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Galveston Texas is Already flooded


Big Tex

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The tidal surge is already starting to take it's toll on Galveston. They are predicting most of the homes there will be destroyed. There is already water flooding most of the island. About 1/4 of the island is already completely under water. Its going to get worse. Check out the storm surge predictions. The NOAA has issued a warning to Galveston that those who have not left and live in single family, one story homes face imminent death if the don't leave immediately.

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Houston, Texas

29.8649°N - 95.6521°W

Elevation 114.8 ft

Sunset zone 28

USDA zone 9a

Average maximum high temperature 93.60 F

Average maximum low temperature 45.20 F

The annual average precipitation is 53.34 Inches

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My thoughts are with all of those in harms way at the moment.

Best regards

Tyrone

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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The Houston Chronicle says some 20,000 residents of Galveston decided to stay. Three years ago, nearly everyone evacuated.

Fla. climate center: 100-119 days>85 F
USDA 1990 hardiness zone 9B
Current USDA hardiness zone 10a
4 km inland from Indian River; 27º N (equivalent to Brisbane)

Central Orlando's urban heat island may be warmer than us

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Three years ago, nearly everyone evacuated.

And I think it was that very event that prompted so many to stay this time. I got stuck in the middle of that nightmare evacuation myself (spent 30 hours in the car straight, first 16 hrs we did not step out of the car for anything; we just held it), and afterwards many people said "NEVER again!"

I do not think that "most of the homes [have been] destroyed." Damaged, wet- yes. Think about the historic district- most of those homes have been there for 100 years, some longer than that. This is not the first time they've been flooded or wind-tattered. They will likely mop up, clean up, fix up, and move on.

That said, I'm sure the place is a mess right now and it will take a while to get back to normal, but it will. I hope everyone there is safe and can get their lives back in order ASAP.

Zone 10B, starting 07/01/2013

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Three years ago, nearly everyone evacuated.

That said, I'm sure the place is a mess right now and it will take a while to get back to normal, but it will. I hope everyone there is safe and can get their lives back in order ASAP.

I think you hit a key with "back to normal." The chaos and abnormality of the situation does take a big mental toll on lots people. The folks will be without power from days to weeks, some for a month. It will take some up to a year to get a new roof put on. Everything from schools to stores to restaurants to jobs will be strained. Just getting basic supplies, like gas for a car can be a challenge. This is the humid south in its most hot and humid time of year too. If someone is one of the unfortunate onese to get a tree through the house and are not wealthy it will be a year of more before life starts to feel normal again.

In my post I sometimes express "my" opinion. Warning, it may differ from "your" opinion. If so, please do not feel insulted, just state your own if you wish. Any data in this post is provided 'as is' and in no event shall I be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, damages resulting from accuracy or lack thereof, insult, or any other damages

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We came out better than expected, we did not have to worry about the rising water, as we are on one of the highest elevations in southern waller county. The wind was terrible, six staight hours of hurricane force winds and then several hours of tropical force winds.

My wife and I stayed put because we were on the west side of the storms landfall, and after considering all of the information on the storm, we felt safe staying home.

No damage to my home and after getting out and checking my palms, I think all of them are OK.

We also feel very lucky that we did not loose our electricity, five and a half million did loose theirs.

Thanks to all who were kind enough to wish everyone here in the Texas gulf coast area the best of luck and safety from the storm.

Kindest Regards,

Marvin Southern Waller County, Texas

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I particularly empathize with all of the medical students and residents who now probably have to worry about doing part of their training in a different city for a while (although I haven't heard for sure if it will come to that yet).

Here are some pictures I found from someone who had to ride out the storm in the hospital, UTMB (where I went to medical school).

Seawall Blvd, before:

seawall6.jpg

Harborside, right behind the hospital, before:

harborside.jpg

Harborside, right behind the ER, after:

shrimpboat.jpg

Just to the west of the last picture. These washies always looked so majestic to me at this time of year, with the seeds hanging gracefully down, and the sun setting behind them. Only 2 trees are down, which they should be able to fix, and the others aren't even leaning, and haven't even lost their old dead leaves! And that old building in the background, with a few broken windows- that place always looked like crap, and those windows have been broken for years. The fact that those things held up so well is encouraging as far as what we can expect with peoples' houses. Notice all the junk in the lot of that shipyard or whatever it is- nothing seems strewn about or anything, and all of those items could have potentially been windborn debris.

treesdown.jpg

Zone 10B, starting 07/01/2013

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We had a very rough night. My weather station got taken out at about 3am when we got hit by the eye wall. The last registered wind speeds I had were 65 mph with gust after gust of 95mph. It went on and on until about 10am this morning. We lost power and are some of the lucky one who finally got it back. There are still over 4 million people with none. We also got water running again.

