H. Ike-is everyone prepared?

[boutiquegecko]

Are you guys all ready? Our forecast here says that a lot of rain, storm surge (15-20ft) and flooding is expected. Is that what you are being told? Just wanted to check in with anyone who is able to check in. They said a lot of evacuations are underway.
Let me know if I can help out in any way guys.

 

[Select Gex]

I am not prepaid for gas prices.

 

[Mel&Keith]

The storm surge is already coming over the 17ft. Seawall in Galveston. :main_thumbsdown:

We spent yesterday boarding up windows really well and the generator's full of gas. We're as ready as we can be!

The entire Gulf Coast from Matagorda Bay through Galveston, cities along the Bay and almost all zip codes 30 miles inland from the Coast are under a mandatory evacuation. Everyone up to our zip code basically! It's not a strong storm (a Category 2) but it's big (100 miles from the eye) so everyone within a 100 mile radius will feel the hurricane force winds and they're will be massive flooding. The Coast in and around Galveston is already flooding. The storm surge is listed as a category 4. Everyone East of the eye needs to watch out for tornadoes tonight and tomorrow! Good luck everyone!!

 

[PacHerp]

Mel,

Are you guys staying? Please keep us updated on how you guys are doing! I knew you were in the Houston area, but I had no idea you were that close to the coast!

You and the geckos will be in my thoughts, and my prayers with you.

 

[dprince]

My thoughts are with everyone in Ike's way. Please stay safe everyone!!

 

[Kristi23]

Stay safe!

 

[boutiquegecko]

I tried calling my family down there and can't get a response. I don't know if they are in the mandatory evac or not. The storm is pretty huge. They were showing the wave readings on the news and it was incredible how high they were. If that thing were coming at me-brrr.
Anyone staying-please keep us updated as much as possible and try to stay safe.
Does anyone know if Kelli or Paul are in the evac zones? I know there's a handful more members in Tx, I just don't know where.

 

[boutiquegecko]

Definately nothing to sneeze at-sometimes we don't realize what a hurricane can actually bring on + all the tornadoes. I found this on the Austin news
" Forecasters said because of Ike's size and the shallow Texas coastal waters, it could produce a wall of water 20 feet high, and waves of perhaps 50 feet.

- Hurricane warnings are in effect over a 400-mile stretch of coastline from south of Corpus Christi to Morgan City, Louisiana."

 

[Mel&Keith]

I guess I was wrong about the size...It's 150 miles from the eye, so 300 miles wide!

Brittney, we are "sheltering in place". We've not in an evacuation area because our zip code is fairly high considering the location. We'll probably be flooded into the neighborhood but I doubt we'll get any water in the house...hopefully.

Marlo, Here's a link to the evacuation map. Here's a link to a list of who was evacuated. I hope everyone's ok!

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I am praying for everyone to be SAFE! Please keep us updated if you don't lose power. HANG TIGHT!!!

 

[sushikam]

I hope everyone can stay safe during the storm!! You are all in my thoughts!

Mel and Keith...hope you and the geckos stay safe and don't get too bad of damage! This storm is going to be a bad one .

Just this morning at about 4 AM we got what I think was one of the bands off Ike and some areas reported tornadoes...the power also went out in a lot of areas, including ours (it's back for now).

Anyway, just stay safe everyone, and keep us updated as best you can!

 

[Mel&Keith]

Kristin, you guys stay safe too! You didn't get much of a break between Gustav and this one.

 

[sushikam]

Kristin, you guys stay safe too! You didn't get much of a break between Gustav and this one.

Thank you! Hopefully we won't get much out of this storm...but we'd gladly take a little hit so you guys wouldn't get it quite as bad...that storm just scares me...it's huge!

 

[Mel&Keith]

It's starting to get a little windy but no rain yet.

Why can't I ever get videos to work?!!!
Sheesh....Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb20QVDaiLQ

We're camping out in the gecko room. The dogs don't seem to mind!

