Tropical Storm EDOUARD Heading This Way

by John Astad | August 3, 2008 at 11:00 pm

1031 views | 33 Recommendations | 13 comments

Kinda unsettling when all of a sudden the local newspaper sends a flash email to subscribers at 11:17 P.M CDT that a meek tropical storm (39-73 mph) has turned into a hurricane watch here along the coast, nearly 400 miles to the northwest.
"A HURRICANE WATCH MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...GENERALLY
WITHIN 36 HOURS."

Have to be at work in the next few hours at the Texas City Docks. Beginning to wonder if there will even be any work at the docks unloading barges, Last I heard from a co-worker two hours ago is that all personnel are tying everything down and battening down the hatches.

So now for some quick math. If Edouard make landfall Tuesday morning, then how much time do all Galveston County residents have to evacuate. Especially if the Tropical Storm turns into a Class One Hurricane ( 74-95 mph). Now is the time for getting together the essentials together for a quick evacuation. These mobile homes were not built for the wrath of any sizable proportion beyond a tropical storm. Sticking around at work till 5:30 P.M. today might not be a good idea either.

For all the landlubbers who desire to get an idea what the Houston Ship Channel looks like prior to a storm. Then be sure to check out this birdseye view. All those colored dots are ships and tugboats hooked up to their barges .

400 AM CDT MON AUG 04 2008MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 50 MPH...85 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. SOME INCREASE IN STRENGTH IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 24
HOURS...AND EDOUARD COULD BE NEARING HURRICANE STRENGTH BEFORE
REACHING THE COASTLINE.

National Hurricane Center
Hurricane Central Local News

Hurricane Edouard 1996
Galveston Hurricane of 1900

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Sanjay Jha

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 00:29 on August 4th, 2008

John Astad, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Dave Keating

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 00:37 on August 4th, 2008

John Astad, I like this story. It's good stuff.

John Astad

at 00:47 on August 4th, 2008

I think I might want to start getting away from this story instead of having to report to the Texas City Docks in another hour. I have quite a bit of gear I'd rather get packed such as routers, keyboard, modem, monitor, etc and the tangled snake mess of cables going everywhere. Glad I labeled them all :)

SOLARLIFE

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 01:18 on August 4th, 2008

John, as I understood you are directly concerned by tropical storm Edouard, heading for Texas. The hours to wait for the landfall; prepare your home, disconnect the computer? stay or go ? difficult times; we are thinking of you, write again tomorrow; good luck

PEP

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 02:05 on August 4th, 2008

John Astad, I like this story. It's good stuff. Stay safe. I've ridden out many hurricanes; they're very very nerve-wracking (to say the least). Don't forget to have lots of clean water on hand!

Uwe Paschen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 02:34 on August 4th, 2008

John Astad, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Vinny

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 04:20 on August 4th, 2008

John Astad, I like this story. It's good stuff.

René

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:37 on August 4th, 2008

I started this story the day before but with a New Orleans focus. We're a little stressed out too.
Tropical Storm Edouard Heads for Texas

Vinny

at 08:03 on August 4th, 2008

Latest advisory from the Hurricane Center.

...TROPICAL STORM WARNING EXTENDED WESTWARD...

AT 10 AM CDT...1500 UTC...THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS EXTENDED WESTWARD TO PORT OCONNOR TEXAS.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER WESTWARD TO PORT OCONNOR.

A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM WEST OF INTRACOASTAL CITY LOUISIANA TO PORT O'CONNOR TEXAS.

jessica.lam

at 08:11 on August 4th, 2008

As an update: The Houston Ship Channel is now closed in preparation for Edouard.

Rob Peters

at 14:04 on August 4th, 2008

UPDATE: Louisiana has declared a statewide emergency, and the U.S. Census Bureau says more than 5 million people could be affected by the storm.

In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a statewide emergency, and two communities in the western part of the state, Vermilion Parish and Cameron Parish, asked thousands of residents to evacuate low-lying coastal areas that are prone to flooding. The storm was expected to hit Tuesday morning anywhere from western Louisiana to Port O'Connor, Texas.

-- Based on the projected path of Tropical Storm Edouard, the U.S. Census Bureau today calculated that more than 5.4 million people could feel the storm's effects as it makes landfall along the Gulf Coast.

John Astad

at 05:32 on August 5th, 2008

Luckily Tropical Storm Edouard did not develop into Hurricane force winds as the storm made landfall this morning east of Galveston Island, Texas. Wind gusts of 70 mph were reported in Port Arthur, Texas near the Louisiana border. To the west, emergency service agencies in Houston are still prepared for the potential of heavy flooding. A recent weather report notes:

818 AM CDT TUE AUG 5 2008 ...TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT... ...HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT

RADAR INDICATING STRONG WINDS OF 30 TO 45 KNOTS SURROUNDING THE STORMWITH HIGHER GUSTS OF 60 TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE