[Pete Chimney]

I live north of Houton (The Woodlands). I didn't go into the office today because of the approach of hurricane Ike. All day long all of the local TV channels have had constant coverage of the approach of Ike.

I am now Iked out. I need to clear the head, do some train things, go to bed and wake up tomorrow to another day of Ikitis.

 

[Dean Whipple]

Pete,
Good luck and stay safe this weekend.....
My son and Grandson live a few miles west of you in Magnolia, he worked today but Ike has shut down HP, so like most of Houston they'll hunker down tomorrow...

 

[Torby]

Do you wonder if we're over reacting?

 

[wchasr]

I'm fairly certain that we are over-reacting as I'm iked out adn I live no where near there. It'll be days to a full week afterwards when I might see the affects weatehr wise of ike as he blows off the East Coast again. It will be mere hours though until the gas prices rise. They've been steady but higher than the rest of the state recently. I'm betting at least a 10 cent jump locally.

Stay safe and do something fun. A free day off work doesn't come often.

Chas

 

[Pete Chimney]

I am not sure we are over reacting, not yet. The media sometimes do tend to build excitement, especially with an all day non-stop television coverage.

On the other hand in 1900 the city of Galveston was wiped off the island by a hurricane, several thousand people died. Of course in 1900 there were no satellite forecasts or warnings. The storm surge from Ike could be in the range of 15-20 feet which means many homes near the coast will be severely flooded, some possibly up to the top of the first floor ceiling.

Of course yesterday there were the usual video clips of people frantically trying to purchase bottled water or generators or gasoline. Hurricanes happen every year, that is how nature transfers heat from the tropics to more northern latitudes and evens out the Earth's temperature.

A better plan would be to purchase a flat or two of bottled water in MAY, before hurricane season starts. Also each time one goes to the grocery store, starting in March, pick up a can or two of food, veggies or fruit. And finally fill up the vehicle(s) 3 days before the storm frenzy starts or better yet never allow a gas tank to get below 1/2 anytime between June 1 and December 1.

And finally do what we did, have a 25,000 watt, natural gas fired generator installed and wired into the house. We will have all the power we need to run everything, even my trains. Of course this last suggestion isn't cheap but I figure it adds to the resale value.

 

[Steamnutt]

Pete,
Good luck!

As far as the media over reacting, I think they have to go with the worst case scenario. Ike looks like a very nasty storm. If the media doesn't give the worst case scenario, then we could end up with another event like Katrina. Ultimately, if the storm moves and it doesn't hit hard, then the boarding up was cheap insurance. You can never predict Mother Nature!
Of course your idea with a whole house generator is a GREAT one, and if I was looking at a house with one, that would sure add to the benefits of the reasons to purchase!

Stay safe

 

[paintjockey]

Another reason for over reacting is because we did such a poor job the first time with katrina. We have had some of our EMS crews (from oHIo) in Texas since Gustav (i think) was coming.

 

[jfrank]

Well today the west end of Galveston is completely under water and the waves are crashing into the seawall and going 50' into the air and the storm is still 200 miles out. One of the reporters was drenched and nearly knocked over. I am in Katy, Tx and we are expecting 60-70mph winds here tonight. I have brought in all the lawn furniture and train stuff. We won't get any storm surge this far inland, just lots or rain and wind. For people on the coast and around Galveston Bay this is going to be a very damaging and terrifying storm because of the wall of water it is pushing inland. Some of downtown Galveston is already flooded from waters coming in from the Bay. The destruction could be massive. Some people decided to stay on the Bolivar peninsula and ride it out. Now they are trying to get them off in coast guard helicopters because the entire peninsula is under water. If you have news coverage of this you should watch it. The water crashing over the Galveston sea wall is spectactular. If the storm surge comes in as predicted at 15 - 20 feet then I suspect I10 east of Houston will be flooded all the way to Lake Charles, La. I believe people are underestimating just what 20 feet of water means. The Galveston seawall is only 15-17 feet high. So the water would top it with 10-15 foot waves on top of that. Check out the Hurricane Center's maps.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/psurgegraphics_at4.shtml

 

[cmjdisanto]

Given what we learned from Katrina and the broad reach inland of the surge of that storm, why is anyone staying behind? 15+ inches of rain, 20ft surge and 30ft waves all add up to.........
I'm sitting here catching up with the weather channel and..........It was just mentioned that a family is riding out the storm and their house is on stilt on the Gulf side of things. The reporter said it was "just plain stooooopid" I agree.

