could be a cause for concern. A fifth concern... the pressure of this hurricane matches more of a category 3/4 hurricane more so than 2 category that it is rated as, which makes this storm a very intense and powerful hurricane, much more than a typical category 2. Please don't be fooled by the limitations of the Saffir-Simpson scale. Additionally, the infrared that I have posted at the top here... if you click on the loop (right now anyways...) looks to be intensifying around the eye. Not good. Not good at all. The main killer with this storm will be water. Storm surge, inland flooding... Ike wants to make himself known. Seriously... here is what the Houston/Galveston Weather Service is saying in their hurricane warning:

LIFE THREATENING INUNDATION LIKELY!

ALL NEIGHBORHOODS...AND POSSIBLY ENTIRE COASTAL COMMUNITIES... WILL BE INUNDATED DURING THE PERIOD OF PEAK STORM TIDE. PERSONS NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY HOMES MAY FACE CERTAIN DEATH. MANY RESIDENCES OF AVERAGE CONSTRUCTION DIRECTLY ON THE COAST WILL BE DESTROYED. WIDESPREAD AND DEVASTATING PERSONAL PROPERTY DAMAGE IS LIKELY ELSEWHERE. VEHICLES LEFT BEHIND WILL LIKELY BE SWEPT AWAY. NUMEROUS ROADS WILL BE SWAMPED... SOME MAY BE WASHED AWAY BY THE WATER. ENTIRE FLOOD PRONE COASTAL COMMUNITIES WILL BE CUTOFF. WATER LEVELS MAY EXCEED 9 FEET FOR MORE THAN A MILE INLAND. COASTAL RESIDENTS IN MULTI-STORY FACILITIES RISK BEING CUTOFF. CONDITIONS WILL BE WORSENED BY BATTERING WAVES CLOSER TO THE COAST. SUCH WAVES WILL EXACERBATE PROPERTY DAMAGE... WITH MASSIVE DESTRUCTION OF HOMES... INCLUDING THOSE OF BLOCK CONSTRUCTION. DAMAGE FROM BEACH EROSION COULD TAKE YEARS TO REPAIR. ~source

Mikey and I were talking yesterday about the evacuation process and our disappointment in the lack of contraflow leading out of the area to help the 5 1/2 million residents to evacuate to safety. Apparently, that decision was guided in large part by the problems that arose during evacuation as Rita approached. The majority of the deaths occurred while people were trapped in their evacuation... no gas, serious gridlock, so the idea with Ike has been to stagger the evacuations, rather than opening it up to 5 1/2 million people all at once, to manage the flow and demands a little better. So far, they feel like the evacuation process has been a success. I think that will better be determined after the fact when we see how many stayed behind and how many of those have problems.

I had the pleasure of appreciating some of Hurricane Ike's monstrous size as once again, outer bands dropped storms on us yesterday afternoon... some 300 miles from the center of Ike.
God, be with all those in harm's way...

You might be my peace on the waters,
but I know you are the holy raging flood.
You might be my gentle breeze,
but I know you are a hurricane of love.
The God of glory thunders like an angry wind,
and shakes the Earth with a whisper.
The God of holy wonder like a lightning flash,
oh mountains bow and tremble.
Great God, you're more than just enough.
You're much too much for me.

~Ben Pasley (gtb's friend), Enter the Worship Circle, "Hurricane"

~Dewdrop