Ugh. trying to listen to an interview with Dr. Masters and It seems their servers are getting overwhelmed. What little I did catch was that he expects at least strong tropical storm force winds for Houston and he hasn't taken SW LA out of the picture. He says about 10% chance for them.
MUCH better outlook from him than his earlier blog of a direct Galveston hit. Still praying for my Texas brothers/sisters, wherever this may hit. You are my people, I luv ya like family.
This info is from the same site I use: High pressure to the north of the hurricane will steer Ike more to the west on Thursday. This high will weaken some on Friday with the approach of a trough of low pressure. This will cause Ike to begin to turn to the northwest. The timing of this turn will be crucial to where Ike makes landfall. Based on the latest forecast data, we will be adjusting our track slightly further to the north with our next advisory. This could bring landfall near or just southwest of Freeport, Texas early Saturday morning. Since Ike is a large hurricane, tropical storm force winds and squalls could begin to reach the Upper Texas Coast as early as Friday morning.
He also added "Ike has a long way to go to match Wilma, but I expect Ike will be at least a Category 3 hurricane by morning, and probably a Category 4."
I can't say for sure, but I don't think they brought the buses in for the people who need help. I live in Texas City, and when Gustav came, we had parking lots full of buses, now...none...and I think Galveston is the same. If they were to order mandatory evacuations, the mayor said they would have to get all people who need assistance out, but since they only did voluntary, they dont have to. The mayor of galveston dropped the ball. They gave her full executive power and she made a dumb decision. Basically she said, "Get out if you have a car, if you dont, well...stay."
