Some Who Stayed For Hurricane Ike, Did Not Survive; Hundreds Still Missing In Texas May Never Be Found October 5, 2008

Bolivar Peninsula From Satellite Directly After Ike

The above photo is from a satellite just after the passage of Hurricane Ike. This one is on section of Bolivar Peninsula just east of Galveston Bay. There is a site (CLICK HERE) that allows you to click on a map to very specific areas that were affected by Ike. They are visible images like the one above taken just after the storm passed and they go from Louisiana to and past Houston. I have more on the stories of victims of Hurricane Ike and also an image of the damage to the coastline nearly two weeks following Ike further down this post. Check out the sat images and read the stories. They will leave you shaking your head.

The weather in Louisville remains on track. Great weather will persist for the St. James Art Show. It was always known as the “art fair” but the website now calls it the “art show.” If you know why they changed it, someone let me know. Anyway, cool nights and warm afternoons until the middle of the week when we get a shot at some much needed rain Wednesday and Thursday. Temperatures behind the front will not be all that cool so if you liked the fall weather, be patient, I’m sure it will come again….just not in the next week.

LA/TX Coastal Damage 12 Days After Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike Follow-UP: Nearly two weeks following the landfall of Hurricane Ike, satellite images (above) reveal the coastal destruction from the wide storm surge of Ike. Normally, the region along the coast would be green. In this case, the areas of brown reveal mud, sand and dying vegetation along almost the entire Louisiana Coast and Texas Coast from Galveston to New Orleans. Part of the SE Louisiana Coast also got slammed by Hurricane Gustav so that area got a head start. While the storm made landfall at the mouth of Galveston Bay, some of the highest storm surge readings came from around the mouth of the Sabine River marking the Louisiana/Texas border. Parts of SW Louisiana experienced a higher and more devastating storm surge than they had with Hurricane Rita in 2005. For some reason, some people in Galveston used Hurricane Rita as a measuring stick to determine whether or not to leave their homes. Rita was a stronger storm but made landfall way east of Galveston, leaving that part of the Texas coast with an offshore flow and no real surge. Hurricane Ike was much farther west and areas spared by Rita were hammered by Ike and many people made the wrong decision.

If you recall, thousands of people did not evacuate from Galveston with the approach of Hurricane Ike. I have told you that in my opinion, had the storm been say 20 miles farther west and a little stronger, then the death toll would have been staggering. There have been many stories of survivors who barely escaped with their lives. Several did not. At this time, the Laura Recovery Center says that about 300 remain missing 3 weeks after the storm. No one has heard a thing. Perhaps some will suffer the fate of being swept out to sea never to be seen again. Others may be found in marshes miles from where they had been. Others may be safe but in hiding or still others just not thoughtful enough to tell their loved ones that they are okay. But, here is a story that will break your heart. Several tales of those who refused to leave for one stubborn reason or another and who paid with their lives. I’m telling you…the thousands that stayed…if they do so again…they may suffer the same fate. Galveston is nothing but a sandbar and it doesn’t take much for the Gulf of Mexico to swallow the whole island. I love hurricanes and I love Galveston. Because I know them both so well, I would have left. I suspect that those who did stay and survived, now know that next time they too will leave. Read some of the sad tales below.

Associated Press(with video and slideshow)-Tales of those who perished

Houston Chronicle-In Memoriam:Remembering the Victims of Ike

KHOU Houston(with video)-Search for Victims intensifies

WNBC-Hurricane Ike US Death toll up to 67

Tropical Storm Kyle; Hurricane Ike Damage Photos Before and After From Cameron, LA to Freeport Texas September 25, 2008

Holly Beach Before and After Ike

for a whole mess of hurricane ike damage photos, videos and stories, CLICK HERE and scroll down through the blog