I also agree that most folks have no concept of what a wall of water is capable of and how far it will travel. It always seeks the path of least resistance and the lowest point. It's not like you can stand in it's way when it's getting ready to hit your house. I just don't understand it. Even these maroons in the media that put themselves in the middle of it just defy common sense. Doesn't impress me a bit. I say set up a remote camera move to safe ground and sit back and talk away.
Anyhow, we wish ya'll good luck and hope for the best. (Even those that have decided to ride things out and the media maroons in the mandatory evac areas.) /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blink.gif

 

[MarkLewis]

Agreed! Those maroons in the media make me see red.

Mark

 

[ThinkerT]

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/psurgegraphics_at4.shtml

Years ago, when Katrina was news, an old retired (now deceased) civil engineer on another site was going on about some calculations he and his buddies had made back in the early 80's concerning a catagory four hurricane hitting Galveston head on, with an emphasis on storm surge. The word he used was 'erased'. I think we might just find out how close those olde calculations were.

The news they keep going on about this seventeen foot sea wall - but in the same breath mention a twenty foot surge and the tv shows waves on top of that. Errr...you *really* don't want to be in the area when soemthing like that comes through.

 

[Torby]

Those maroons in the media make me see red.




Maroons?

 

[Semper Vaporo]

"Maroons" - Bugs Bunny-ism for the word "Moron". Similar to "Im-Bessel" for "imbecile".

These IDIOTS will continue to report live from the storm site... that is, until one of them is decapitated, "live" on the air. Then the owners and management of the news organizations will attend a series of Congressional conferences and a few will appear in court to testify about their need for ratings.

 

[SteveC]

Posted By Torby on 09/13/2008 9:49 AM

Those maroons in the media make me see red.


Maroons?
Think Looney Tunes & Bugs

 

[MasonsDad]

Gotta love Bugs Bunny

 

[Stan Cedarleaf]

As an old USAF weatherman...... This stuff ain't nothing to mess with. It seems that the forecasters are expected to predict these things at 100%. Just ain't no way. Technology has certainly helped, but once these things hit, it's best to be long gone.

There's always some who will stay even though the warnings are emminent, with the attitude, "It'll never hit me". /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blink.gif

 

[Pete Chimney]

Well we survivied Ike in a much better fashion that most.
We lost a few trees but none hit the house or even crashed through a fence. We had one really tall spindly pine bow over in the wind and stay that way, weird. It was hanging over the house so today the tree people cut it down. We also had a few leaners in the back yard so they came out too.
We lost power at 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning and 30 seconds later our 25,000 watt natural gas fired generator started up so we effectively never lost power. We had refrigeration, freezers, microwave, fresh brewed coffee each morning, dishwasher, you name it. We were the only house in the subdivision with lights on. Cable TV was off so i caught up on watching a pile of model and real train DVDs.
Gradually others bought small gasoline-powered generators to run a few fans or a regrierator and some lights. Last night the neighbor across the street got his generator at 6:00 p.m. and at 11:00 p.m. our generator shut down, telling us we were back on the grid. Generators are not returnable. So he paid $800 for 5 hours of power?
We were the cell phone charging center, the fresh coffee center, the ice making center, etc. for many of our neighbors. We never lost water service.
Thankfully the weather down here has been a delight the past few days, lows in the low 60s, highs in the low 80s and no humidity. This is Houston in September?
Unfortunately for many people south of us the story is quite different, no power, no food in stores, ice in limited supply, limited water, etc.
I will make a nice docnation to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, both groups have been providing much needed aid to people who have little remedy to their situation right now.

 

[Torby]

I will make a nice docnation to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, both groups have been providing much needed aid to people who have little remedy to their situation right now.




Both make very good use of donations.

 

[sheepdog]

Pete, Do you have any way of knowing how much the Natural Gas cost for that period of running the generator?

 

[Pete Chimney]

Not yet. I just paid my last month's nat gas bill and it is usually around $45.00/month in the summer, all for hot water. It might run as high as $60-$80/day but I think this is worth it since we did not lose any food, had reasonably good living conditions, could supply the neighbors with some powered things (e.g. cell phone charging, fresh brewed coffee, ice).

BTW, we always fill 4-5 of the 2 liter soda bottles with water and lay them in the bottom of the freezer. Not only is this a nice thermal mass to keep the freezer cold if for some reason we don't have the generator but we also passed these out as ice for coolers. The big block of ice the the soda bottle stays frozen longer than smaller cubes. We simply swapped out the thawed bottles for freshly frozen bottles. I would not suggest drinking the water once the ice in the bottles is thawed but it might do in a pinch.