Hurricane Ike

[westguy]

I have never boarded up windows before. Do I really need to be concerned and thinking about this (FM 1960 @ I45 area)?

I have no idea either (see my location), but I'm pretty sure Lowe's and Home Depot will be out of plywood. I have some, but not enough.

Maybe the continuing northeast trend will put us on the weak side of Ike? Again, he's much bigger than her so we would still get some of the mess.

[sheeats]

I have never boarded up windows before. Do I really need to be concerned and thinking about this (FM 1960 @ I45 area)?

I guess that depends on whether or not you have a lot of debris, loose tree branches, etc. that could conceivably be blown into your windows. I have never, personally, boarded up my windows. But I'm sure someone on here can guide you in the right direction.

[crunchtastic]

I have never boarded up windows before. Do I really need to be concerned and thinking about this (FM 1960 @ I45 area)?

Macbro, it's probably too late unless you've got a friend at a lumber yard who is going to work on Friday, and/or you've got at least a grand or more to spend. You will be fine. The reason windows blow is usually stuff flying around. Make sure your neighbors put their projectile potted plants away.

My gut: I think this will be rough. In Katy, during Alicia we had about 5 hours of total freak out on 'is the roof going to blow off'. It didn't. Some people's did. Find your safe spot in the house, and plan to be there if the wind gets bad.

[Trae]

we were told noon tomorrow would be it however the storm continues to move nw vs wnw which isn't a good thing.

latest track now says freeport according ot 39news

The NW isn't good for most of Houston? I think it is. As Ike slows to 7 MPH and moves to the NW, a landfall south of Galveston is less and less likely. A landfall at Galveston, or to the north has a better chance than it did just a few hours ago. With the size of Ike, it wouldn't matter.

[westguy]

I filled up my gas tank this afternoon. I did the exact same thing on Wednesday three years minus about two weeks ago. The station was getting kind of low so it took some extra minutes to get the fuel.

[native_Houstonian]

The track this evening seems to have shifted east again. This is starting to feel like Rita all over again - Beaumont and Lake Charles had better get ready.

BTW - I just filled up both our cars and the gas stations are starting to get crowded. If you are reading this right now, you might want to go ahead and get out tonight and do it yourself if you need gas - tomorrow it might be too late (or maybe not based on my first paragraph ).

Cotton, I'm getting that exact same feeling. I would like to hear from some of the weather guys that post here, and get their thoughts. We are still a good 48 hours away from landfall.

[sarahiki]

I filled up my gas tank this afternoon. I did the exact same thing on Wednesday three years minus about two weeks ago. The station was getting kind of low so it took some extra minutes to get the fuel.

Okay, I'm getting that panicky-Rita feeling. I hate that feeling. Spouse is off getting gas and peanut butter and oreos; we have plenty of beer and wine. So I'm sure we'll be fine. But I have two questions:

1. What time is this supposed to make landfall? That seems like crucial info to me, and I can't tell from the tracking maps.

2. For future reference, since it's clearly too late now, does anyone have any idea how I would go about boarding up an Urban Loft? 8-foot window. Metal frame. Metal house. I have puzzled over this since Rita and never come up with a solution, besides window film. Maybe I should have gotten window film.

(edited for spelling)

[westguy]

Okay, I'm getting that panicky-Rita feeling. I hate that feeling. Spouse is off getting gas and peanut butter and oreos; we have plenty of beer and wine. So I'm sure we'll be fine. But I have two questions:

1. What time is this supposed to make landfall? That seems like crucial info to me, and I can't tell from the tracking maps.

2. For future reference, since it's clearly too late now, does anyone have any idea how I would go about boarding up an Urban Loft? 8-foot window. Metal frame. Metal house. I have puzzled over this since Rita and never come up with a solution, besides window film. Maybe I should have gotten window film.

(edited for spelling)

1. Late Friday to Saturday morning. If the howling winds last more than a day, I think people will be sick. Nighttime landfalls are bad.

2. Maybe those hurricane lock clips?

[cottonmather0]

Yeah, I started getting that feeling earlier this afternoon. I'm about to get out again and make a grocery run before it gets too much further out of hand. We are likely ok for food, but I'm out of diet Dr Pepper and almost out of beer. The horror!

Still have my lucky can of Spam, though, and a big bottle of scotch. Provided that my roof doesn't blow off, Friday is going to be fun.