The USGS has issued a number of remarkable photos from west of Galveston near Freeport Texas to Cameron Louisiana. They are generally photos from a few days before Hurricane Ike to a day or so after Hurricane Ike. However, the Louisiana photos also give some perspective from prior to Hurricane Rita and after Rita then followed by the Ike sequence. It’s very interesting how Rita took away and then over a few years how the area recovered regarding the land and beach area. Then look at how Hurricane Ike almost totally wiped out what was left. Keep in mind that where the Louisiana photos were taken were about 100 miles east of Galveston. Pretty remarkable. Here are the before/after sequences from the USGS

Surfside to San Luis Pass, Tx-USGS

Galveston, Tx -USGS

Bolivar Peninsula, Tx-USGS

High Island to Sabine Pass, TX-USGS

Cameron Parish, LA-USGS

Tropical Storm Kyle Forecast Track 5pm 0925

Tropical Storm Kyle: Tropical storm Kyle formed…well…the system that has been

Tropical Storm Kyle Spaghetti Model 0925 18Z

lolligagging over the Dominican that looked pretty good so many times and then faded finally got away from the islands and they just skipped the tropical depression stage and went straight to the Tropical Storm stage. That didn’t surprise me because it had a pretty good wind field but the problem was it didn’t have a sufficient closed circulation. So, when it got away from land it closed up a bit. The forecast calls for it to get up to minimal hurricane and move up toward Nova Scotia. It should move pretty quickly and is close enough to New England to keep an eye peeled. It won’t be this intense but the track will be fairly close to the same track as the Great New England Hurricane of 1938.

Tropical Storm Kyle Visible Satellite 0925 2015Z

TROPICAL STORM KYLE DISCUSSION NUMBER 1

NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL112008

500 PM EDT THU SEP 25 2008

THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM THAT HAS PLAGUED PUERTO RICO AND HISPANIOLA WITH HEAVY RAINS OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS HAS FINALLY ACQUIRED SUFFICIENT ORGANIZATION TO BE DESIGNATED AS A TROPICAL CYCLONE. VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW A BETTER-DEFINED LOW CLOUD CIRCULATION THAN

Tropical Storm Kyle Spaghetti Model Intensity Graph 0925 18Z

EARLIER TODAY. ALTHOUGH THE AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTER FLIGHT-LEVEL WINDS SHOW THAT THE CIRCULATION CENTER IS STILL A BIT ELONGATED…THE AIRCRAFT ALSO REPORTED 1000 FT WINDS AS HIGH AS 51 KT IN THE NORTHEAST QUADRANT OF THE SYSTEM. THEREFORE THE CYCLONE IS BEING CLASSIFIED AT TROPICAL STORM STRENGTH FOR THIS FIRST ADVISORY. SOUTHWESTERLY VERTICAL SHEAR IS EXPECTED TO LIMIT THE STRENGTHENING OF KYLE BUT THE GFDL AND HWRF MODELS INDICATE THAT THE SYSTEM COULD BECOME A HURRICANE WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS…MORE OR LESS AS SHOWN IN THE OFFICIAL INTENSITY FORECAST. INITIAL MOTION IS SLIGHTLY EAST OF DUE NORTH OR 010/7. HOWEVER THE EASTWARD COMPONENT OF MOTION IS PROBABLY DUE TO SOME REFORMATION OF THE CENTER TOWARD THE DEEP CONVECTION. A MAINLY NORTHWARD TRACK DURING THE NEXT 72 HOURS…BETWEEN A DEEP LAYER LOW OVER THE EASTERN U.S. AND A DEVELOPING HIGH TO THE EAST OF BERMUDA. THROUGH THE REMAINING PORTION OF THE FORECAST PERIOD…A GRADUAL TURN TOWARD THE NORTHEAST IS REFLECTED IN RESPONSE TO A MID-LATITUDE TROUGH MOVING OVER EASTERN CANADA. THE OFFICIAL TRACK FORECAST IS ROUGHLY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OBJECTIVE TRACK ENSEMBLE AND A LITTLE TO THE WEST OF THE DYNAMICAL MODEL CONSENSUS. INTERESTS IN BERMUDA SHOULD MONITOR KYLE IN CASE THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT DEVIATION TO THE RIGHT OF THE EXPECTED TRACK.

FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS

INITIAL 25/2100Z 23.5N 68.3W 40 KT

12HR VT 26/0600Z 25.2N 68.3W 45 KT

24HR VT 26/1800Z 27.7N 68.7W 55 KT

36HR VT 27/0600Z 31.0N 69.0W 60 KT

48HR VT 27/1800Z 34.5N 69.0W 65 KT

72HR VT 28/1800Z 43.0N 67.0W 65 KT

96HR VT 29/1800Z 50.0N 60.0W 55 KT…EXTRATROPICAL

120HR VT 30/1800Z 53.0N 53.0W 55 KT…EXTRATROPICAL

$$ FORECASTER PASCH/ROBERTS

Fall Is Here? Is Kyle Lurking? Let’s Rodeo! New Hurricane Ike Damage Photos September 23, 2008

Fall began at 11:44:18 AM EDT on Monday. When I brought this bit of information to Young Mr. Lincoln, aka Matt Milosevich, he pondered aloud whether or not there was some guy at the equator measuring the sun’s angle to determine exactly at which second the Autumnal Equinox was upon us. That question is beyond my paygrade but let’s just accept that Fall has begun. But, one thing I do know is that it is utter nonsense that it’s easier to stand an egg on its end on the spring or autumn equinox. Typically, its foolish TV weather guys who try to push this off as fact when it is just a myth. Here’s a guy from a “bad astronomy” website that explains fully and even shows photos with dates to prove it. So, if you hear your local(or national) weatherman try to push this on you, I would question his credibility because if he’s so foolish as to fall for this one, then who knows what else is roaming around his head. Nevertheless, You’d never know it was

You can do this any time of year

Fall in Louisville where the mercury will be pushing toward 90 for the next couple of days. However, it’s not a summer-like 90 because the air is so doggone dry. With dewpoints in the 50′s, our lows will be in the upper 50′s to near 60. Snow White and I had a lovely row up the Ohio River on Monday evening, though I had to keep a sharp eye on a wayward jet ski guy who I thought may swamp my bride. Punk. I also have to water Kelsaroo the Hydrangia who is drooping again. I’ll be watering every night because rain chances are slim this week. There is an area of low pressure that is advertised to wander into the SE states but at this point, it only looks like it will bring some clouds late in the week and no rain. Oh…check this video out…this guy is the oldest American and he celebrated his 112th birthday. He looks like he could give me a challenge in a row on the river.

Hurricane Ike Photos: I found some more Hurricane Ike damage photos courtesy of KRIV in Houston. It’s a new batch and are rather interesting as they show some different looks than we’ve seen before. Here is the link to the KRIV Hurricane Ike Damage Photos. For a look at a whole bunch of other Hurricane Ike Damage photos and video from Texas and Louisville , CLICK HERE and scroll down through numerous posts.

Invest 93 Spaghetti Model 0922 18Z

Invest 93: If you take the Invest 93 18Z Spaghetti Model Intensity Graph as

Invest 93 Spaghetti Model Intensity Graph 0922 18Z

Gospel, then we will have Kyle in relatively short order. 11 of the models make it a hurricane and the rest make it a Tropical Storm. If it does develop, then it will be Kyle. My guess is that it will at least be a depression and most of the models that we use in our forecasting does develop it quite nicely. The general direction of the mean track from the spaghetti model is toward New England. To find out about the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 which struck in late September of that year, CLICK HERE. My encouraging you to check it out is not a forecast of a repeat performance, but just a reminder that big storms can and have hit New England late in the season and it had nothing to do with Global Warming. Remember, a hurricane’s role in nature is to transport heat and moisture from the tropical regions to the polar regions. It’s not the hurricane’s fault people built houses in its path. In fact, here is an article that talks about another new study about tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and Global Warming. It says the opposite of what many have been saying in the media and rightly concludes that this study will not be the final word. While the increase in tropical cyclone activity was forecast years ago to increase for about 30 years from 1995 to 2025 due to natural cycles has come about, keep in mind that other parts of the world have seen a decrease in activity. Also, the first hurricane tracked by satellite was Hurricane Camille in 1969 so the study of tropical cyclones in the modern sense has not really been going on for all that long. There is much to be learned.

All Because of the Lowly Potato

On This Date in History: Colonel E. A. Slack was the publisher of Wyoming’s Daily Sun-Leader, the predecessor to today’s Wyoming Tribune-Eagle . Slack was not feeling too chipper as he made his way back to Cheyenne from Greeley, Colorado where that town held its Potato Day Festival. He wondered why in the wide wide world of sports that Cheyenne couldn’t do something to celebrate its heritage. Around the same time, railroad agent F.W. Angier was watching cowboys go through their work and thought it would make a great show.

Dan Quayles Nemesis Was Cheyenne's Hero

The two somehow put their heads together and combined their thoughts. Slack used his influence to get the fine folks of Cheyenne to pony up $562 to support the worlds first professional rodeo on this date in 1897. People came from as far away as Denver to see cowboys compete in events that simply mimicked the very thing they did every day for a living. Of the 11 events held that day, 5 are still part of a typical modern day rodeo. But the awarding of prizes has evolved a little differently. See, originally the guy who was the best bronc rider won $25. The horse that judges determined was the meanest and bucked the best was also given a prize. The owner of the baddest bronc received $100…Four times as much as the guy who took the beating the best!

Today, the Cheyenne Frontier Days festival is a huge event and continues….but I think the meanest horse just gets a big bag of oats and a reprieve from the Glue Factory. And it’s all because a newspaperman was jealous of Mr. Potato Head.

Hurricane Ike Damage Aftermath; Tropics Have A Little Action; Bernie Takes Red Stick and Galveston Gets Its Name September 21, 2008

A Lonely Longhorn On Crystal Beach

for more photos and video of hurricane ike damage and aftermath, CLICK HERE

A little upper level low developed just to the southwest of Louisville on Friday and more or less stayed put on Saturday.  It produced some morning showers and then, as expected, it kicked off some isolated showers in the afternoon. The folks at Valhalla got nervous at one point and issued a weather warning for a storm…well…. a heavy shower with no lightning…over Okolona that never moved nor expanded.  It just went away as fast as it developed and the Americans were not thwarted by the weather in the attempt to retain control of the Ryder Cup, unlike the Houston Astros who had their hot streak snuffed by Hurricane Ike and thus will be staying in Houston this fall.  Let’s hope that the upper low behaves itself again on Sunday as it wanders slowly northeast and weakens considerably as it does so.  However, the general story will be the same as it was on Saturday with a mix of clouds and sun.  Many of those from out of town will consider it quite humid but it really won’t be that bad, just more humid than it has been.  The increase in humidity with a little afternoon heating in combination with the dying upper low will allow for some scattered afternoon activity.  In general, if they  get rain on Valahalla or wherever you are on Sunday, you will be unlucky.  We need the rain, so in that sense you would be lucky as rain is not in the forecast for the next several days as we stay in a pattern with overnight lows in the mid 60′s and afternoon highs in the mid 80′s for the balance of the week into next weekend.

Hurricane Ike from the ISS 9/10/08

Tropical Weather: 

Here is a link to more Hurricane Ike Damage aftermath photos. Its a long slide show from the Associated Press with lots of photos, some of which are from Haiti but a bunch from Houston and Galveston, Bolivar Peninsula, Gilchrist and Crystal Beach, the latter 3 basically being non-existant after Hurricane Ike.  Now, its probably too early but there is a new disturbance that may have some merit in watching. 

Invest 93 spaghetti model 0921 00Z

It’s Invest 93 and the spaghetti models suggest a move northwest toward perhaps

Invest 93 spaghetti model intensity graph 0921 00Z

the Southeast US Coast. I saw a couple of models create a tropical cyclone and move it either inland or up the coast in the week ahead. But its pretty early and I hesitate to post the spaghetti models, particularly the intensity version because the models are sorta grasping at straws as they are too dumb to be able to initiate it properly.  So, you have a range from a near Cat 2 hurricane to a tropical depression.  We’ll have to wait and see. Remember, Hurricane Season goes until the end of November in the North Atlantic.  I’m sure the people of Galveston are glad to hear that.

Galvez Statue in New Orleans

On This Date in History:  Galveston has been in the news lately and on this date in 1779, its namesake was in the news.  Bernardo de Galvez was a Spanish military officer and Louisiana Governor who sent explorer Jose de Evia to chart the land from Texas Coast to New Orleans.  Evia wandered into a bay near the mouth of a river and named it for his boss.  Also established was Galvez Town.  I suppose the other two were Galvez Bay and Galvez Island but later it all became known as Galveston.  Funny thing is that, not only is there nothing that I know of in Texas named for Evia, but also Evia made his declarartion of name on July 23, 1786 which was the same year that Bernie Galvez died so he never stepped foot on the island or the town or sailed the bay that bore his name.  I don’t think that Evian Water has anything to do with Jose either. 

Anyway, several years before,  Bernie was helping out the Yanks.  See, the Spaniards didn’t forge an alliance with the upstart colonists in North America because they didn’t want to give Spanish citizens any ideas.  I mean, the notion of revolting against a sitting monarch may sound good to the peasants but is not to pleasing to the King.  So, instead they forged an alliance with the French, who had forged an alliance with the colonies.  Seems the Spanish were pretty smart because not long after the American Revolution the French got rid of their own king. 

Anyway, the Spanish were like the French in that they didn’t have any great love for the American colonists but did have a bone to pick with the British. It’s an old saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend and in this case, the Spanish really wanted to solidify their holdings in North America and also they wanted Gibralter back from the British.  So, in a move to support the French who were supporting the Americans, Galvez attacked and captured the city of Baton Rouge on this date in 1779 from the British and had the redcoats so up a tree that they also forced them to give up Natchez in what is now Mississippi.  That move effectively gave the Spanish and French control of the lower Mississippi River and allowed them to send supplies all the way to the Ohio Valley, no doubt helping out George Rogers Clark who was manning the fort at Louisville. Galvez went on to kick the Brits out of Pensacola and later the Spanish took East Florida, which it  later exchanged for the Bahamas. The Spanish never did wrest Gibraltar from British control, Spain but did win all the land surrounding the Gulf of Mexico.

Galvez was quite a guy but given that he never saw the stuff in Texas named after him and the guy who did all the work and took the risk is not remembered for anything, I wonder just how much of the conquering he really did or if he just stayed in the rear with the gear while his men did all the work.  But none of it really mattered in the end if you think about it because for all their planning and cunning, the Spanish eventually got tossed out of North America, as well as the French, and those poor little colonists whom they only cared about because they were fighting England ended up getting the whole pie….the American Pie.

Hurricane Ike Before and After Photos; Ryder Cup Begins In Louisville(while I still have no electricity) September 19, 2008

Hurricane Ike Radar Image At Landfall

I’m not certain how much longer I am going to be updating Hurricane Ike Damage and such.  I’ll probably start limiting this to more interesting or new developments.  But, the map above should give those of you who are not familiar with the area and idea of where the hurricane struck and where the big surge was.  You’ve seen me post photos(Link..scroll down for all the pics and videos) from Crystal Beach, Gilchrist and High Island on Bolivar Peninsula and I’ve related how the eye of the storm went over the east end of Galveston Island and up Galveston Bay with the eye staying just east of Downtown Houston. The presented the area just to the east of the eye passage the maximum storm surge and winds.  Here are USGS Before and After photos from Bolivar Peninsula.  The contrast is stark and is a good illustration of the power of water.  Note the absence of even pilings from the houses.  From the damage photos, I have speculated that it is quite possible that not only did they get a 10-15 foot storm surge, but also a lot of wave action on top.  There are stretches where nothing is there. (Graphical Map of Crystal Beach Detailing Devastation) This area will be under inspection for quite some time, not just from structural and civil engineers trying to figure out how best to rebuild the area, but also by meteorologists.  The National Hurricane Center did a fly over of the region and all the way over to Lake Charles, LA to get a birds-eye view.  The SW Louisiana coast, about 100 miles east of landfall, in many cases reported higher surges than that experienced by the much stronger Hurricane Rita in 2005.  Here is the story about the NHC fly-over.

