Coastline and other photos of Gustav & Ike.

There's a lot of downloading going on so you have to be really patient.

http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/hurricane/index.html

I live in the SW portion of Houston and we made it through OK. I've lived in the same house since 1991, and there were a couple of times I thought we might have to take cover in the closets when the wind really surged. I think we saw some gusts to 90+ mph, with sustained winds well into the 70's.

Most of the inconvenience comes from lack of electricity - it went off at 8:30pm on Friday, LONG before the full effects of the storm were felt. I felt then (and feelings now confirmed) that if the electricity went off that quickly, it would be a long time in coming back on... Latest projections from Centerpoint show "by Monday, 9/22."

I have a cure for this problem en-route - a 13KW natural gas powered whole-house generator with an automatic transfer switch. The last major storm we had in Houston was Alicia in 1983, and the loss of power was no where near what we experienced with Ike. I think (arm-chair QB'ing here) that the high losses were related to the additional 25 years of age on the infrastructure, along with 25 years of growing time for trees, etc that are the cause of some of the downed lines.

I personally think that the clock is ticking for the electricity infrastructure down in this part of the country before we see a wide-spread long-term blackout like the north-east experienced a few years ago.

Small damage to the house roof-wise. We fixed it ourselves (temporarily) to allow the roofing companies time to fix the bad ones and get a more reasonable attitude concerning pricing, which come December will likely happen.

Have insurance to cover all losses, but likely (with the exception of the roof) all costs will come in below the deductible.

MB was stored safely away from the house, and when asked replied "Ike who??"

As for the posting of others concerning the compliants and realities of relocation due to storms, I've had 2nd hand knowledge of both sides of the story from family and friends that volunteered here in Houston and also up in Arkansas in the aftermath of Katrina. In general, people do not behave the same when under stress as they do in "normal" circumstances. While there are always the "bad apples" and some of the evacuees were truly bad, there were far more good decent people that were just completely out of sorts from what they ever expected.

Articles like the one by the nurse have at their core a grain of truth. It is possible that she could be more likely to remember the bad people than the good. I'm not certain that these type of articles do any real "good". More likely they're just fodder for the morons in society that will take each person cited in the article, place a skin color and a face and use that as ammunition for their own personal bigotry that "THEY are all like that". Nothing could be further from the truth. A FEW are, most aren't.

Unfortunately, the addage about birds of a feather does apply in these situations. You're not likely to encounter a progressive thinking "pull myself up by my boot straps" among a group of neer-do-well perpetually unemployed sloths intent only on seeking their next handout. The folks that want better for themselves won't put up with that nonsense, and the folks wanting a handout in favor of working don't want the go-getter around setting a good example.

Having said that, I could never be capable of volunteering for work such as that in any fashion. It would be beyond my ability to look past the irresponsibility sure to be seen and not say anything, which would have no positive input to the situation, regardless of how true it may or may not be.

My sister's husband is BOI (Born on the Island) and some BOI's have a "I dare you, Mr/Ms Hurricane - do your worst, I've stood before and I will stand again." He was actually featured on Fox News at least once during the storm, having filmed some of the Strand area of Galveston as the bay-side surge inundated the streets, stores and hotels that line that part of the city. My sister and my niece were sitting with me in Houston watching the whole mess unfold on television. He is not someone that would ever place himself in a bad situation and then call for rescue. However, there are plenty of other individuals that "won't be put off MY island" but will scream help Help HELP when the water starts to rise. Far as I'm concerned - I hope you can swim. We'll come get you when the water recedes again, not before.

I still have no power at home. I am posting this from Temple Texas at my friend's home. i need power! I just got here today, could not hack Houston anymore! Had to wait a day to get my dialysis treatments x-fered here before i left. Take care my fellow Texans!

__________________
TXBill



Former owner of a few diesel MB cars
1998 Lexus ES 300 In Chicago We Trust

In general, a very good article.