Okay, I'm getting that panicky-Rita feeling. I hate that feeling. Spouse is off getting gas and peanut butter and oreos; we have plenty of beer and wine. So I'm sure we'll be fine. But I have two questions:

1. What time is this supposed to make landfall? That seems like crucial info to me, and I can't tell from the tracking maps.

2. For future reference, since it's clearly too late now, does anyone have any idea how I would go about boarding up an Urban Loft? 8-foot window. Metal frame. Metal house. I have puzzled over this since Rita and never come up with a solution, besides window film. Maybe I should have gotten window film.

(edited for spelling)

[Trae]

Here's a good overview:

Animation: http://www.nlmoc.navy.mil/cgi-bin/movie.pl...tlantic+hiresir

You see that blob out there to the right? That's Josephine trying to get itself back together.

[Jax]

1. Late Friday to Saturday morning. If the howling winds last more than a day, I think people will be sick. Nighttime landfalls are bad.

Slightly more specifically according to the national weather service:

The storm is expected to make landfall between midnight and 6 am Friday night into Saturday morning.

[houstonmacbro]

The track this evening seems to have shifted east again. This is starting to feel like Rita all over again - Beaumont and Lake Charles had better get ready.

BTW - I just filled up both our cars and the gas stations are starting to get crowded. If you are reading this right now, you might want to go ahead and get out tonight and do it yourself if you need gas - tomorrow it might be too late (or maybe not based on my first paragraph ).

I just filled up. I feel better.

[sarahiki]

Slightly more specifically according to the national weather service:

thanks guys.

[houstonmacbro]

Macbro, it's probably too late unless you've got a friend at a lumber yard who is going to work on Friday, and/or you've got at least a grand or more to spend. You will be fine. The reason windows blow is usually stuff flying around. Make sure your neighbors put their projectile potted plants away.

My gut: I think this will be rough. In Katy, during Alicia we had about 5 hours of total freak out on 'is the roof going to blow off'. It didn't. Some people's did. Find your safe spot in the house, and plan to be there if the wind gets bad.

No, this is a new subdivision and not a lot of trees or plants. I am about the only one with potted plants on my side of the street, and only one other neighbor has potted plants out front (she is on the opposite side of the street and her plants are in the alcove of her front porch).

[crunchtastic]

No, this is a new subdivision and not a lot of trees or plants. I am about the only one with potted plants on my side of the street, and only one other neighbor has potted plants out front (she is on the opposite side of the street and her plants are in the alcove of her front porch).

You'll be ok. Don't sweat it, just avoid the window area if it gets bad.

[cla]

Well, I was all set to stay put, but the 10:00 update that now has Katy directly in the path has ruffled my Katritian feathers. I am now vacillating in my decision because of memories of my Katrina evacuation, which was a good thing to do, and every other evacuation, which proved to be a waste of time and money. One thing I won't have to worry about is a tree falling on my house - haha - I now laugh in the face of everyone who derides the lack of mature trees out here in "new" Katy. LOL

I guess I should stay, as long as I get enough supplies from Spec's. :-)

[Rammer]

Damn those architects with their window fetishes, I don't need half the windows I have on my house!

[Samsoner]

Anyone from Pearland? What do you plan to do?

[RedScare]

Anyone from Pearland? What do you plan to do?

Brazoria County issued an evacuation order for the entire county. However, whether you should leave depends entirely on where you live and what kind of structure you are in. If you are in a flood prone area, or are in danger of storm surge, get out. If rising water is not a problem for you, next consider whther you live in a wind rated structure.

Houston has required 110 mph wind rated residential building for upwards of 25 years. Additionally, all homes built in the last 5-7 years have to be built to withstand 120 mph winds. However, up until around 2001, when the 120mph standards went into effect, it was hit or miss whether code inspectors really demanded wind rated construction. Anything built in the last 5 or 6 years has been closely inspected for wind rating, and is probably a good structure.

I have no idea what Pearland requires, or how well the standards are enforced. If your house is new, it is probably wind rated to get home insurance, but only you can verify that. If it has hurricane straps on the studs and rafters, and plywood on the walls, you are in good shape. Go into your attic and look around for the metal straps around your rafters and at the spots where the roof joists meet the walls. Hopefully you can see them.

This is what you are looking for....

[KristinDaugherty]

How about Pasadena? I allegedly have to work a promo in Pasadena Town Square Saturday afternoon.

