Ike staring down Texas' barrel

The National Hurricane center says Hurricane Ike, a Category 2 storm with 100 mph winds, now officially has the Texas Coast line in its 3-day cone of uncertainty, though Ike is continuing to drag along at 8 mph in a northwest direction. I know this has a lot of people in Texas scrambling, not the least of which is Galveston and Houston which take a lot of time to evacuate.

(photo on the left is a FEMA photo of evacuation buses at a staging area in Beeville, ready to roll)

The NOAA Satellite and Information Service has out a new high resolution picture showing Ike setting up its spidery swirl across the entire Gulf of Mexico.

News notes:

Evacuation buses moving south of Houston

President declares emergency in Texas

School closings in Houston area

City of Corpus Christi Hurricane Site

Corpus Christi closures due to Ike

--steve buser

Hurricane Ike gathering headlines on trek toward Gulf of Mexico

Fema evacuees return to New Orleans from their shelters for Hurricane Gustav, only to greet the possibility of Hurricane Ike emerging into the Gulf (FEMA photo by Barry Bahler)


Some miscellaneous news of interest to Hurricane Ike watchers.


President declares emergency for Florida in advance of Ike

Corps starts Blue Roof Program in Louisiana for Hurricane Gustav damaged homes

Disaster Recovery Center Opens in Houma to Assist Residents

Ike Slams Cuba, Keys Could Be Next (Channel 13 Central Florida)

Hurricane Ike
slams Cuba, Haiti death toll passes 600 (AFP)

Entergy restores 80 percent from Gustav; awaits Ike
(Beaumont, TX Enterprise)