Tropical Storm Ike: September 13 Update B

He's been deteriorating all day, and is now a weak Tropical Storm with
winds close to 40 mph (TS range: 39-73 mph), central pressure 980 mb. He
is still barely in Texas with his center at 33.3N, 94.8W, but he is
moving, as forecast, NNE at 21 mph and will be in Arkansas as a Tropical
Depression in a few hours. There is some rain with this system still, and
the possibility of tornadoes in that area.

I have heard of a lot of damage, but so far not many deaths from this
storm, which, is much better than expected. There is a 15-16 ft seawall
around parts of Galveston which helped, but my Galveston expert (thanks
C.M.) tells me it is only on the eastern side of the island. The western
side is, essentially, a sand-bar. I heard a rumour earlier that that is
the end at which most of the Search and Rescue efforts are on-going. I
also read that about 17 buildings in Galveston have been completely
destroyed, and I'm sure you've all seen photos of the damage across the
entire region, including Houston.

Big Bad Ike (about 900 miles in diameter at one point) caused a lot of
damage (I'm refraining from any jokes here here because I'm *trying* to be
tasteful... for a change), not only in the US but to our neighbours in the
Caribbean - Cuba and Haiti especially. I'm glad he's done although we'll
be hearing about him for days to come. If you have family and friends
caught up in this, I hope they are all safe and well. I do expect the
powers that be to pull Ike from the rota of names as well.

This is my last update on Ike (I can hear you cheering you know). The last
break in updates was after Fay. I can barely remember that one whole
entire day of nothing - and yet it was only August 24!

On slightly a different note, I got told off last year by some of you for
not telling you when I'll be on the telly. So, in case I get found out
again (apparently some of you watch tv?!?), I'm on this Monday - Fox 13,
12.30-1pm, Cathy Fountain show, talking about Ike (this is why I know you
will be hearing about him for days to come). I highly recommend you unplug
your tv sets during that time to prevent them from spontaneously
combusting.

Next update will be if something else develops, or if there's something of
interest that you might be... well... interested in I suppose :).

Toodle pip for now,
J.

Blogs archived at: http://www.jyotikastorms.blogspot.com/
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DISCLAIMER:
These remarks are just what I think/see regarding tropical storms - not
the opinion of any organization I represent. If you are making an
evacuation decision, please heed your local emergency management and the
National Hurricane Center's official forecast and the National Weather
Service announcements. This is not an official forecast. If I "run away,
run away" (Monty Python), I'll let you know.
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