.bmp)
.bmp)
The AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center reports that Ike today will flood neighborhoods and entire coastal communities along the Texas Gulf Coast. The storm surge will pose the biggest threat to life and property as Ike barrels toward landfall early on Saturday. The massive Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph covers almost all of the Gulf and is larger than Hurricane Katrina before it made landfall in 2005. Ike is on a collision course for the upper Texas coast, with landfall forecast for early on Saturday morning between Sargent and Galveston. If Ike maintains that track, Galveston and Houston will be in the potentially lethal northeast quadrant of the storm. While the Galveston Bay area faces the potential of widespread devastation, Ike will spread destructive wind, rain and a storm surge more than 200 miles from its center. Hurricane and tropical storm warnings cover most of the Texas coast and extend to the border of Mississippi and Alabama. Ike will strengthen into a dangerous Category 3 hurricane over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico today. Maximum sustained winds will be at least 111 mph, with higher gusts, around the wall of Ike's eye at the time of landfall. The storm surge has already reached the Texas coast. A massive surge as high as 20 feet above normal tides will slam the coast, pushed by hurricane strength winds. The surge will threaten the seawall on Galveston Island, which is as high as 17 feet. The western end of the island is unprotected by the seawall, and there are several spots in the city where the top of the seawall is much less than 17 feet high. The surge will push through Galveston Bay as far north as the Houston Ship Canal, flooding the low-lying areas between Galveston and Houston.Winds will continue to intensify through Saturday, gusting over 100 mph in Houston, Galveston and surrounding areas. Mobile homes will be demolished, most homes will suffer major damage and even homes built to withstand hurricanes could be damaged. The skyline of Houston will be blasted by hurricane strength winds, which will cause significant glass damage. Seven out of the 10 tallest buildings in Texas are in downtown Houston. The nation's fourth largest city is home to 7 of the 10 tallest buildings in Texas and 28 buildings that stand over 500 feet tall. Torrential rain and tornadoes will add to the devastation from the upper Texas coast to the Mississippi Valley. As much as a foot of rain will spark dangerous flooding and flash flooding across Texas as Ike moves to the north after landfall. More than one million people have evacuated the Texas Gulf Coast, including all of Galveston and Matagorda counties.
To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
