Surviving Hurricane Ike Against All Advice... or perhaps not...

It's Sky Watch Friday post time!!(Please visit Tom, Klaus, Sandy and Imac's SKY WATCH BLOG (click here or on the logo) to participate in Sky Watch Fridays. It is so interesting to see skies all over the world!!! I highly recommend it!) Today, I would like to share with you a picture of a little cumulus cloud that is wanting to swell. The photograph was taken of my south Georgia sky in mid-July of last year. I love the blue, white green thing. Gorgeous. As instability develops in the atmosphere, a little cumulus cloud such as that one has the potential for developing into a little thunderstorm. I actually did get some rain that day, and there were some nice cumulus towers produced... but nothing too dramatic. I described the sky that day by saying... "The blue of the sky was so crisp with the white cumulus structure contrasting..." Indeed, it was a beautiful thing.

Now, for continued Ike coverage, Mikey shared this article with me about the obvious impending fear that I have been writing about over the past few days...

some might simply have been swept out to sea

People defied stern warnings that certain death would be the result of staying on the coastal region impacted by Ike. They were told to evacuate. They were warned that staying was against their orders and those who stayed defying those orders would be on their own after facing that "certain death" at Ike's hand. You know... I have heard a story of a man carried 10 miles when he was washed out of his home. Can you imagine being carried 10 miles in storm surge potentially crashing into anything? That man was spared for a reason. I hope he has chosen to listen to God's calling. I heard a story of a family, mother/father/2 sons who wrote their names and social security numbers on their arms in permanent ink in case the worst happened after they realized that sticking it out was probably not the best decision. I have heard tales of people seeking refuge and riding out the storm in a church with a lion rescued from a local zoo. I have heard of a retired couple in life jackets clutching onto each other as their floor gave way and a flagpole saved them from the roof caving in. I have heard about people deciding to stick it out and then, during the approach of the storm, deciding at the last minute to evacuate in flood waters surrounding them. I have read about people who lost everything... and now... now, they say they will never ride out another storm. I have heard way too much of this... (the photo at the right is an AP Photo)

After the storm, she and neighbors waited for rescue, but no one came. ~source

... for a group of people who weren't willing to take government advice and warnings beforehand, but now, are the first to say that the government owes them something. Yes, you have freedom, but if you are going to ignore the advice of experts, be prepared for it. Don't endanger others simply because you are stupid and stubborn. I have seen the barren land of entire communities, spare a house or two, completely washed away without a trace of debris... common sense tells me that those folks that chose poorly to stay behind went on the ride of their lives... until the end of their lives. Logic says that they were carried away in the surge. I really think I need to stop talking about this... it just upsets me. God be with everyone impacted... and please let them take the warnings more seriously next time.

Interesting article was just shared with me by my friend Michael (a non-storm chasing, Mike), which talks about the lonely house in Gilchrist.

Pam and Warren Adams rebuilt their home in February 2006 after Hurricane Rita destroyed it the previous year. [T]he couple hired a contractor to build a home that could withstand a Category 5 hurricane.

The couple evacuated to a friend's house in Lufkin, Texas, hours before Ike made landfall last week.

Pam and Warren have learned that their house is one of the few in the area to survive the storm. They are returning to see the devastating damage today. ~source

Have a great and blessed day!
~Dewdrop

Ike... the aftermath, picking up the pieces...