Note the phrase that I've put in boldface, below. A colleague did an exhaustive literature review trying to nail down the figures in that estimate. It came from a USACE grey lit paper published after Hurricane Betsy when the Corps was looking at protecting NOLA. No other work has been done on that subject since and it was based on correlative measurements in 5 storms (IIRC). It maybe true. I hope so. We're doing a sensitivity analysis of the model and also checking records on a hell of a lot more storms. We'll see.

B

---------------------

Future Fury: Hurricane Effects Will Only Get Worse
Andrea Thompson
Senior Writer
LiveScience.com
Fri Sep 19, 7:02 AM ET


The Caribbean and Gulf Coast have seen a spate of devastating hurricanes in recent years that have cost billions of dollars and thousands of lives. As residents recover from the latest hits, they may wonder about the potential for future Ikes and Katrinas.

Hurricanes, of course, are nothing new to the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, where tropical storms form between June and November each year. But many factors, both natural and man-made, can affect the number, strength, size and impact of the storms that form each season. For example, the recent surge in storms followed an almost two-decade lull that was part of a natural cycle in hurricane formation.

During that lull, new coastal residents built homes in what they thought was a paradise. But now they've found out just how susceptible they are to nature's wrath. And it looks like the situation might only get worse.

Coastal build-up

In 2003, more than half the U.S. population (or about 153 million people) lived along the Gulf and Southeastern U.S. coastline - an increase of 33 million people from 1980 - and that number is just expected to keep rising.

The buildup of these communities in recent decades and the environmental damage that development has caused exacerbate the impact of hurricanes.

"There's been an explosion of population along our coast," said Amanda Staudt, a climate scientist with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). "That's just putting a lot more people in harm's way."

This is particularly true in Florida, Texas and North Carolina, where populations are increasing the fastest. Hurricanes are especially a threat for homes right on the beach or on barrier islands, such as Galveston, because they receive the full brunt of a hurricane's storm surge.

Coastal features such as barrier islands and wetlands act as natural protection against a hurricane's storm surge, slowing it down and absorbing some of the impact. Studies have shown that every mile of wetlands reduces storm surge by about 3 to 9 inches and every acre reduces the cost of damages from a storm by $3,300, Staudt said.

"Our wetlands and barrier islands ... are our first line of defense," she said.

But the development boom in coastal areas has damaged these natural defenses, putting coastal residents even more at risk.

"The more we develop, the more we lose," Staudt told LiveScience.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that since the 1700s, the lower 48 states have lost more than half of their wetlands. While not all of that acreage loss is right along the coast, and some is likely a result of natural changes along the shoreline, a good chunk is due to development.

For instance, some of the Katrina damage to New Orleans was partly a result of the damage to the protective wetlands along Louisiana's coast. Development and subsidence, or outright sinking, of the state's coastline today mean that Louisiana loses an area of wetlands equivalent to the size of 32 football fields every day, according to the NWF.

Many hurricane experts have warned for years against destructive coastal development and imprudent policies that encourage people to build in coastal areas, but that often doesn't stop the building.

Warmer seas

Meanwhile, the oceans are growing warmer. Global ocean temperatures have risen by about 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit (0.1 degrees Celsius) in the last 30 years. And hurricanes are fueled by the warm, moist air over the tropical Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. The warmer the ocean surface, the more energy is available to fuel a storm's ferocious winds.

Scientists have predicted that as global warming continues to heat up the ocean, hurricanes could become more frequent, more intense or both, and several scientists think that change is already evident.

As sea surface temperatures rise, they provide more fuel to the convection that drives the swirling storms. This added energy could notch up the speed of hurricanes' winds (though several scientists say the winds can only increase so much). One recent study suggested that the strongest hurricanes in particular would get a bump from warming waters.

The rainfall brought by hurricanes could also increase because as the Earth's atmosphere also warms, it can hold more moisture. Studies have shown that one of the most damaging parts of a storm can actually be the rain it dumps on inland areas.

Rising sea levels could increase the damage wrought to coastal areas by a hurricane's storm surge.

