Storm Update
Thank you to all who have expressed concern about how we’ll fare in Hurricane Ike.
Ike looks like it will come ashore somewhere on Galveston Island (50 miles to our southeast) with a huge (up to 22-foot) storm surge. Galveston has a seawall that is 17 feet high on the Gulf of Mexico side only. So Galveston is in a world of hurt. (Since I wrote that, I heard that there’s already seawater in the streets there.)
I think we’re going to be okay. We’re in the Houston Heights, about 3 miles from downtown and about 60 feet above sea level. The storm surge will not directly affect us. We’ll get a bunch of rain — maybe more than a foot. We’re high enough above sea level, and built high enough above the ground, that that won’t be enough to wash us away.
We’re also going to get some winds. See here for forecast maximum sustained winds — we’re in ZIP 77007. We boarded up for Hurricane Rita, and still have the lumber in the attic, but I’m not planning to do so again this time around. We’re stashing all of the yard litter in the garage with the cars, which are full of gas in case we want to head for somewhere that has electric power after the storm.
Meanwhile, I’m getting my news and prognostication from the National Hurricane Center and Eric Berger’s SciGuy blog, so I’m avoiding the mass media’s hysteria-inducing chatter.
I’ll try to keep you updated as things develop.
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“We boarded up for Hurricane Rita, and still have the lumber in the attic, but I’m not planning to do so again this time around.”
Come on Mark, it’s not like you have to screw the wood to the house — just use duct tape.
I guess you’d know better than I would, but the NOAA currently has the eye of the storm going right over you.
Good luck.
JR, I caved in and boarded up some of the most vulnerable windows.
Windy, there’s a huge margin of error. NOAA publishes predictive cones; there’s about a 2/3 chance the eye of the hurricane will follow some track within those cones.
Yeah, I know, and the area of uncertainty is 140 miles wide at your location. But that’s also the size of the zone of hurricane force winds. It looks like NOAA thinks you’ve got about a 50/50 chance of hurricane winds.
Hey, I wasn’t saying you should run for your lives, but covering up those windows sounds like a good idea to me.
And if the eye does go over you, get pictures.
A Dallas radio talk show stated that those who didn’t evacuate Galveston as ordered could be arrested. Mark, since you are my Hurricane Legal Expert what Texas law authorizes such arrest?
Hope you’re staying safe there, Mark. The wind has picked up at my place, we should start getting rain pretty soon here.