(Above image courtesy of David J. Phillip-Pool/Getty Images -- "It is a single home is left standing among debris from Hurricane Ike September 14, 2008 in Gilchrist, Texas. Flood waters from Hurricane Ike were reportedly as high as eight feet in some areas causing widespread damage across the coast of Texas." ~source)Well, it seems with each passing day, stories and images of the impact of Hurricane Ike, such as the one above, which links to the source, come to light. Thanks to Jason and Mikey for sharing the link with me. Ironically, Mikey shared the same pic out of the moving collection. Ike was, indeed, a monster, at over 500 miles wide, leaving a wake of (U.S.) destruction over 1600 miles long. Look at it...Thanks to OSNW3 for sharing that link. The image was taken by NASA just as Hurricane Ike was making his second Cuban landfall as a category 1 hurricane. He made a subsequent landfall as a much larger category 2 (just 1mph short of category 3) hurricane drenching Galveston and surrounding areas in a catastrophic wall of ocean. It really is amazing. So far, Ike has been blamed for 114 deaths (74 in Haiti where he didn't even make landfall). I was personally touched by the last photograph on the photo summary of Ike, shared at the right, here... captured by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr. courtesy of REUTERS of U.S. Air Force Pararescueman Staff Sgt. Lopaka Mounts, assigned to the 331st Air Expeditionary Group, receiving a hug from a resident in Galveston. It really depicts the personal impact and devastation caused by monster Ike. The good news is...Whew... time for a breather... while the Atlantic takes a little break.

Here, we are experiencing some cooler morning temps following a little cold front that pushed its way through yesterday resembling a typical fall set-up with squall line and everything. Granted, in true accord with all things weatherless, it fell apart well before my neck of the woods. The great news is that I got to enjoy some beautiful mixed skies containing both wispy cirrus and "fluffy" cumulus against an amazing blue backdrop.Have a beautiful day!
~Dewdrop

Rescue and Recovery from Hurricane Ike

Well, Hurricane Ike has made his presence known for sure. He tore through first, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, causing devastation as a major hurricane, even as he barrelled into Cuba, becoming the 3rd and 4th tropical cyclone landfall in Cuba this year, the second major hurricane landfall there this year. Fortunately for the US coast, Cuba broke Ike down... some, forcing him to pull his only energy from what was available in the Gulf of Mexico. There, he grew from a small and still quite powerful hurricane to a very large and extremely powerful hurricane, eventually making landfall as an extremely dangerous, just under category 3 hurricane with a huge wind field, an impressive and destructive storm surge and lots of rain. Galveston took the bulk of the hit...

The storm's force spread a swath of destruction across a 500-mile (800-kilometer) span of the coast, largely cut off oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, and caused at least eight billion dollars in onshore damage. ~source

Unfortunately, Galveston was also an area where a depressingly large portion of the population decided to ignore the very stern warnings from local authorities and the National Weather Service and instead chose to "ride it out". Subsequently, in the midst of the worst of it, realizing they probably chose poorly, making thousands of futile calls to emergency management, who had already warned that they had no intention of deploying, thereby endangering, rescue crews during the worst of the storm to save people who were told not to be there in the first place. Now, in the wake of the monster storm, Ike, one of the largest search and rescue efforts in Texas history is underway to uncover victims of this devastating hurricane.

More than 2.2 million people fled inland but more than 100,000 residents of low-lying areas -- including 20,000 in Galveston alone -- decided to ride out the storm despite dire warnings from the national weather service forecasting a lethal storm surge. ~source

Unfortunately, the impacts of this hurricane are going to have a far-reaching impact, beyond the immediate damage to property. The larger US impact began on Friday when several gas stations, at least locally and certainly on a larger scale, raised prices in anticipation of a significant shortage in coming days. Prices rose 50 cents locally between morning and lunchtime, from about $3.50 to $4, and by the time I was traveling home Friday evening, gas station lines were flowing out into traffic at almost every station, prices had risen to over $4.50 in some places and there was talk this some of the smaller neighboring town had run out of gas altogether. This panicked reaction was spawned by the oil refineries shutting down in anticipation of Ike's arrival. Unfortunately, it appears that those refineries could be down for a week or more and supply may be temporarily impeded. Memories of school closures resulting after Katrina's supply flow was cut linger in people's minds. OK, OK, that's enough about Ike for now... The pictures I posted above of the cool shelf cloud were not actually Ike induced. They were actually associated with an itty bitty thunderstorm we had yesterday afternoon... the shelf cloud was much more impressive than the actual thunderstorm.

