Categories
Miscellany

Awful Ike

Reading the weather blogs this am, the intensity of Ike, which may increase tonight, is pretty stunning.
Jeff Masters wrote this:

Ike is larger than Katrina was, both in its radius of tropical storm force winds–275 miles–and in it radius of hurricane force winds–115 miles. For comparison, Katrina’s tropical storm and hurricane force winds extended out 230 and 105 miles, respectively. Ike’s surge will probably rival the massive storm surge of Hurricane Carla of 1961.

And the headline, of course, comes out of the official warning to residents of the Texas gulf coast:

Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one or two story homes will face certain death. Many residences of average construction directly on the coast will be destroyed. Widespread and devastating personal property damage is likely elsewhere. Vehicles left behind will likely be swept away. Numerous roads will be swamped… some may be washed away by the water. Entire flood prone coastal communities will be cutoff. Water levels may exceed 9 feet for more than a mile inland. Coastal residents in multi-story facilities risk being cutoff. Conditions will be worsened by battering waves. Such waves will exacerbate property damage… with massive destruction of homes… including those of block construction. Damage from beach erosion could take years to repair.