Power Of Genie

Hurricane Ike one of the largest hurricane this season is about to strike Texas and its cities. I have a lot of clients from Houston Tx and surrounding areas. I tried to reach some of them to know their status. Most of them are packing bags and some are waiting for the Hurricane to pass by without much damage.

Hurricane Ike is about to make a landfall late friday / early saturday. I hope all my clients go through this distressing time without any major problems.

Watch hurricane progress here:

According to the weather channel:

Hurricane Ike

As of 1 p.m. CDT, Ike was located about 165 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas, with maximum sustained winds near the center at 105 mph. The forward movement is toward the west-northwest at around 12 mph.

The latest pressure reading from an Air Force Hunter Aircraft of 957 millibars. Landfall is about 12 hours away but additional strengthening could still occur and it still may attain Category 3 status. It must be stated, however, that the impacts from a high end Category 2 and a low end Category 3 are nearly identical.

A hurricane warning remains in effect from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Baffin Bay, Texas and tropical storm warnings are in effect for the southeast Louisiana and Mississippi coasts, including the city of New Orleans.

On its current track, Ike should make landfall along the upper Texas coast late tonight or very early Saturday morning as a Category 2 or Category 3 hurricane. The landfall location will probably be very close to Galveston, Texas; on the southwest end of Galveston Island.

A strike in this portion of the Texas coast will provide a dangerous, perhaps life-threatening impacts. The inundation may be locally catastrophic.

The most severe conditions will impact areas just to the north and east of where the center makes landfall; the right front quadrant of Ike’s circulation. Water level rise will be life-threatening in some coastal Texas counties especially Matagorda, Brazoria, Galveston, Chambers, Harris and Jefferson County.

Because of Ike’s very large size, the water level rise produced by Ike will be larger than an average-size Category 2 hurricane.

A water level rise has already been occurring along the upper Texas and southwest Louisiana coast. An 8 foot (and rising) surge is being measured on the Galveston Pleasure Pier. Portions of Galveston Island are already flooded.

A storm surge will also impact the west side of Galveston Bay. Cities such as La Porte, Seabrook, Bacliff, and Texas City will have to deal with sections of their cities being inundated due to the storm surge. A storm surge may also impact the low-lying areas along the San Jacinto River such as perhaps Baytown.

A storm surge of 6-8 feet is being recorded at Cameron, Louisiana, in the southwest part of the state. It is likely the city is inundated by this point.

The NHC warns of a significant and very dangerous storm surge of up to 20 feet could occur near and to the east of where Ike’s center of circulation makes landfall. A surge of 25 feet could occur at the heads of the bays.

Along with the surge comes powerful, damaging winds. Hurricane-force winds extend 120 miles from the center while tropical storm-force winds extend and astounding 275 miles from the center.

Because of this massive size, it is very important to emphasize that tropical storm and hurricane conditions will be felt well before Ike’s center of circulation makes landfall. Conditions will deteriorate along the Texas coast and the southwestern Louisiana coast by this afternoon.

Preparations to protect life and property should be completed by this point but there is still some time to evacuate.

The outer bands from Hurricane Ike will produce squalls of tropical storm-force gusts, a wind-driven rain, and isolated tornadoes across southern Louisiana and coastal Texas this morning and this afternoon.

By tonight, however, the worst conditions will begin to appear including an inundating water level rise, very heavy rain, sustained hurricane-force winds, and battering waves. These damaging and ferocious impacts will continue into Saturday morning.

After Ike makes landfall early Saturday, life threatening flooding rains and potentially damaging winds will spread inland across Texas. Interior tropical storm warnings are in effect for cities as far north as Tyler and Waco, Texas. An inland tropical storm watch is in effect for Dallas/Fort Worth.

As Ike weakens Sunday, the flooding rains will shift into eastern Oklahoma, northern Arkansas, southeast Kansas, central and southern Missouri and southern Illinois.