Whoa, crazy. On 13 the guy was just talking and you saw the lights flash behind him as the transformer blew.
The chronicle headline that reads "Galveston residents call for help in vain during ike" is painful to read How could 35,000 ppl stay behind?? I hope we don't see another bodycount scenario
Hopefully some of this is accurate and some of this is not: http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2008/09/ikes_eyewall_co.html Ike makes landfall at Galveston. What does it mean? Hurricane Ike came ashore directly over the city of Galveston at 2:10 a.m. This will bring the largest storm surge inland well up the Texas coast, possibly saving some of the Clear Lake area and parts of Galveston County from significant flooding. The following map, which shows an updated, realistic "worst case" scenario for Ike's surge, now has a lower potential maximum surge along the west coast of Galveston Bay, from Galveston north into Harris County. active_e10_y4091308a.jpg NOAA The maximum surge, therefore, should come across coastal areas of Chambers and Jefferson counties. The biggest question remains how high the surge in Galveston itself will be at high tide in another hour or so. The National Weather Service estimates that storm surge along the island will range from 14 feet on the island's west end to 17 feet on the east end. I expect these to be catastrophic levels for many structures and, unfortunately, people. INLAND WINDS The latest wind speed forecasts also suggest that most of Harris County, outside of the county's southeastern quarter, may not see sustained hurricane-force winds as Ike moves inland and up the western edge of Galveston Bay. There will be hurricane-force gusts, of course, and these are already occurring in some areas. Chambers and Liberty county have a much better chance of seeing sustained hurricane-force winds. While hurricane-force gusts will be enough wind to knock power out to most of Houston -- the total of those losing power is approaching 75 percent of all metro area customers -- it shouldn't be strong enough to substantially damage a significant number of inland homes.
Worst of it blowing through the Heights. Had the backup battery off for a while so everyone could sleep (beeping), but on now and watching tv online. I freaking love the internet. Was able to monitor Twitter from my phone too.
Back over here in 77082/SW Houston. Caught a little nap but the storm is really starting to get loud and creepy...was forced to wake back up. Power still going in and out occasionally. It's looking pretty rough out there, but looks like we gon' make it. I'm praying that our transformer survives the storm. The power going in and out is making it difficult to watch TV ... broadcast digital channels are choppy and U-verse dslam takes several minutes to reboot each time the power gets knocked out.