In the aftermath of the storm, there are scenes and stories that are pretty familiar.  Folks complaining about FEMA and other government agencies.  People are being blocked from returning to Galveston and there are still people on Bolivar Peninsula who refuse to leave. No water, no electricity, no food, no services and in many cases, no other buildings around.  Yet…they stay.  Not sure what they’re trying to prove.  Here is a link to a pile of videos of the latest stories coming out of Houston/Galveston.

Numerous videos from Houston/Galveston Aftermath of Hurricane Ike

In Louisville, we’re making progress.  By 5pm on Thursday, 180,000 customers had been restored their power while 121,000 remain in the dark.  Snow White and I remain in the stone age.  We spent the day sculling up the Ohio River.  The weather is just perfect.  Winds were nearly calm when we started and then picked up a bit from the Northeast.  But the wave action wasn’t too bad and there weren’t too many boats on the river….though the barge that came by was a challenge…one we both met as not only I beat the barge back to the refuge of the creek, but Snow White also muscled her way back to the friendly confines.  Actually, its the smaller run-about boats that cause the bigger wakes that present the problems.  The barges are usually of perhaps greater amplitude but much longer wave lengths.  Here is the story about 300 National Guard Troops who have now come to aid Louisville.  Here is access to links to some of the latest photos and stories cocerning the efforts and damage in the Louisville area.  Here is a story of how the storm affected agricultural interests.

The forecast for the weekend and the Ryder Cup looks great.  The mornings will be in the low 60′s and the highs in the mid 80′s.  Fair to partly cloudy skies will reign. 

The Ryder Cup: We’ve been talking about the Ryder Cup for some time now as it visits our fair (and partly dark) city.  I keep on waiting for the official sponsor to be Ryder Truck Rental. I mean, if the horse Big Brown could be sponsored by UPS, why not?  Corporate sponsors are everywhere messing up traditions.  But this tournamment is not so much about money as it is prestige.  It means about $115 million to the Louisville economy, which explains why the power needs of the tournament were quickly made whole…while I’m still in the dark.  But there is no prize money for the players who are used to playing for big paychecks.  It’s kinda nice to see professonal athletes playing for pride of country.

The history of the tournament is a bit muddled.  It is played every other year.  Originally it was a match between teams of the United States and Great Britain.  But, in the early 1970′s the tourney lost some of its luster because there were so many more top players from the US than the UK.  So, Jack Nicklaus came up with the idea that instead of having players born in the US and the UK, instead make it between players born in the US and Europe.  That made it much more competitive and in recent years, the Europeans have been dominating. 

There is one story that the original idea to pit the best American professionals against the best British professionals came from Inverness Club President Sylvanus P. Jermain in 1921.  Another says that it was first proposed by Golf Illustrated’s James Hartnett in 1920.  Either way, the first informal match took place in 1921 in Gleneagles, Scotland.  Another took place in 1926 before the British Open. In both instances, the Americans were trounced.    One of the spectators was English seed merchant Samuel Ryder.  He had tea after the 1926 match with some of the team members from both sides and it was decided to make the tournament a regular event and Ryder was assigned the duty of coming up with a trophy.  He donated a solid gold cup worth 250 pounds designed by the Mappin and Webb Company.  Ryder insisted that a golfing figure be put atop the cup with his friend and then world class British Golfer Abe Mitchell.  So that’s a good trivia question.  Jerry West was the model for the NBA logo, who was the model for the golfer atop the Ryder Cup? 

