The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
-Psalm 19:1

Do you know that God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash?
-Job 37:15



Friday, September 12, 2008

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

11 comments:

  1. Wow, great video Dew! I was just watching CNN and they reported that only half of the 58,000 residents of Galveston have decided to leave the island. The causway bridge will close at 45mph winds and the water at the bottom of the bridge is almost cutting it off now. Like I said yesterday, we are watching a historic event unfold. The storm like it is really intensifying on Satellite. Whites are even popping up on the rainbow loop. God help those that are going to feel the full force of a 20ft plus surge in the middle of darkness tonight.

    SCM

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  2. Thanks, Mikey. I have been hearing that so many didn't evacuate and they are ALREADY having to rescue people from vehicle because of water coming in... I hate it. I hate seeing this thing intesifying. He now looks like he's trying to really clean up his eye on the satellite view. Definitely, history in the making. God bless 'em.

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  3. Where is northwestern Texas?? I have lived in Texas all my life and I have never heard of it.

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  4. Anonymous, lol... yeah, thanks for pointing that out. I think I was combining two thoughts there. Oops.

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  5. People in Ft. Worth may actually get some of this since the storm has grown and we have the large front approaching from the west carrying a lot of moisture.

    "Get out of there" is right. What are those people in Galveston thinking?

    One of my brothers lives in the East Texas pine country on the East side of the track. He is bringing his family up to Dallas.

    Scary.

    Troy

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  6. My freind is one of those who decided to stay and hold the fort in the north west part of Galveston. They own a 2.5 story home. Him and his wife. The evacuated Rita and were upset they did in 2004..so they are staying put. He told me about 1 hr ago via moble phone that about 25-50% of all his neighbor also are holding the fort in Galvaston..his burb is outside the protection wall also.
    I am getting extremely worried for my dear friend.

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  7. You're like a science lesson all wrapped up in a blog. Do you always storm watch, or is it just a current trend? At least you do it willingly - not like "ReluctantHurricanefollower" or something. You crack me up.

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  8. Hi Dew,

    It's been a while since I last posted here.

    Anyway, this hurricane is really a monster. I've been tracking it down for the past few days. :) And the forecasts turned out to be good.

    Nice vid you got there anyway! :)

    Join our live chat discussions here about Hurricane Ike at http://www.myweatherlive.com/myweatherlive/weatherchat.html

    Thanks a lot Dew!

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  9. Great site DewDrop.

    I've lived in the Houston/Galveston area for the past 6 years and have been blogging about Hurricane Tracking since 2006. Now I live in North Georgia but still track tropical weather. This one is really having an impact, both in real terms and emotionally.

    Again you have a great site.

    http://gulf-coast-hurricanes.blogspot.com/

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  10. Wow, wonderful skywatch. thanks for sharing

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  11. I gave a whole comment here... and it vanished. Ugh.

    Troy, glad your family got out of there. I don't know what those others were thinking... invincible, I suppose.

    Bestlion, hope your friend and fis burb faired well.

    Deirdre, This is my all the time. I am far from reluctant in my weather enthusiasm and tracking.

    Ice, Welcome back. Ike was a monster.

    Veritas, Great blog. It's been something to watch. Looks like you escaped a doozy.

    Stacey, Thanks.

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Dew comment, please...