Running Hurricane Ike thread

Instead of MREs, stock up on items from the Backpacker's Pantry ... http://www.backpackerspantry.com

The "food" is much better.

 

Here is my latest story.

At my camper, we are trying to keep 7 people comfortable (9 when AlleyAllen and Little Man are here.) As I mentioned on the gas thread, there is a gas shortage here and I don't really see an end in sight.

We decided to leave the gas in my car and not syphon it out yet, but rather to keep it as a last resort if we were unable to find gas in Houston. We drained out the diesel from my husband's reserve tank in his truck and put that in my brother-in-law's truck. The leftover diesel we put in the tractor in case there is time in the next week to do some clean up. Apparently, businesses in Houston are attempting to be open tomorrow, which means that my husband and brother-in-law will need that diesel to get to work. Plus, AlleyAllen is going to use the 1/8 tank he has left to get to work tomorrow as well.

With the reserve tank now empty, we gathered up all the gas cans we could find and my sister-in-law and I headed to Houston to hopefully locate some gas. We were able to find a fairly short line in front of a station that was running two of their twelve pumps on generators.

We spent four hours in line waiting for our turn to get gas. We had heard that other stations were limiting people to 10 gallons per person, so when we finally got our chance to get gas and they let us get a full $200 worth, we were thrilled. Of course, it was only 40-some odd gallons, since we had to pay $4.29 per gallon. At one point, my sister-in-law got out of the truck and walked to the store to get us something to drink. Two hours later (and two warm beers later) we both actually took turns (yes, I'm admitting it) peeing in an empty cup in the back seat of the truck.

That is our situation for now.

 

More leadership under fire: Galveston mayor orders city employees not to talk to the press, bars reporters from some areas.

http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=464c727c3f3f3651

 

You stay classy, mayor.

 

I thought this short piece (w/photos) about a different trip to a once-familiar beach was well done...
http://blogs.chron.com/daysofike/2008/09/this_is_no_pleasure_trip_to_ga_1.html

Chronicle reporting it may be another week before all of Houston area gets power back.

My dad (who lives in Spring, northwest of town) is one of the millions without power and phone service. His office is in Bellaire, about 40 miles away. Goes into work yesterday and there's an email message from his boss telling him he can work from home. Only he couldn't get it because... he has no power and phone.

 

I don't want to make light of what happened in Texas and Louisiana, but we're dealing with some bizarre shit in Ohio because of this storm. It's definitely the most destructive statewide event I've seen in my lifetime.

Most of the people I work with still don't have power. The electric companies are just overwhelmed. One day they tell the people they'll have the power back in a few days. The next day it's a few weeks. Last night we received a very healthy load of freakout calls demanding to know when power will be back. Of course we know very little in that regard.

I think some schools have already used (or are close to using) their alloted calamity days for the year. Even though some school buildings may not have power, they're being used to supply community members with places to take showers - largely for those that rely on well water pumps at home.

You can see progress in certain areas, but in others trees still block roads, power lines are still sparking, utility poles are bent over. It's a fucking mess.

 

This is what blows me away about hurricane tracks.

I just talked to a friend who works at a college in Indiana and they had to close school for week due to all the damage from the remnants of Ike.

I live a hell of a lot closer to Houston and all we got was a little wind and some rain.

 

I'm no expert. (I seem to start most posts with that disclaimer...)

I think part of the deal with the Midwest is that trees, homes, power lines, etc. aren't normally faced with strong winds that last for so long. A nasty storm might toss 60mph winds. But those winds are only around for 20 minutes or so, and they're generally localized to what might be a 5- to 10-mile wide swath.

With this storm, I think the winds were around for 2-3 hours, and they pounded entire states. More time equals more opportunities for limbs to break, trees to be uprooted, etc.

It's interesting, though, that I didn't hear about the Midwest problems until my mom called to report that Ike was in Illinois. I didn't think much of it, but she was really freaked out. Then I heard the reports about Ohio. I haven't heard much about Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, etc. Why is that? Did it regain some strength?

Also of note, the storm was moving at 25 mph through the Midwest. Did that add some speed to the winds?

 

Best thing I've seen all day:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

 

Hi. Allow me to introduce myself. I am The Bearer Of Bad News.

The stationary front stretching across the eastern half of the country is anchored by a pretty serious storm system in the southwestern GOMEX. I've been keeping an eye on it via WaveWatch's north Atlantic regional forecast map and it looks like it will start to move northeast with circulation over the weekend.

http://wavewatch.com/Surf-Forecast-North-Atlantic.php

Jeff Masters of Weather Underground also notes the possibility of development off Cape Verde mid-next week.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1088&tstamp=200809

 

GALVESTON, Texas (Sept. 18) - The death toll from Hurricane Ike is remarkably low so far, considering that legions of people stayed behind as the storm obliterated row after row of homes along the Texas coast. But officials suspect there are more victims out there and say some might simply have been swept out to sea.
Exactly how many is anybody's guess, because authorities had no sure way to track those who defied evacuation orders. And the number of people reported missing after the storm, whose death toll stands at 17 in Texas, is fluctuating.

 

The remnants of Ike also merged with a strong front that was already spawning tornadoes in the midwest while Ike was making landfall on Saturday. Just added a little more fuel to the fire. They merged over the upper midwest -- over Missouri, I believe -- and kind of skimmed around the edges of Arkansas and Tennessee.