As for the name?  I suppose if you donate the cup, you get to name it for yourself.

People Won’t Leave After Hurricane Ike; Women Told To Take a Hike September 18, 2008

Ike Raising the Dead?

The aftermath of hurricane Ike is unfolding like a typical big storm in a large metropolitan area. President Bush came to inspect the region and the mayor of Houston is mad at FEMA saying that it is not moving fast enough. Residents are having problems returning home. The east side of Galveston Bay, which is Bolivar Peninsula that has Crystal Beach and Gilchrist, has been largely wiped from the map. In fact, it is said that the water cut through the peninsula and it is now an island. Many people chose to ride out the storm and now they won’t leave. Prior to the storm, the government said that under Texas law, a mandatory evacuation order does not give the government the right to force someone from their property. Texans are big on property rights. Now, they have people who still refuse to leave and officials are concerned about disease and the difficulties associated with providing any service to those people. Now, they are scouring the law books trying to find a way to forceably remove those individuals who won’t leave. I can tell you now, that ain’t gonna work.  National Geographic reports Ike will cost $22 Billion.

At the bottom of the post, you will find links to more photos. Thebostonchannel.com has an interesting set of photos, the first showing a family visiting their dead mother and father…who have resurfaced courtesy of Ike.

Meanwhile, in Louisville by Wednesday afternoon about 180,000 customers remain without power.  Jefferson County (Louisville) Schools will be closed for the rest of the week.  The Governor came through by getting the EPA to relax the reformulated gas restrictions for a couple of weeks.  I wonder if prices will come down a few cents.  The clean up continues but everything is fine and dandy for the Ryder Cup where folks from all over the world are lining up for the big golf tournament. The weather will be outstanding with loads of sunshine with cool nights and warm afternoons. While a few visitors may not have power at the home they rented or maybe a hotel or two, the course is in great shape. Also, they managed to find power for Papa John’s Stadium for the UL/ Kansas State Football game….and the ESPN crews I’m sure are in fine shape.  Meanwhile, Snow White and I are heading toward our 4th night without power.  I think the items in the refrigerator are quite ripe by now.  I had leftovers from last nights restaurant meal…nothing like taking a doggy bag for the next day’s lunch.  Meanwhile, the fat cats, Nit and Wit, enjoyed Filet of Salmon.  The cats’ food is starting to look pretty good.  Here is some RAW VIDEO FROM SUNDAY as the wind was beginning to relax in Louisville.
On This Date in History:  When President Woodrow Wilson decided it was time that America get involved in the Great War, the military draft was brought back.  Millions of men either volunteered or were drafted into the ranks, leaving a gap in many civilian services.  In the early 20th Century, women who did work were usually employed as school teachers or seamstresses and perhaps in textile sweat shops.  Men made up the vast majority of the labor force.  So, that meant that public services such as mass transit were in jeopardy when all the men ran off to fight the Hun.  In 1917, the New York and Queens Railroad began hiring women to run its trolley.  By 1918, twenty-five “conductorettes” could be found on the lines in Queens.  A newspaper said that the ladies were doing such a splendid job that a few had been appointed as inspectors.  The railroad was so happy with their work that it supplied them with $17 winter overcoats and doubled their pay to $25 a week.  They then made a commitment to keep them on the payroll after the war was over.  Management said, “The women conductors have come to stay  on our lines just as long as they want to continue in their present jobs.  We now have about 50 and are taking more on as fast as they apply for positions.”  It’s good to get promises in writing. 

In May 1919, New York Governor Al Smith decided to be Mr. Helper and perhaps he was in cahoots with railroad management who wanted to back out of their commitment but needed some cover.  So Big Al signed a bill to “better the conditions of women.”  It was the kind of help the ladies could have done without.  The bill mandated that women could only work 54 hours a week.  Men of course, were able to work longer hours.  So, on this date in 1919, management of the New York and Queens Railroad prepared the pink slips for all of their female employees who were to work their last day on September 20, 1919.  But, they did get to keep the overcoats.