Now, I would like to share with you some artwork that Mini-Dew made me to include on my blog. Check it out...Oh and check out the labeled "twister" in the sunset shot... (I won't tell her it's just a dust devil...)Thanks, Mini-Dew!

Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing a corona around the nearly full moon as a field of altocumulus moved in around the moon. It was quite dramatic while I was taking the doggone dog outside, but by the time I got the tripod and set it up, much of the cloud field had moved on... sigh.
In closing, I want to share with you something Deirdre, the Reluctant Farm Chik introduced me to... It's a wordle, and it shows word use emphasis within a blog in a cool graphic arrangement. I, of course... had to create one. I love the emphasis on my key blog words. Not surprisingly... HURRICANE seems the prominent word lately... Create your own, here. Thanks to http://wordle.net/ and Deirdre. Godspeed in recovery from Ike and blessings of His peace!
~Dewdrop

Waiting on daylight to assess the impact of Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike made landfall at 2:10AM in Galveston, TX as a very strong category 2 story with winds in a large wind swath of 110mph The part that gets me is that 40% of Galveston Island decided to "ride it out". How awful... How stupid... what struck me is the worst case... staying behind to ride it out and losing a member of your family to the hurricane. How do you deal with that guilt? They were all warned. I can't imagine being warned of certain death and deciding to keep my family in harm's way. It's just not worth it. I'd better jump quickly off this soapbox.

Last night, before I went to sleep, I grabbed a snapshot of Ike just off the coast.This impressively large hurricane did not weaken at all before landfall. He, in fact, tightened up his core and barrelled through. Damage reports should be extensive, especially as Hurricane Ike, now slowing down as it passes Houston, which means dangerous flooding rain. Here is a snapshot now.Currently, millions are without power. Water rise is at almost 11ft in some places. Wind damage seems to be extensive with roofs lifted, windows blown out... Why did so many people choose to stay behind? Are they invincible? Do they think that very untrue thought that it couldn't possibly happen to them? How insane! I actually got angry with those folks as I pondered the situation of those people staying and then needing help or rescue. Because they chose to IGNORE the warnings, they put other people's lives in danger by needing rescue. Infuriating. It would serve them right for 911 to have an answering machine message that says something along the lines of "Hey stupid, we told you to leave. Since you ignored us, we've decided to ignore you. Best wishes as you ride out the storm." I know they, of course, won't do that, but I hope they will wait until conditions are very safe before deploying help. I encountered this story on Yahoo :

Battering the coast with driving rain and ferocious wind gusts as residents who decided too late they should have heeded calls to evacuate made futile calls for rescue. Though it would be daybreak before the storm's toll was clear, already, the damage was extensive. Thousands of homes and government buildings had flooded, roads were washed out and several fires burned unabated as crews could not reach them. But the biggest fear was that tens of thousands of people had defied orders to flee and would need to be rescued from submerged homes and neighborhoods.

"The unfortunate truth is we're going to have to go in ... and put our people in the tough situation to save people who did not choose wisely. We'll probably do the largest search and rescue operation that's ever been conducted in the state of Texas," said Andrew Barlow, spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry.

CNN Article indicated:

"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."

Oops, I got back on the soapbox. It will be interesting to see what the extent of the damage has been. Interesting, last year, on this date, we had Hurricane Humberto...God bless those affected.
~Dewdrop

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

Ike... well, after all, everything is bigger in Texas

It's Sky Watch Friday post time!!(Please visit Tom, Klaus, Sandy and Imac's SKY WATCH BLOG (click here or on the logo) to participate in Sky Watch Fridays. It is so interesting to see skies all over the world!!! I highly recommend it!) Today, I would like to share with you a photograph of the Dewvoid... yes, folks, I said it. I said the word that stirs up controversy. Does the Dewvoid exist? This photograph is capturing the dissipation of a thunderstorm that dissipated just as I was going out to shoot it.