 

[sushikam]

Well it doesn't look too bad yet...that's actually what we are getting here, just more gusty wind than constant. You guys still have power I assume? Hope you can keep power as long as possible! That gets to be a pain in the butt sometimes :main_rolleyes:.

The dogs look comfy!!

 

[PacHerp]

Stay safe you guys!

Hunker down, I'm sure hoping the storm isn't a bad as predicted... I've got good friends in Lake Charles, and they too are saying it's getting pretty windy. I'll be thinking of you guys.

 

[WftRight]

I was without power for six days after Gustav.

Keeping alive a crested gecko in 90°F heat without air conditioning for six days is no easy feat. I ended up buying ice, getting a neighbor to freeze cold packs, and freezing my own cold packs once my generator started working and could power my refrigerator. Before I left for work in the morning, I'd pack ice or cold packs around the cage and inside a plastic container that would catch any water. I also moved them into the main bathroom which has no windows. On the nights where we had cool weather, I'd open windows and doors and try to run fans off the generator to cool the house. (I ended up sleeping on a recliner in the living room with the doors open and a loaded gun in my lap.) I think the highest temperature that they saw all week was about 81°F.

I didn't have much damage myself. I lost two or three shingles, two trees, and one side of the stockade fence in my back yard. The whole Baton Rouge area has the most extensive damage that I've ever seen. I've seen the aftermath of an F4 tornado. The damage was intense but didn't spread very far. Everywhere I go around here, I see downed trees. A friend had a large branch come through her bedroom ceiling. Dead branches have been piled all over the place, and we will be cleaning them for a long time.

So far, Ike isn't causing too much trouble. We're getting wind gusts approaching 50 or maybe 60 mph. We're getting outer bands of rain, but with any luck, we won't have enough to cause flooding. We had panic buying of gasoline starting last night, so supplies are getting tight. We also had long lines after Gustav, but that was because they couldn't power many gasoline pumps. The supply of gasoline was fine, we just couldn't get it from the storage tank to the nozzle of the pump.

The big problem in the long term is going to be whether the offshore production platforms sustain major damage and whether the refineries between Houston and Lake Charles can restart soon after the storm. If we take a big hit on either of those issues, we're going to have major problems with gasoline.

The big problem in the short term is whether the storm surge is high enough to hurt people along the coast. I'm far enough from the coast that I shouldn't be hit, but I still worry because my house is only ten feet above sea level. People nearer the storm could be hit by water, and water is the big killer.


Bill

 

[Mel&Keith]

Stay safe you guys!

Hunker down, I'm sure hoping the storm isn't a bad as predicted... I've got good friends in Lake Charles, and they too are saying it's getting pretty windy. I'll be thinking of you guys.

OMG, do people in the rest of the country use the term "hunker down"? We were joking that we should play a drinking game where we do a shot eveytime someone on TV says, "Hunker down" but we would have had alcohol poisoning hours ago! LOL It's such a funny word...hunker.

Yes, we still have power although 250,000 other people don't. The cable just went out but our internet didn't. I guess it's a transmission problem with the tv stations. We get Jewelry television though...whoo hooo! We're switching over to digital antenna to get local news back.

It's raining and really gusting hard now so we may have to go to generator backup soon. I hope not though. The power company is predicting that it could take 2-3 weeks to get the entire city back up. Hopefully it's not so bad. :worried2:

 

[yellermelon]

good luck you guys, hunker down in there with yer geckos! I see the storm isnt bothering the pups they appear to be hunkered down and fast asleep already lol!

 

[PacHerp]

OMG, do people in the rest of the country use the term "hunker down"? We were joking that we should play a drinking game where we do a shot eveytime someone on TV says, "Hunker down" but we would have had alcohol poisoning hours ago! LOL It's such a funny word...hunker.

LOL! I'm actually from Atlanta... so hunker... not a weird word for me really. But listening to it on the news, I agree with you, hilarious. :main_laugh: