Hanna, Ike and Josephine. Hurricanes of the Week

Will be thinking of you, Mrs Edgar, and mac. Stay safe, all.

Watching and hoping for the safety of those in the path of Ike!! Be cool and use your head.

Image of water gauges along the Gulf. First time anyone can recall seeing them ALL red. OMG moments for those that have paid attention to these things for years.

I haven't... appreciating your knowledgeable commentary here...

Much of what I'm hearing and reading elsewhere is highly emotionally charged. I'm trying to keep my posts here to just the facts. I tend to get into a clinical mode when I'm dealing with any kind of medical or personal emergency. I intend to update this thread with data only and keep my personal opinions to myself until after the fact.

People make the choices they make for the reasons that they make them. Not that anyone here has done so, but I respectfully request that the discussion here be kept to well-wishes, prayers, thoughts and concerns, not second-guessing someone's personal decisions.

Thinking of anyone in the path of this monster of a storm.

ah -- just saw this. Thanks, soz.

The water gauge map is interactive at this link
http://www.weather.gov/mdl/etsurge/index.htm?coast=gulf&load=gfmap.htm&map=0-48

If you click on the Galveston gauge the actual reads (red Xs) are running 2.5 ft HIGHER than projected.

One voice on Channel eleven this morning said they are still awaiting the northern turn. He said, a few minutes before that, the projected path would take it up I-45. That's practically dead center over us. My address is Tomball, but if I lived right across the main street (Kuykendahl) my address would be in Spring, which is on I-45. I hope these pine trees wait until the wind is blowing the other way if they decide to crash.

Reports of the fishing pier at 61st and Seawall Blvd has collapsed. Surge creep is flooding the bay side of Galveston Island while wave action overtops the seawall on the Gulf side.

The next official track reads come out at 11:00 EDT (about an hour from now). Unofficial indicates a possible shift to the north.

visible imagery shows a eye at the end of the loop -- possible indication of strengthing.

(reduce animation speed to see individual frames)
http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/loop_640.asp?product=tropical_ge_4km_visir2_floater_2

22 people on board a stranded freighter cannot be reached by Coast Guard rescuers.

The TVpeople asked the question: Why was this ship there? It had advance noification of the storm. They were not certain, but the ship possibly contains petroleum products.

NOLA surge update -
The Corps of Engineers has ordered the 17th ST CAnal FLoodgates closed as the Level had risen to 5 feet in the CAnal.

infra-red imagery indicates possible eye formation on the western side of center

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/flt/t4/loop-ir2.html

updated SLOSH models show surge upwards of 28' or higher in Jefferson County

Eye closure would indicate strengthening near the center.

11:00 am EDT computer models

forecast map

The eye is now visible