Hurricane Ike Looks at Northern Antilles, T&Cs, Bahamas

[lamont]

from jeff masters blog:

NOAA's experimental storm surge forecast is calling for a 10% chance that the storm tide from Ike will reach 27-30 feet on the south and east sides of Houston. The exact track of Ike is key in determining if Galveston's 17-foot sea wall gets overtopped, flooding the city. A slight wobble 30 miles to the north of Galveston would put the city into offshore winds from Ike, possibly saving it from inundation. The situation is grim for Port Arthur, Texas, on the Louisiana border. The expected storm surge of 15-20 feet will overtop the city's seawall by six feet, resulting in flooding of the city and a number of major oil refineries. Expect a significant tightening of gas supplies in coming months, due to extensive damage to the oil refineries in the Houston and Port Arthur area.

Wunder Blog : Weather Underground

 

[lamont]

more on gasoline prices from AP:

The oil and gas industry was closely watching the storm because it was headed straight for the nation's biggest complex of refineries and petrochemical plants. The upper Texas coast accounts for one-fifth of U.S. refining capacity, and many platforms were shut down. Wholesale gasoline prices jumped to around $4.85 a gallon for fear of vast shortages. That was up substantially from about $3.25 on Wednesday and less than $3 on Tuesday.

Hurricane Ike whips waves as it moves into Texas - Yahoo! News

 

[cowdog77]

Sounds like Ike took a right hook just before landfall which resulted in less surge and damage than anticipated. We were glad...too close to the tropical storm winds range for comfort....lots of wind anyway, but no damage.

 

[Doc]

I rely on Weather Channel