500 miles of Texas coastline are now under a hurricane warning as Hurricane Ike continues to threaten a 500 miles stretch of the Gulf Coast.  Tens of thousands of residents have been ordered to evacuate including all of Galveston Island and many other vulnerable areas.  Thursday afternoon, evacuations will begin for many low lying areas surrounding Houston and all schools and government offices in the city will be closed Friday. 

As of 8:00am MDT, Hurricane Ike was about 580 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi and about 470 miles east-southeast of Galveston.  The storm is moving toward the west-northwest near 10 mph.  A general west-northwestward motion is expected over the next day or so and the center of Ike should be very near the coast by late Friday.  But, Ike is an extremely large storm and coastal areas will begin feeling the effects of the storm long before then. 

Since leaving Cuba, the storm has continued to grow in size and intensity.  Latest hurricane hunter aircraft have measured sustained winds of 100 mph making Ike a category 2 storm.  Hurricane force winds extend outward 115 miles from the center of the storm, tropical storm winds extend 255 miles.  As Hurricane Ike transits the Gulf of Mexico, it is expected to continue to grow, potentially becoming a category 3 storm with 120+ mph winds. 

There is a great danger of significant loss of property and life in the storm’s path.  Considerable storm surge to the north of where the storm makes landfall can be expected as well as torrential rain and tornadoes.  Galveston Island could be hit with surge from 14 to 20 feet, potentially overtopping the city’s seawall. 

For the city of Galveston, the threat of Ike brings to the forefront memories of what is widely considered the worst natural disaster in United States history – the Galveston Hurricane of 1900.  Coincidentally, this past Monday, September 8, was the 108th anniversary since that killer category 4 hurricane claimed up to 12,000 lives (the exact number is impossible to determine due to inexact record keeping).  In that storm, a 15 foot storm surge submerged the island and destroyed 3,600 homes and very few buildings survived at all.

The Texas coastline is preparing for a potentially devastating strike from Hurricane Ike this weekend as the storm regains strength.  The center of the storm is currently 145 north of the western tip of Cuba and moving toward the northwest at 8 mph. 

Ike’s interaction with land near Cuba took a lot out of it as it dropped to a category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 85 mph.  However, the storm is expected to fully recover and regain strength as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico, possibly becoming a category 3 storm by the time it makes landfall.  Current modeling indicates the storm is headed for a collision course with land Friday night striking between Corpus Christi and Port Lavaca, Texas. 

All residents from northern Mexico to those on the northern Texas coastline should begin making preparations for the storm immediately.  As the storm regains strength, it is expected to gain in size as well and will most likely impact Houston and Brownsville as well.  Residents should review their emergency plans and absolutely not hesitate if advised to evacuate by emergency officials. 

Texas Governor Rick Perry began preparations for a potential major hit from the storm and emergency assets are being prepositioned should they be needed.  Some people with special medical needs will begin evacuating inland Wednesday and the pace and number of evacuations will increase as the storm nears and the path becomes more clear. 

For the latest on the storm’s location, please visit the ThorntonWeather.com Hurricane Tracker.

Hurricane Ike continues to wreak havoc on its trek west as it struck Cuba Monday morning.  The storm made landfall as a category 3 storm but has since been downgraded to a category 2 with sustained winds of 100 mph.  Four storms have claimed 321 lives in Haiti, 59 from Ike alone, but thus far no deaths in Cuba have been reported.  Ike is however expected to make a near direct hit to Havana where old, decaying historic buildings are quite vulnerable.

The Florida Keys which had been under an evacuation order now appear to have escaped Ike’s wrath.  Residents along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast however may not be so lucky.  The current predicted path has the hurricane heading northwest toward those areas with a potential landfall Saturday sometime.  Worst of all, as the storm enters and transits the Gulf of Mexico, it is expected to regain strength, returning to its category 3 status. 

New Orleans, which is still recovering from Hurricane Gustav, is naturally on edge.  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency Sunday for Hurricane Ike and warned residents to be ready to evacuate again.  The concern of course is that residents will let “hurricane fatigue” set in and fail to evacuate if it is required. “We are likely going to have to become accustomed to evacuating more frequently than when we were younger,” Jindal said.

For the latest on the storm’s location, please visit the ThorntonWeather.com Hurricane Tracker.