Dissipating stage

In the dissipation stage, the thunderstorm is dominated by the downdraft. If atmospheric conditions do not support super cellular development, this stage occurs rather quickly, some 20-30 minutes into the life of the thunderstorm. The downdraft will push down out of the thunderstorm, hit the ground and spread out. The cool air carried to the ground by the downdraft cuts off the inflow of the thunderstorm, the updraft disappears and the thunderstorm will dissipate.

Bye, bye thunderstorm. No pictures of lightning for me that day.

HURRICANE IKE

Hurricane Ike has been an interesting hurricane so far. Twice he has been up to category 4 strength on his journey toward the Gulf of Mexico. He started out as a relatively small hurricane, at a point, I recall observing that he was about the size of West Virginia, and has now grown to the size of... well, he takes almost 1/2 of the Gulf of Mexico under his far-reaching convective bands. The expectation is that Hurricane Ike will become a MAJOR hurricane before landfall, gaining either category 3 or even perhaps a category 4 designation. Already, his central pressure (currently 945mb) would typically match such a category 3/4 hurricane, but the dropsonde readings aren't indicating sufficient winds for such a classification. Weird. Ike also has a tiny little eye with about a 10nm diameter, but from that center, you've got hurricane force winds extending out 115 miles and tropical storm force winds extending 255 miles. With the far outer bands reaching all the way up to my neck of the woods yesterday, we had some ferocious gusts, heavy downpours and some persistent booming thunder.In other words, Hurricane Ike is huge, and it is likely that all of the Gulf coast will be impacted in some way by Ike's existence. He is on track for a landfall near Galveston. I can't even imagine how the evacuation must be coming out of Houston with their millions. Ike! Try not to focus on the exact track and forecasted landfall. That information is a close guess but subject to considerable errors in forecasting. The models are in close alignment, but they are not, my any means, perfect.Well, that's all there is. It appears that Texas is taking the approach of Ike seriously. I hope many people get out of harm's way.

Uh oh, looks like Josephine might want to get in on the action...

5PM Update:

THE OFFICIAL FORECAST HAS BEEN NUDGED SLIGHTLY TO THE RIGHT...BUT IS STILL JUST LEFT OF THE MODEL CONSENSUS. IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT THE AVERAGE 36-HOUR OFFICIAL FORECAST ERROR IS ABOUT 80 NMI.

BECAUSE OF THE VERY LARGE EXPANSE OF HURRICANE FORCE WINDS...IKE WILL CREATE A STORM SURGE WELL IN EXCESS OF WHAT WOULD NORMALLY BE ASSOCIATED WITH A STORM OF ITS INTENSITY.

Toodles,
~Dewdrop

Ike, Ike, Ike...

Well, there we have it, Hurricane Ike has emerged into the Gulf of Mexico and is rapidly growing in intensity as he makes his trek across the warm waters of the gulf. The satellite demonstrates that Hurricane Ike is pulling it together to grow in intensity and size now that he has emerged off the Cuban shores. Hurricane Ike has development some deep convection around his core giving an appearance of an impressive eye wall. The official forecast has Ike impacting the Texas coast as a major hurricane, a category 3, but intensity is a tough thing to forecast, and he could easily come in below or God forbid... above that forecast.

GUIDANCE IS TIGHTLY CLUSTERED. THEY ALL BRING THE HURRICANE ASHORE ALONG THE TEXAS COAST IN ABOUT THREE DAYS...AND SO DOES THE OFFICIAL FORECAST.

