Ike Strikes
Hurricane Ike made landfall at Galveston, TX at 2:10 AM CT this morning. Ike's winds at landfall were 110 mph (still are as of the 4 AM CT advisory) and Ike's eye is moving through the east side of Houston as of the time of the post.The Houston area has had sustained winds in the 50-60 mph range, with gusts to near 70 mph at their airports and up to 80 mph at the University of Houston campus. Winds across the Beaumont area have gusted as high as 87 mph so far with the storm in official observations. KHOU in Houston reported earlier this morning that two million customers were without power.
The radar shot up above from 5:15 CT this morning shows the city of Houston in the southwestern part of the eye wall. There have been reports of damage to some of the high rise buildings in Houston according to Houston TV.This is not just a Houston problem due to the huge size of the storm. Ike has tropical storm force winds as far east as Central Louisiana, and gusts to hurricane force were felt in Lake Charles last night. Storm surge in Louisiana was as high as ten feet and there were reports from emergency officials in Cameron Parish of Louisiana that flooding was comparable to Hurricane Rita, which struck in 2005.
Ike will continue moving north-northwest and then turn north later today, smashing through eastern Texas and western Louisiana with several inches of rain, gusty winds, and tornadoes to the east of the center of the storm.
More: Sci Guy blog at the Houston Chronicle | Houston Chronicle | Houston TV
Graphic of landfall on radar from wunderground
Even More: Live Blogging Ike
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