As for the damage, we suffered some roof damage and had a leak in one bedroom. Our wooden fence is history. Many of our palms suffered damage and a few were laid down including our Bizmarc. We did a lot of yard work this afternoon staking palms and other plants back up.

Many of our neighbors lost their roofs and almost every tree in our area is uprooted. We haven't ventured out much as it is still too dangerous. We do here Galveston is a complete disaster as is much of the bay area. Even Beaumont and Orange are under water as is much of East Texas.

I have been through most of the hurricanes in Houston and I have never experienced anything like this. Our home is about 1.5 hours from Galveston and 40 minutes from downtown Houston. We got blasted with just as much wind. Fortunately we don't live in a flood plane zone. At times the house was shaking and the window looked like they would blow any minute. Rain was coming down in sheets going sideways. Everywhere you looked electric transformers were lighting the sky up with a blue/green glow when they exploded. Close to our home billboards are twisted and broken off, street signs are bent to the ground. We even saw buildings that were completely collapsed. I knew this would be bad bu never imagined it would be s bad as it was, especially when this was a CAT 2 storm.

Looking at videos on the news tonight of Galveston is really horrible. So many places there had been through even hurricane Carla. Now they are gone. I also have several friends who live in the La Port area where houses were completely underwater. I have yet to hear from them as cell phone service is sketchy t best.

Houston, Texas

29.8649°N - 95.6521°W

Elevation 114.8 ft

Sunset zone 28

USDA zone 9a

Average maximum high temperature 93.60 F

Average maximum low temperature 45.20 F

The annual average precipitation is 53.34 Inches

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Big Tex- I'm glad you have power already. Sitting in my house with the a/c off right now and sweating, I can only imagine what it must be like for the people cramped up in UTMB for several days straight. It is encouraging that you already had time to get out and stake palms up today. Hope they recover quickly for you.

One question- when you talk about the windows looking like they're going to blow- is this WITH shutters installed on the outsides?

PS- you mention so many places in Galveston that are gone- I don't have TV and can't find much on the internet- which places in particular? From what I could find, they said 17 buildings had been destroyed by fire, winds, and flood (probably just was worded wrong and made it sound like ONLY 17). The only picture I saw of anything "gone" was one of those gift shops or whatever that was on a pier off seawall. Well maybe two of them, it was hard to tell from the pic. But that type of construction in that location is different from buildings with real foundations on land. Just curious.

Edited by surgeon83

Zone 10B, starting 07/01/2013

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I have watch a lot hours online about hurricane Ike, just like Landfall... it was a very strong storm on the video's i've seen. I hope that everyone is OK!

Robbin

Southwest

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One question- when you talk about the windows looking like they're going to blow- is this WITH shutters installed on the outsides?

I wish we had shutters. Nest time we will have them installed. We had nothing, not even tape on the glass. No one else in this area had anything either.

PS- you mention so many places in Galveston that are gone- I don't have TV and can't find much on the internet- which places in particular? From what I could find, they said 17 buildings had been destroyed by fire, winds, and flood (probably just was worded wrong and made it sound like ONLY 17). The only picture I saw of anything "gone" was one of those gift shops or whatever that was on a pier off seawall. Well maybe two of them, it was hard to tell from the pic. But that type of construction in that location is different from buildings with real foundations on land. Just curious.

The 79 year old Balinese room and Hooters was a couple of them. The Balinese room has survive every hurricane and never had much damage. Now it is a pile of rubble on the sea wall. The Flagship hotel had huge parts of it broken off and lost the driveways into the hotel. Th whole structure is more than likely unsound. It has also been there for years. I saw this morning that many of the business located on the beach (eg. Steward Beach) are completely gutted. Many smaller businesses including marinas and bate shops are demolished. I-45 South before you get to the causeway is completely blocked due to debris and quit a few boats that got wased away from the marina close to it. Also the board walk in Kehma is in bad shape. I saw Papado's and it was gutted.

