this is a shot of an oil rig that is out in the gulf. ike looks mad! we are still ok here in Houston. no rain, some wind and i now have blue tape on my windows :) lots of information on the island towns. 2 policemen just went by my street on a bicycle built for two...seriously, i have my front blinds open and i just saw them come by. i will look for them again :) anyway, looks like most of the mandatory evac people are out now. and we are just waiting for 2am when this thing gets to houston. i have been charging my camera so i didnt get a pic of the police on bikes. bummer.
storm is about 129 miles from galveston the outer bands are 40 miles away, storm moving at 12 mph. the eye is about 62 miles across that is HUGE!
storm surge is already 20-25 feet in galveston. 110+ mph winds. walmart has closed 106 stores in SE texas. there is a curfew for most of the island towns sundown to sunup.
they decided to open a shelter of last resort. 150 people are there already who did not evacuate, water has been turned off in galveston. apparently pier 61 in galveston is gone. this is crazy because the storm has not hit yet! ok, there is a cop that lives on our street and they just went down the street on a golf cart!
island is flooding severely, the west end is torn up. there has been a housefire that they cannot get to. lots of gas leaks on the island, trop storm winds, but no rain so far, the worst is yet to come in galveston. as of 9pm tonight, all staff will be off the streets, "hunkering down" at the san luis hotel...nice digs :)
there is a big ship stuck in the gulf, 90 miles out of galveston, coast guard tried to do a rescue but they cannot get in there to get the 22 people who are on the freighter, so they just have to do their best to ride out the storm.
just started a little sprinkle here, but really other than the policemen on the bicycle built for two, nothing exciting to report here. which is fine with me.