As with every morning, I watched TWC this morning to get a quick glance at what was going on while I was getting ready. I was extremely bothered when they showed a few video clips this morning. First, they showed a large group of people in the Keys standing by a beach wall as the storm surge from Ike crashed over in large waves, leaving them up to their waist in ocean water as more waves crashed over. HELLO PEOPLE... DO NOT PLAY IN STORM SURGE!!!! What is wrong with them?! Of course, the Weather Channel gave their brief statement of, "thankfully no one was hurt", but WHY ON EARTH WOULD THEY SHOW PEOPLE OUT PLAYING IN STORM SURGE AS IF IT'S THE THING TO DO?! As if that wasn't bad enough, they flashed an SUV driving through many feet of flood waters... now, to Nicole's credit, she did emphasize that in addition to the very serious risk of being carried away, drowning, and endangering others in the consequential need for a rescue, it's just plain bad for your vehicle. Duh, stupid people. TURN AROUND, DON'T DROWN! It really bothers me when they show this stuff as if it's ok. They shouldn't be glorifying people playing in dangerous situations. Jeff, if that is your work... sorry for the attack. If it's any consolation, I really love your time lapse work. :D

My wonderful gtb and sweet bf (same person for those who are confused) and I went on another one of our splendid afternoon outings and had a wonderful time exploring a dirt road neither of us had traveled. I had a wonderful time catching the scenes around us and shooting the very curious cows (which, might I add, were much smaller than Wisconsin cows...) I will just post some of my favorites. Caution, there are lots... :O) You know me.Sorry, I don't know what's up with my sepia obsession lately. It comes in fits and spells... I'll stop for now.Now, for the less curious, but interesting... is the grass really greener?Uh, excuse me ma'am, you missed a spot...In closing, I would like to say that I think we have the most beautiful weeds here... (Amended... according to information from a reliable source [Thanks, Christine!] My pretty yellow "weed" as I called it, is not, in fact a weed at all. "That beautiful yellow flower that you took image of is a native plant. Chamaecrista fasciculata - Partridge Pea and yup, just like the name says it is in the legume family. We have those down here, all over the place right outside my fence." There you have it folks. 2:45 Update: I am awfully close to this MD...

THE OUTER FRINGE OF HURRICANE IKE IS CURRENTLY LOCATED ACROSS THE FL PENINSULA. STORMS ARE INCREASING IN COVERAGE ACROSS SERN GA ALONG A MOIST AXIS EXTENDING NNEWD ALONG THE COAST. SUPPORT A MARGINAL SEVERE THREAT WITH THE MORE PERSISTENT STORM CLUSTERS OR LINE-SEGMENTS.

Have an outrageously wonderful day, or perhaps moodles!
~Dewdrop

What's up with Ike?

Well, Cuba's rough and mountainous terrain, certainly did take it's toll on the very powerful Hurricane Ike as he tore his way through the beautiful mountainside. Now, a category 1 hurricane, Ike has set his sites on western Cuba, not too far east of where Gustav made landfall about a week ago and west of where Fay made landfall. Cuba is getting pounded this year. With a very tight and clear eye, Ike seems to be building strength just prior to his anticipated landfall. Unfortunately, the environment in the Gulf of Mexico is conducive for development, and the expectation and official forecast calls for Hurricane Ike to intensify to a category 3 storm, a major hurricane before a potential landfall near southeastern Texas/northeastern Mexico.There is a warning issued with this trajectory though...

IT CANNOT BE OVEREMPHASIZED THAT ONE SHOULD NOT FOCUS ON 4 AND 5 DAY FORECAST POINTS SINCE THESE CAN BE SUBJECT TO SUBSTANTIAL ERRORS. DO NOT FORGET THAT FEW DAYS AGO...THE GUIDANCE UNANIMOUSLY HAD IKE NEAR SOUTH FLORIDA AND THEN GRADUALLY SHIFTED THE DANGER TOWARD WESTERN CUBA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO.

Aside from all the Ike-insanity, my wonderful gtb and I went on one of our lovely afternoon excursions during my lunch yesterday. We once again just rode around until we found a spot that wanted me to take pics of it. Here's what I got...Then, there was the moron on the pole with no safety lines or anything...... and then, my beautiful sky this morning... Doesn't it look like God was trying to erase the clouds? Have a great day!
~Dewdrop