Warmer water, and more of it, could also mean more opportunities for storms to form. Another recent study suggested that global warming could extend the hurricane season; as the warm water areas in the Atlantic expand, there could be more opportunities for storm formation, particularly early in the season.

Natural cycles

Of course, the changes man has made to coastlines and the climate system aren't the only thing affecting the intensity of any particular hurricane season. Mother Nature provides plenty of variation as well.

Natural fluctuations in the climate that occur over a matter of years, such as El Nino and its sister La Nina, can also affect how busy the Atlantic hurricane season is.

El Nino events, which occur when tropical Pacific waters become warmer, can change the flow of prevailing air currents and stifle hurricane development in the Atlantic. Forecasters think that an El Nino event was the reason for the calm 2006 hurricane season, which came after two of the busiest years for hurricanes on record. La Ninas (when tropical Pacific water become cooler) typically mean more hurricanes.

Another natural cycle, called the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, can affect hurricane frequency over several decades through changes in sea surface temperatures, and is thought to be linked to the relative lull in hurricanes during the 1970s and 80s.

While natural cycles can affect hurricane activity from year-to-year or even decade-to-decade, most climate scientists think that global warming will continue to fuel these storms, and accompanied by the increasing coastal population and environmental degradation, lead to the "increasing destructive power of storms," Staudt said.

http://blogs.esri.com/Info/blogs/arcgisexplorerblog/archive/2008/09/19/arcgis-explorer-hurricane-ike-maps-and-layers-now-available.aspx

Ike imagery & shapefiles. Texas.

B

TAMU Galveston has transferred maritime academy classes to College Station until further notice which means Thing One will be living at the farm for a while.

Other:
Lone Star Flight Museum took it on the nose. All flyable a/c were moved inland but the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame is in ruins. Before they moved off the island, my Stepmother consulted with LSFM about the location of the HoF and her first recommendation was to move it to the 2nd floor. Unfortunately, that never happened and now it's pretty much dumpster fodder that's salted with irreplaceable artifacts from Texas aviation history.

I'm thankful she never had to see all those artifacts destroyed in that manner.

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

During Katrina, the NGA ( http://www1.nga.mil/Pages/Default.aspx ) showed-up with a mobile facility to aid search & recovery. Great idea. Unfortunately, all of their assets are classified so they couldn't share info with search & rescue except at the highest (most useless) level.

In the 2 years since ...

NGA has gotten a really cool looking mobile unit festooned with antennae capable of God knows what. I say, God knows" because nobody else does. They still can't share info with anybody except the top management tier. We can all guess how useful that is.

Your gov at work.

B

Wonder what happened to non-flyable aircraft, like the B-58?

I imagine Moody Gardens is a mess also...

__________________
Palangi

2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz
2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser
2006 Toyota Prius, Saving the Planet @ 48 mpg
2000 F-150, Destroying the Planet @ 20 mpg



TRUMP .......... WHITEHOUSE
HILLARY .........JAILHOUSE
BERNIE .......... NUTHOUSE
0BAMA .......... OUTHOUSE

http://www.lsfm.org/ikephotogallery.html
I was there in the spring to see it in its' glory,,, what a shame.

__________________
95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

How'd that little square rigger come through? Named Elissa maybe?

Elissa is tattered but OK otherwise. There wasn't enough manpower or time to unbend some of the sails so IIRC, her fore upper and maybe the main upper topsails are history. Her biggest threat (and one that happened in the past) is another, larger vessel breaking free and smashing into her while at the berth, thank God that didn't happen.

Also, the shop at Texas Seaport Museum was completely destroyed.

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Lower Cameron - Hwy from Holly Beach to Johnson's Bayou. About a 12 ft storm surge with wave heights to 10 ft above that.

http://www.pbase.com/pattonpix/cameron_post_ike

From Tiki Island - not to bad - the game room and bar downstairs ruined, but the boat is still in the sling

Attached Thumbnails

       

__________________
89 300E
79 240D
72 Westy
63 Bug sunroof
85 Jeep CJ7
86 Chevy 6.2l diesel PU

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
Marcus Aurelius