IKE update!!

Subject: IKE update!! Fri Sep 12, 2008 12:47 pm

LMH I hope you've either evacuated or are hunkered down really good. I also hope this thing turns out to be a big dud.

Here's what I've read at weather underground and weather.com so far.

Ike has Tropical Storm winds of 39mph + that extend over 530 miles.
Hurricane winds of 74mph + extend 230 miles (from the eye).
40% of the Gulf of Mexico is taken up by Ike.
Typical Tropical Storm winds only reach 300 miles.
They are calling Ike the "800 lb gorilla".
It's wider than Katrina, but not as strong.
Expected to be a Cat 3 at landfall but may be a Cat 4 or (small possibility) still a Cat 2.
It has far reaching effects - Mexico to Florida and will still be a T.S. when it makes it to Missouri ! Bangor, Maine is also expected to recieve rain/wind from Ike - now that's one heck of a hurricane there!!!

At 11pm my updates say that Ike will be in the Cenla area (Central Louisiana) unfortunately.

Check out wunderground.com for some very interesting and awe-inspiring images of Ike. It's purdy darn scary and I'm not even down there!!!

On another note - gas prices are supposed to spike tomorrow. Either due to Ike, or the possibility of a broken pipe in Tx?? Either way, I got my gas tonight.

Keep us updated LMH!!

Subject: Re: IKE update!! Fri Sep 12, 2008 5:05 pm

Hmm...well we're staying here. I'm quite a bit from the coast. I had hoped it would go somewhere else but unfortunately it appears that it's not. Sad

. We've got what we need and I even made a last minute vet run b/c Gunners ears are getting infected and the scratching has irritated his skin so bad it's oozing. I was afraid if I didn't go before the storm and we all loose power...it might be a week before he could see the vet. So now we've got all his meds to help him during the storm.

Gas prices probably will go up. Figure a huge percentage of oil is refined here...that's not even considering the oil platforms in the gulf. I'm pretty certain alot of those refineries will be under water to a certain extent since they're all on the Houston ship channel. My hubs plant should be underwater as well...but those places usually are the first to recover and have been through a ton of storms b/c of where they're located. But demand has spiked around here that's for sure. You should have seen all the traffic evac'ing from the east side to the west. I live on the NW side of town. So we have a friend and his Irish Setter that came to our house from their apt on the gulf. Traffic was bad yesterday. It took him 2 hours to get to our house. So with everyone in Houston trying to buy gas in like the last 2-3 days...its bound to have an impact on gas prices. That's the fourth largest city in the country all buying gas at the same time...that doesn't account for the places south/north/east of us that are trying to move away from the coast. Craziness.

Subject: Re: IKE update!! Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:35 pm

our gas went up .30 cents over night

Subject: Re: IKE update!! Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:59 pm

That's crazy...I haven't seen a spike here. But then again...I'm still using the gas from my last storm fill up. So I didn't fill back up b/c I had almost a whole tank. My husband filled up yesterday and it was the same...good thing we bought early!

Subject: Re: IKE update!! Sat Sep 13, 2008 5:17 am

We've been following Ike too.. I hope everyone who chose to stay, stay's safe. I'm really thinking of all the Kids and Pets that have to stay, because their parents don't want to budge (that are closer to the cost)... I seen some pics and I agree LML, It's scary even though we are no where near the storm.
_________________

Proudly owned by Labrador Retrievers !!!
Graphics, siggies, banners and buttons by "Pawsitive By Design"

Subject: Re: IKE update!! Sat Sep 13, 2008 7:59 am

Yes I feel for the kids and pets too. My sister made a good point when she said parents who are in mandatory evac zones that do not evac and then must be rescued should face child endangerment charges...and I totally agree with that. A child isn't able to evac when the parents choose to stay regardless of what everyone is telling them to do. The rescue stories make me sick...b/c everyone here was told to evac 2-3 days ago. It didn't happen overnight. And cities bused people and pets out.

I just hope all the kiddies and pups/kitties are safe too. Mine are. Smile

Subject: reply Sat Sep 13, 2008 9:00 pm

LMH Status?

You all ok?
_________________
Need A custom Website? Contact me for more info!

May your glass be ever full.
May the roof over your head be always strong.
And may you be in heaven half an hour
Before the devil knows you're dead!

Subject: Re: IKE update!! Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:05 am

All power is out in the Houston area so we may not here from LMH for awhile. Sad

Subject: Re: IKE update!! Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:09 am

Ike is a Tropical Storm about 60 mph. Houston has massive flooding and building damage. Sad

Galveston is just as bad. No refineries or oil rigs have been reported as damaged yet, so gas prices should go back down in about 3/4 days.

Subject: Re: IKE update!! Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:27 am

Back....lost power 12am on Sat. I just got it today. We had no damage other than our fence blew down. We've temporarily fixed it so that dogs could go out without having to be on a leash. Things are the coast are bad...but things over here are getting better little by little. We didn't have things too bad b/c we were pretty prepared and never lost our water...so that helped. We had hot water even b/c my water heater is gas. Just wish I had my generator in before it arrived.

Subject: Re: IKE update!! Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:36 am

Glad to hear from you!!! We've all been worried.

The most recent updates I've gotten are:

Galveston and the coastal cities may go up to 1 month before power is fully restored to all residents.

None of the refineries or oil rigs were badly damaged. Only 10 out of 3,800 rigs were damaged and 5 refineries have minimal power.

Oil rigs and refineries should be up and running in 7-10 days; as they are priority 1 on the power list. (approx 9/20 - 9/22)

There are 109,000 barrels of oil being sent to southern Louisiana for refining and 200,000 being sent to Illinois. These are reserve barrels for just such an emergency.

Oil is $97.05/barrel and gas, once production starts back up, should drop below what it was before the hurricanes raised the prices so high.

There is (or was earlier today) NO gas at any station in Alexandria or Pineville, Louisiana. They are in the center of the state, where nothing more than thunderstorms happened, yet they've gone dry! We're hoping, with the reserve barrels being sent out yesterday, that gas will be back in a day or two.

Other than the flooding and building damage and power outages - that's all I know. Smile

Oh yeah, Merril Lynch was bought out and another company went bankrupt so stock market went down over 300 points. Another depression in the making???

Subject: Re: IKE update!! Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:55 am

yeah we were just talking about the markets...kinda wish we didn't get power back to see that until things where better.

As far as gas is concerned...supply is being sucked up b/c everyone is making a rush to fill tanks before the prices spike. Sometimes we cause our own issues. Sad

Subject: reply Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:44 pm

Glad you all are Ok Smile

_________________
Need A custom Website? Contact me for more info!

May your glass be ever full.
May the roof over your head be always strong.
And may you be in heaven half an hour
Before the devil knows you're dead!

Subject: Re: IKE update!! Wed Sep 17, 2008 2:51 am

Thanks!