Galveston Seawall - What's left of the Balinese Room

iketopx-topper-medium.jpg

I-45 South

ike4-topper.jpg

42336818.jpg

42336825.jpg

Houston, Texas

29.8649°N - 95.6521°W

Elevation 114.8 ft

Sunset zone 28

USDA zone 9a

Average maximum high temperature 93.60 F

Average maximum low temperature 45.20 F

The annual average precipitation is 53.34 Inches

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42336868.jpg

42335827.jpg

42335023.jpg

42334088.jpg

Houston, Texas

29.8649°N - 95.6521°W

Elevation 114.8 ft

Sunset zone 28

USDA zone 9a

Average maximum high temperature 93.60 F

Average maximum low temperature 45.20 F

The annual average precipitation is 53.34 Inches

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This was Hooters of Galveston before IKE

hooters-on-the-seawall.jpg

This is a picture of the Balinese Room before IKE. This was a registered Historical site.

balinese.jpg

Murdock's Bath House built in 1910.

IMAGE.jpg

The Galveston Daily news reports "The Balinese Room, Murdoch’s Bathhouse, Hooters and the 61st Street Pleasure Pier have all vanished, washed away in Ike’s fury." "At least 17 structures have collapsed, including two apartment buildings. One of the apartment buildings is at Holiday Drive and Church Street. The other is near First Street and Ferry Road," City Manager Steve LeBlanc said.

Houston, Texas

29.8649°N - 95.6521°W

Elevation 114.8 ft

Sunset zone 28

USDA zone 9a

Average maximum high temperature 93.60 F

Average maximum low temperature 45.20 F

The annual average precipitation is 53.34 Inches

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Here is a video taken the morning after Ike hit we were getting the back side of the eye.

Click on video to play

th_DSCF2187.jpg

Edited by Big Tex

Houston, Texas

29.8649°N - 95.6521°W

Elevation 114.8 ft

Sunset zone 28

USDA zone 9a

Average maximum high temperature 93.60 F

Average maximum low temperature 45.20 F

The annual average precipitation is 53.34 Inches

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Here is the view from the front of our house. You can see our mexican fan palm and foxtail getting beaten by the wind. Oour Chinese Pear tree has already been completely defoliated.

th_DSCF2186.jpg

Houston, Texas

29.8649°N - 95.6521°W

Elevation 114.8 ft

Sunset zone 28

USDA zone 9a

Average maximum high temperature 93.60 F

Average maximum low temperature 45.20 F

The annual average precipitation is 53.34 Inches

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Geez, those pictures are pretty dramatic. Those buildings on piers off the seawall were so vulnerable and old and just built out of wood- its amazing they weren't destroyed in Carla. Here are some pictures around town (close to UTMB), of buildings whose foundations were not directly above gigantic waves ramping up the seawall:

From the main entrance of John Sealy Hospital:

circleafter2-1.jpg

Walk a few hundred feet forward, and turn to the right:

walkwayafter-1.jpg

Apartment building of the person who too these pictures (notice waterline; hers is on the 2nd story, and she just had some rain blow in from under the door, also bad food in refrigerator):

mybuilding-1.jpg

Historic district, somewhere around 11th-14th and Market:

acrossmarket-1.jpg

I think the city decided a long time ago that no more piers or buildings were to be constructed off the seawall. The ones that were there were just grandfathered in. I am pretty sure they will not allow re-consruction. There was always a boatload of annoyingly slow traffic in front of those buildings anyway (because people would have to come to a stop in the right lane in order to parallel park on the side of the road).

My dad said he saw on CNN yesterday they already had bulldozers clearing the debris off the major roads like seawall and I'm sure 45- once that's done, people can go clean their individual messes up (some look mild) and get back to things. Utilities- well, that's another issue which will probably draw things out a bit.

Best of luck.

