Friday, September 12, 2008

Hurricane Ike - NW Houston - 12:02 am

A little rain. And we still have power! I think the eye has reached Galveston.

Chron.com now reports 550,000 without power.

Hurricane Ike - NW Houston - 10:47 pm

Still no rain. Still have power. Will we be lucky enough to not lose it?!

Hurricane Ike - NW Houston - 9:53 pm

Conditions about the same here. No rain yet. Still have power obviously.

Gusting to 38 mph.

I can see lightning off in the distance.

315,000 now without power.

Hurricane Ike - NW Houston - 8:15 pm

Dark now and the winds have picked up.

Weather.com says it is gusting to 35 mph in my zip. If that is true, it is going to be a very long night. The trees are really whipping around. If the wind doubles or triples or if tornadoes pop up, it won't be pretty.

I expect to lose power by midnight. If I don't post for more than a couple of hours, you know that I lost power.

Also, they just announced that they wouldn't even try to start restoring power until the storm passes so we're looking at Sunday at the earliest. If we're lucky we'll have power back in a week.

164,000 folks are already without power.

Hurricane Ike - NW Houston - 7:30 pm

Just stepped outside, I actually see some blue sky and the sun shining on the upper clouds.

No rain. Winds are about the same.

I fear though this is going to be a very costly storm and possibly very deadly.

I admit I am starting to get abit scared.

Hurricane Ike - NW Houston - 5:39 pm

Not much to report, it is cloudy outside and the wind is steady, no rain yet.

Wind is gusting to 25 mph.

I took a little nap. I can foresee staying up through the night. I really don't want to be asleep when a tree comes crashing into the house.

I could take some video but there is nothing of interest to show you.

Hurricane Ike - NW Houston - 3:56 pm

I'm finished with stuff outside and I've showered.

It's hot, 91 with a feels like of 96.

Weather.com has the wind at NNE at 20 mph but I can tell that it is gusting at times much harder than that.

Did you see this? -

The latest Hurricane Local Statement from the Galveston National Weather Service office puts things in pretty stark perspective:

All neighborhoods... and possibly entire coastal communities... will be inundated during high tide. Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one or two story homes will 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. 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.

Pretty rough stuff.

Hurricane Ike - NW Houston - 1:28 pm

OK, I'm done outside (finally).

It's cloudy now, no rain. 88 degrees, feels like 92. Winds from the NE at 12 mph gusting to 21 mph.

I don't want to lose power and that's probably a certainty.

This person is blogging about Ike too from NW Houston - Do I have to spell it out?

Hurricane Ike - NW Houston - 11:06 am

Still working outside.

84 degrees with a feels like of 90.

Wind from the NE at 15 mph gusting to 21 mph.

Hurricane Ike - NW Houston - 10:05 am

Things are about the same, it is hot outside, 84 degrees with a feels like of 89. Wind is NE at 15 mph according to weather.com for my zip, 77040.

I've got the east side of the house picked up, put more water in the above ground pool.

I need to go move our patio table next and pick up in the backyard.

Hurricane Ike - NW Houston - 8:59 am

I'll try to make updates when I can and as long as I have power and an internet connection.

Sunny, breezy and partly cloudy now.

I'm about to go pick up stuff in the yard and make other preparations.