Running Hurricane Ike thread

Ike was a bitch and he's not finished yet. What he did in Houston, wow. Can you imagine if he had hit New Orleans?

 

Yes, because look what Ike did to these southeast Louisiana communities anyway (the following is from WWL of New Orleans; remember Houma from Gustav? it -- and much of Terrebonne Parish -- got socked again):

PLAQUEMINES

Plaquemines flooding "worse than Katrina"

A spokesman for the Plaquemines Parish sheriff says floods from Hurricane Ike are higher than they were for either of Hurricanes Katrina or Rita.

Major John Marie says local levees were overtopped near Myrtle Grove, though teams of deputies, National Guardsmen and civilians blocked the floodwater with sandbags.

Marie says he has only one injury report: a deputy whose vehicle rammed into a submerged rock levee, put in place just before the storm.

Marie says the deputy is in serious condition at Ochsner Medical Center-West Bank.

ST. TAMMANY:

St. Tammany Parish employees drove the length of St. Tammany's this morning, inspecting flooding, road conditions and debris fields. As expected, Hurricane Ike's primary impact was along the southern coastline, on Lake Pontchartrain 's northern shore. Streets remain impassable across the parish from Indian Village Road , through Carr Drive , Palm Lake , Lacombe Harbor , Lake Rd. in Lacombe, the Mandeville Lakefront to Jefferson Street , Lewisburg, and into the town of Madisonville . The Town of Madisonville remains closed.

Water has receded significantly in some areas, particularly in Madisonville and Highway 11. Many roads, including Bayou Liberty Road , and the streets of Coin du Lestin, were still impassable.

A section of Lakeview Drive, south of Slidell , appears to have a washed away. No homes appeared have been damaged by the wash-out. St. Tammany Parish Public Works crews are moving equipment to the area to make a temporary repair when the storm surge recedes.

The winds appeared to be shifting toward southeasterly, which will push some water back into the north shore. A wind shift is expected in the next 24 hours that will bring the winds from a more westerly direction and aid in the drainage of the storm surge.

No solid data will be available regarding the number of homes flooded until water recedes.

A spokesman for the Plaquemines Parish sheriff says floods from Hurricane Ike are higher than they were for either of Hurricanes Katrina or Rita.

Major John Marie says local levees were overtopped near Myrtle Grove, though teams of deputies, National Guardsmen and civilians blocked the floodwater with sandbags.

Marie says he has only one injury report: a deputy whose vehicle rammed into a submerged rock levee, put in place just before the storm.

Marie says the deputy is in serious condition at Ochsner Medical Center-West Bank.

ST. BERNARD:

Parish officials are still surveying the damage in St. Bernard Parish outside the flood protection area.

TERREBONNE:

There is extensive flooding in Terrebonne Parish due to Hurricane Ike.

"We could have as many as 10,000 homes and / or structures flooded in Terrebonne Parish," said Public Information Officer Bill Dodd.

"We're taking people out of the high water area and making them safe,"
said Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois. "By boat, by deuce and a half and other high water vehicle."


Here is the lastest release from Terrebonne Parish:


Last night, the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office, in conjunction with
the Houma Police Dept, La. National Guard, and the La. Dept. of Wildlife
and Fisheries, began search and rescue efforts which are continuing and
will continue until all residents in need due to the flooding/high water
have been removed from their homes and/or other locations. The Sheriff's
Office is receiving numerous calls for help. The National Guard has
directed three (3) helicopters to assist in the search and rescue efforts.
Wildlife and Fisheries has indicated that they have six (6) boats in the
parish with an additional seven (7) being brought in today. If you have
information about individuals who are in need of help and/or may be
missing in the flooded areas of the parish, please call the Unified
Command Center (985) 873-6357 or the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office at
(985) 876-2500.

REPORT ON DAMAGES/FLOODING CAUSED BY HURRICANE IKE AND ON PARISH LEVEES
(AL LEVRON WILL GIVE REPORT)

The following areas are not passable due to high water:
- Highway 57 (Grand Caillou Road below Woodlawn Ranch Road)
- Highway 56 (Little Caillou below Woodlawn Ranch Road)
- Woodlawn Ranch Road
- Highway 55 below Highway 665 (Montegut and at its intersection with
Pointe Aux Chenes)
- Dularge - Highway 315 (Below Cenac Towing)
- Industrial Blvd. (Closed)

Roadblocks remain at:
- Upper Dularge, at the Dularge Highrise Bridge
- Highway 57 at Woodlawn Ranch Road
- Highway 56 at Duplantis Bridge
- Highway 55 at Klondyke Bridge

 

The point I was making was that it would've destroyed New Orleans. I think the Big Easy would have become a permanent ghost town had Ike made a visit. New Orleans was fortunate.

 

Is this thing still a tropical storm or is it now just a really bad storm headed northeast?

 

Downgraded to tropical storm status. Ike is a bad boy and I'm surprised - and pleased - there are not more fatalities.

 

I'm mostly curious cause it's right over my head right now.

The winds are strong enough (40 sustained, 50 gusts I heard), but it's not got the same eye or real defined rotation. I wasn't sure which was the critical part of being tropical storm vs. really nasty storm cell.

It's definitely windy and very, very rainy. I heard tree branches and power are down in parts of town with above-ground wires, but that and some flash-flooding will probably be the extent of it. At least, I hope. It's supposed to rain another eight or so hours, say the weather gurus.

 

Not trying to make a joke but if you are in Ike's path, you'd be wise to stay off the net. I don't like mixing storms and electricity but that's me.

 

At this point, honestly, it's just acting like a really rainy, really windy storm. All my power lines are underground, so I'm not worried about them going out in this area from the wind (though obviously, if it goes down at one of the major stations, I'm screwed).

I want no part of driving in this, and there will probably be flooding tomorrow from the sheer amount of rain (about 2 inches an hour for a little over four hours now, say the weather gurus). But it doesn't seem to be scary like it was last night anymore. Just really, really wet.

I'm really surprised there's no lightning in this storm, though. I thought these were basically huge, rotating thunderstorm cells, but there's been no thunder or lightning here at all since this moved in around 8 p.m.

 

The northeast quadrant is where you get your big cells and tornadoes. Anywhere else and you just get a big rain and a little wind once it gets inland and slackens up.

Dallas missed out on the fun again. Most places got an inch, but it was varied. North of Dallas, Farmersville recorded 5 inches of rain while McKinney, which is 12 miles away, only got half an inch.

But it didn't miss by much. Palestine got bitch-slapped.

 

Ike has arrived in Central Kentucky. We're under a strong wind advisory for most of the day.

 

Ex-Hurricane Ike is here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, royally fucking up the inaugural MotoGP event.

They usually race in the rain, but it's so windy and rainy, they've shut down for now.

 

Extending an earlier point, Ike's outer bands were in South Florida on Tuesday, and I played golf in them. It went to Houston and hit my cousin. Now it's raining on my mom in Madison, Wis. So in less than a week, it affected three people over thousands of miles from the extended family on my mom's side.

They're huge, and they can go so far and keep their strength and moisture, it's simply amazing.