Brian

Edited by surgeon83

Zone 10B, starting 07/01/2013

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Pretty dramatic pictures you posted too. Yes, it is amazing those businesses had blown away years ago. The Balinese Room and Murdoc's sure had some history. It was built by the Maceo brothers and had stars preform there like Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Groucho Marx, Jack Benny, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Duke Ellington, Mel Torme, Jayne Mansfield and Gene Autry. Not only did they feature famous acts but the served boot-legged alcohol and had illegal gambling which made it a mob hang out. The Maceo's moved from Sicily and made their money from boot legging during prohibition as well as prostitution, gambling, extortion. They eventually bough oil companies, restaurants, hotels, night clubs and even built the Desert Inn Hotel, Casino and Golf resort in Las Vegas. The Maceo/Fertitta family now owns Landry's Restaurants, Inc., which owns and operated 300 restaurants in 35 states and the District of Columbia and employs about 27,000 people.

Houston, Texas

29.8649°N - 95.6521°W

Elevation 114.8 ft

Sunset zone 28

USDA zone 9a

Average maximum high temperature 93.60 F

Average maximum low temperature 45.20 F

The annual average precipitation is 53.34 Inches

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I am sorry for all the folks in Texas who lost so much. Living in South Florida I know the results of a hurricane. Wilma came across the state and kicked out butts worse than Francis or Jeanne did. The western or back side was twice as bad as the front. We had more damage than from the other 2 storms the year before. I think Jim Cantore has it right - teh friction caused by the wind blowing across the land makes the wind worse.

I just don't know how long it will take for people to realize you should not build buildings on barrier islands. They are shifting sands and act as a "barrier" to protect the mainland. Galveston Island is just a big sand bar. How quickly we forget what nature can do.

Again, I feel for you folks in Texas and Louisiana affected by Ike and Gustav.

Palmmermaid

Kitty Philips

West Palm Beach, FL

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I am sorry for all the folks in Texas who lost so much. Living in South Florida I know the results of a hurricane. Wilma came across the state and kicked out butts worse than Francis or Jeanne did. The western or back side was twice as bad as the front. We had more damage than from the other 2 storms the year before. I think Jim Cantore has it right - teh friction caused by the wind blowing across the land makes the wind worse.

I just don't know how long it will take for people to realize you should not build buildings on barrier islands. They are shifting sands and act as a "barrier" to protect the mainland. Galveston Island is just a big sand bar. How quickly we forget what nature can do.

Again, I feel for you folks in Texas and Louisiana affected by Ike and Gustav.

Thanks! We have a huge mess here and there is no telling how many weeks/months it will take just to get people back in their homes and back to work. I am off now for 10 days minimum. We still have trouble getting phones and cell phones to work. My wife and I finally were able to get groceries today but we waited in a 30 minute line just to get in the store. Gas, that is another thing. People are waiting 3-5 hours. Parts of Houston and Galveston may never be the same.

My wife and I love south Florida and would like to move back there but the frequency of hurricanes make us think twice about moving there. After this, south Florida is looking better and better. At least there you don't have to deal with winter.

Houston, Texas

29.8649°N - 95.6521°W

Elevation 114.8 ft

Sunset zone 28

USDA zone 9a

Average maximum high temperature 93.60 F

Average maximum low temperature 45.20 F

The annual average precipitation is 53.34 Inches

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The leaves on the live oaks are a bit of an indication of wind speed--our oaks were pretty much stripped of leaves in Frances, releafed, then lost the new ones in Jeanne. Then they grew yet another set.

Fla. climate center: 100-119 days>85 F
USDA 1990 hardiness zone 9B
Current USDA hardiness zone 10a
4 km inland from Indian River; 27º N (equivalent to Brisbane)

Central Orlando's urban heat island may be warmer than us

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I'm glad that Ike didn't turn quite into another Rita, but it sounds like Lousiana took quite a hit.

I haven't seen anything from Steve in Houston, who posts here.

I hope he's OK.

My sister, in Houston, just got power restored yesterday.

Good news for the western Gulf Coast:

A pretty strong cold front is coming.

Forecast tonight for Houston : low 60's.

Hopefully, this cold front will blow some of the humidity out of the areas where people are without power and/or trying to clean up after the hurricanes.

The high today in San Antonio was only 77 degrees.

To all of you along the Gulf Coast:

I hope cooler weather is on your way.

Linda

San Antonio, TX

29.50N 98 W Elev: 950 ft

Zone 8b/9a (Half my zip code 8, other half 9) Heat Zone 10

Currently, all my palms are hardy to 8b.

լինդա կարամանիան մալդոնադո

(My name: Armenian)

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