(TX Gov) Perry warns Galveston residents: Get Out Now. (Hurricane Ike)

[bigworld]

Source: Houston Chronicle

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry today urged coastal residents in Hurricane Ike's path to evacuate immediately, describing it as a storm that could swamp houses in Galveston and other areas to at least their eaves.

"My message to Texans is, in the projected impact area, finish your preparations because this is a storm that can have extraordinary impact on them, on their personal belongings," Perry said. "It's on its way."

While the storm presently is a Category 2 hurricane, Perry said it could be at Category 4 level by the time it is expected to make landfall on Saturday.

At 7 p.m. CDT, the storm was centered about 370 miles southeast of Galveston, moving to the west-northwest at 12 mph. Top sustained winds were 100 mph.

"I want to emphasize what a dangerous storm this is going to be," he said. "The latest estimates show Ike is going to be coming to shore in the next 48 hours, packing winds in excess of 120 mph and a storm surge of 14 feet or more. And I want to emphasize the more."

Jack Colley, chief of the Governor's Division of Emergency Management, described the storm as hitting like a tidal wave.

"This is a surge tsunami," he said. "This is not rising water. This is water that goes beyond rising."

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5995957.html

---

<a href="http://www.fan2band.com/dynamiclink/162739_1332_77_2462">
<img src="" border="0"/>
</a>

[whistle]

1. Where the heck should the people go?

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT09/refresh/AL0908W5_sm2+gif/201346W_sm.gif

<link> http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/201346.shtml?5day#contents

[fed_up_mother]

6. Go far enough north that you can wait it out at McDonald's if necessary!

[Skink]

7. do realize how much gas you need to get anywhere in Texas?

And with prices like this sometimes finding it difficult. This is why people don't evacuate.

[AnneD]

9. It took me an hour to find an gas station that didn't have a line miles long....

3 hours ago. Now most stations no longer have gas. I will be up all night trying to get my valuables out tonight. I will be staying with friends tomorrow. I live in a travel trailer and I have no truck to move it and as was said...where would I move to anyway. I am already writing off my home.

[lastliberalintexas]

12. Goodness, sweetie, I hope you are spared

:hug:

Stay safe.

[iamjoy]

13. Away From The Coast

Even 10 - 20 miles may help - although 50 is probably better. The way the warnings sound, it is not the wind that is the biggest threat here, but the water. A solidly built house will usually protect a person from the worst of Category 3 winds. This doesn't mean the house won't be damaged - maybe even severely, but if a person stays away from outside walls, he/she has a pretty good chance at making it through without injury.

The problem is the water. It's a big wet storm and will push a lot of water on the coast - massive storm surge. Low lying areas will be inundated.

So, one doesn't have to go far, from Galveston to an area of Houston that is not low lying may be sufficient. They won't avoid it completely, but will get out of the worst of it.

[BadgerKid]

2. NHC is talking maybe 20-25' surge

COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF UP TO 20 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE
LEVELS...ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...CAN BE
EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE EAST OF WHERE THE CENTER OF IKE MAKES
LANDFALL...EXCEPT AT THE HEADS OF BAYS...WHERE SURGE FLOODING OF UP
TO 25 FEET COULD OCCUR. COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 6 TO 8 FEET
ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS...ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS
WAVES...CAN BE EXPECTED WITHIN THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING AREA
ALONG THE NORTHERN GULF COAST. ABOVE NORMAL TIDES IN THE EASTERN
GULF OF MEXICO SHOULD GRADUALLY SUBSIDE OVER THE NEXT DAY OR SO.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/112359.shtml

[spindrifter]

3. The latest was that people around Galveston Bay

in single story homes face certain death if they stay. This is the most serious warning NWS has given for a hurricane.

[DS1]

4. move your photos and electronics as high as possible in the house

and then leave.

[Syrinx]

5. .

ALL NEIGHBORHOODS...AND POSSIBLY ENTIRE COASTAL COMMUNITIES...
WILL BE INUNDATED DURING THE PERIOD OF PEAK STORM 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.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/WTUS84-KHGX.shtml

[DogPoundPup]

8. I hate to picture all the beautiful horses and other livestock, wild animals, pets that will perish

in this storm.

[The Stranger]

14. They're taking their pets with them. It is now the law there and in Louisiana.

[Haole Girl]

10. A man was just on the news, saying "Take it with a grain of salt..."

He refused to evacuation a mandatory evacuation area.

How will "a grain of salt" help him in a 20' storm surge?!

:crazy:

[whistle]

11. Not when it becomes a category 3+