[ToolMan]

Houston has required 110 mph wind rated residential building for upwards of 25 years. Additionally, all homes built in the last 5-7 years have to be built to withstand 120 mph winds. However, up until around 2001, when the 120mph standards went into effect, it was hit or miss whether code inspectors really demanded wind rated construction. Anything built in the last 5 or 6 years has been closely inspected for wind rating, and is probably a good structure.

I would second guess those townhomes they are putting up these days in Midtown and the East side. They seem to go up in three months.

I'm kidding...kind of.

[woolie]

2. For future reference, since it's clearly too late now, does anyone have any idea how I would go about boarding up an Urban Loft? 8-foot window. Metal frame. Metal house. I have puzzled over this since Rita and never come up with a solution, besides window film. Maybe I should have gotten window film.

I, too, am in total oh ____ ____ ____ freak out mode.

If you're referring to the Urban Lofts town homes, they are most certainly not metal structures. Only the siding and roof covering is metal. I know because I'm sitting in one right now. In fact, I'm about to climb up into the attic to check for roof braces.

Even if I was able to get the plywood to board up my windows, I can't think of any reasonable way to put a board a 6x6 window on the third floor.

[TheNiche]

I would second guess those townhomes they are putting up these days in Midtown and the East side. They seem to go up in three months.

I'm kidding...kind of.

The fortunate thing is that the credit crunch has put a damper on new construction, meaning that there are fewer partially-built townhomes susceptible to a hurricane strike. Most of them have a sealed building envelope. Had Rita hit us, there would've been piles of sticks scattered throughout the inner city.

EDIT: This might be good news for the bankrupt Waterhill folks. Hopefully they have a construction insurance policy that covers windstorms. It could turn partially-built worthless crap into piles of crap worth an insurance claim.

[woolie]

For those who want to estimate how far this puts Ike from your house, here's a nifty little GPS calculator.

The most important desktop program ever made, Google Earth, has a feature to measure point-point and polygon path distances.

[RedScare]

For those thinking Ike is going to pull a Rita, here is some internet stuff to look at. Here is the Rita storm forecasts compiled into one continuous loop. You can run the loop, or look at each forecast.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/RITA_graphics.shtml

What is interesting about it is that on Wednesday evening at 10 pm, both Rita and Ike were in similar positions, and had an identical projected landfall around Freeport. The next two Rita forecasts were where Rita suddenly started projecting to the east. If you do not see it by Thursday afternoon, it is probably hitting Houston.

Well, the 1:00 am Ike forecast is out, and the projected landfall is still Freeport. In fact, the GDFL computer forecast has moved westward from Bolivar toward Freeport, solidifying the forecast. Rita, at 1:00 am, had shifted to High Island landfall.

What does this all mean?

Not much, really. I just found it interesting.

[TheNiche]

What does this all mean?

Not much, really. I just found it interesting.

Might it be crunch time? I'm uncertain. I think I'll let the crunching expert weigh in. Bag-of-Cheetos-woman, what say you?

[RedScare]

Well, not being the crunch time expert, I cannot say for sure. However, I would suggest that evacuation crunch time is coming up at 8-10 am. Now, as far as predicting a Houston direct hit, I'd say that crunch time would be Thursday evening.

EDIT: Oops, forgot the so everyone knows I'm joking.

[RedScare]

As of 4:00 am, landfall is still projected for Freeport. I'd feel pretty confident that it is going to hit Houston, or close enough to feel it. If you're thinking of evacuating, today's the day to do so. The next computer runs are at 7:00 am. If it hasn't change appreciably by then, it probably won't change much after that. Landfall is projected somewhere around midnight Friday, so we are well within 48 hours now.

Hurricane force winds extend 100 miles in this storm, and tropical storm force winds extend 250 miles. If you are in Houston metro, pretty much expect hurricane winds.

Have fun!

[musicman]

Even if I was able to get the plywood to board up my windows, I can't think of any reasonable way to put a board a 6x6 window on the third floor.

you could hammer it in from the inside and get some contents protection but window itself could be damaged.

[Rammer]

Caller: "Is the Galleria area a safe place to evacuate to?"

"Run from the water, hide from the wind. Houston is a safe place to go, just make sure you aren't 10 miles from the coast" - Anthony Yanez, KPRC weatherman.

Ah....a sane weatherman.