This is great, Kendall - thanks.

This is another excellent site. You need to scroll down a LONG way for the good visuals

http://www.crownweather.com/ike.html

-Elf Lady

Rumors are rife here that gas will be up to $5.00 a gallon by Monday.

The lines at the gas stations are unbelievably long! In some cases tying up traffic for blocks.

People are standing in line at Wal-Mart buying 5 gallon gas cans to fill up as well.

It’s a panic situation.

Is it just me?  From here far away in Africa, it seems to me that Ike coverage has been MUCH less than that for Gustav.  From what I’ve read, I fear too that Galveston officials even were complacent or confused.  It looks like fears of a Rita-like evacuation nightmare led many to stay or to delay trying to evacuate until it was too late and they were already trapped by flooding.

Apparently there have already been nearly 100 helicopter rescues today, even when Ike was 8-10 hours from landfall.  We’re looking at historic catastrophic damage, I fear. 

Maybe there needs to be a change to the Hurricane rating scale (which is based on wind speeds), to better provide warning of potential damage due to surge and flooding.  Ike may “only” be a category 2 (based on its winds), but its storm surge (due to its size and where it is projected to make landfall) is likely to be like that of a Category 4 or Category 5 storm—about the worst-case scenario for Galveston, Houston & environs.

We’ve started posting prayers at Lent & Beyond for Ike:
http://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/prayer-for-all-in-danger-from-hurricane-ike/

Keep praying too for all the first responders, coast guard, national guard, etc.  Unfortunately since there are reports that many have not evacuated, it seems that many rescues will be called for.

A little time-out to inform everyone that while some are preparing for Ike in the traditional way - bottled water, plywood and generators - others are preparing in a much different way.

Karen B. [#4], I live in Houston—the news coverage has been non-stop Ike for a couple of days now.  The local authorities and newscasts have repeatedly stressed that the surge is cat-4 even though the winds are only cat-2, and that most of Galveston Island, the Bolivar Peninsula, etc., are likely to end up underwater.  Even so, there are always some idiots who decide to try to ride it out; reportedly they’ve been told that after 9 pm tonight there will be no more rescues because of the danger to the rescuers.

(Incidentally, at Chez Toedt we’ve rigged for heavy weather and are about as ready as we’re ever likely to be.)

LibraryJim [#3], I’ve seen no signs of panic here.  Urgency, but not panic (that’d be so un-Texan).

D.C., I wasn’t particularly referring to the coverage in Houston itself, but more in the rest of the country and internationally.  I subscribe to several newsfeeds, and there were DOZENS of stories about Gustav and the “storm of the century” etc. etc. in the days before the storm hit.  It was a dramatic story because of the track towards New Orleans so close to the 3rd anniversary of Katrina.

There’s not been nearly so much coverage of Ike, and yet it looks like the damage and death toll could be much much worse for Ike.

May the Lord keep you and your family and all your loved ones safe tonight!

D.C.,

The local news reported several stations are OUT of gas, waiting for re-supply.  Some stations are over $4.90.

Meanwhile the Fla Ag Secretary is constantly on the news reassuring everyone that we have plenty of gas, and not to panic-buy.

Yikes, DC—you are in Houston?

Please do not take any unecessary risks—it does not look good for Houston right now. 

I’d hate to lose your comments on this blog through any catastrophe like weather.

I hope that you are not taking this lightly.  Be careful.

[Note: Hostilities will begin again upon learning all is well after the hurricane strikes.  Concerned comments should not be taken to indicate anything.  Elves please delete this comment post-hurricane.]

My family and I left Seabrook (west side of Galveston Bay, near Clear Lake) yesterday morning at 6AM and evacuated to Dallas.  Please pray that we have a house to return to.  Our house is in a potential storm surge area of 15 to 25 feet.
—Kevin Adams

The eye wall is hitting Galveston as I write.  May God preserve all people in its path.  People on Galveston Island were told, I think, that staying meant certain death, and so we hope they didn’t stay.

Karen B., any difference in national coverage would be political, unfortunately.  The convergence of Gustav, New Orleans, and the Republican convention was too much for the news media to resist.

I continue to be shocked at the foolish stubborness of people to remain in harm’s way even when told that to do so could mean certain death.  To read of tens of thousands of people stranded, of calls coming in for help landing on helpless ears because they cannot reach them, the amount of risk and money that it takes to rescue one of these foolish wonders…it boggles the mind.  Mayor Naggin had it right when he announce, prior to Gustav, (paraphrase) “If you stay, we will not rescue you.”  Life is more important than possessions and when you have buses ready, willing, and able to take you to safety, it’s like spitting on a blessing from God.  There’s a sermon illustration here somewhere.  May God bless all whose lives have been affected by Ike, yes, even the foolish ones.

Thanks Karen B. and Sarah for the good wishes.  Our Houston home came through pretty much unscathed.  Before the rain had even stopped, just about every able-bodied male on our block had emerged with saws, etc., to clear away downed trees from the street and from people’s driveways; the same thing has been happening all across the region.  The lack of electricity has been a pain, but the weather has been unseasonably pleasant, so the lack of air conditioning hasn’t been the problem we expected.  Others have it far worse, e.g., in Galveston.  We’ve passed some of the time pitching in a bit with various recovery efforts, along with many, many others (pardon my chauvinism, but that’s just what Americans in general, and Texans in particular, do).