Guardian UK Hurricane Ike Aftermath Photos

WCVB  The Boston Channel

Spreadit photos

Hurricane Ike Damage Fantastic Photos; Louisville Area Damage; No More Fun Around the Maypole! September 17, 2008

Not So Fun If the Wave Washes The Kid Into The Gulf

Check Out the Background Waves

snoop through this post for some great sources for photos and video; scroll to previous posts for other links

While the above photo is pretty cool, it also shows the stupidity of people.  The waves were breaking over the seawall and it made for a fun time in Galveston before Ike arrived.  But, it is no fun getting washed off the seawall and into an angry ocean. That’s precisely what happened in Corpus Christi.  I have not heard if the young man’s body was ever recovered.  If you look at the LA Times slideshow, you will see one photo of a woman smiling after she terrorized her young child by taking her to the edge of the rough surf.  Nuts.  Check out the photo at the left where some folks were getting rescued before the storm hit….look at the size of the waves crashing on the beach behind them.  That is pretty wild for Galveston which is normally a pretty tranquil beach.  Not exactly a surfer’s paradise.

Here is an abolutely fabulous slide show from the Boston Globe (28 photos) some of the photos you have seen before but the clarity of these is just fantastic.  i have reproduced one of the just to the right.  It’s in a thumbnail but you have to open it.  It shows Gilchrist, Texas which is on Bolivar Peninsula a few miles to the east of the Galveston Bay entrance.  You can see that the houses have

Gilchrist, Texas-Wiped Clean

 been wiped clean.  It is obvious from these pictures and the gouges in the land from the water rushing back to sea that these guys got kicked in the teeth by the big storm surge, perhaps not just a rise of water but a rush.  This is why I have said that I suspect that had Ike been about 20 miles farther west and just a little stronger, then it is very likely that Galveston would be facing a huge calamity.  As it was, I am have seen published reports that parts of downtown Galveston (along the Strand) had 6 feet of water and I have been told that is some places it was 12 feet.  That is water coming from the bay side, not the front side of the island with the sea wall. You need to install the HD program but this is a link to some GREAT HD images from Galveston, et al.

Anchorage Area of Louisville

I’m thinking that there must be power issues all up Ike’s path.  From Houston to

Louisville Boat Club

 Dayton, there are about 9 cities that are not being counted in the Nielson ratings because of a lack of data…the power is out so the meters have nothing to read.  The Ohio Valley got it a little more than other areas because, as the storm came through near midday, the winds aloft were howling.  The sun had broken out and we got heating up to the upper 80′s. That allowed the winds aloft to mix down to the surface.  As of Tuesday, a little less than 200,000 customers are without power, most of it residential.  Snow White and I walked about the neighborhood on Monday night and found that people didn’t sit around and wait for someone

Taylorsville Rd-Louisville

else to clean up their area.  They got themselves out and cleared blocked streets and cut

Scottsburg Indiana

 up downed trees on their own.  Pretty remarkable  but good to see self-reliance. I’ve posted some photos of Louisville-area damage via the NWS (more photos) that includes some sunken boats on the river.  On the other hand, we still have reports of stupid fights over boxes of cereal at the store or fighting in gas lines…then there is the fight over a taco at Taco Bell.  The mayor still insists that there is no looting.  Aside from finding a way to eat, the power outage isn’t that much of a big deal.  No TV or no computer. The phone company has my phone working again and our weather is great with lows in the 50′s and highs in the 70′s.  We’ll move to the low to mid 80′s for the weekend and the Ryder Cup but humidity is low and will stay that way.  Snow White made me a peanut butter sandwhich with that stuff that is a mixture of peanut butter and jelly.  I’ve never had it before. I bet I won’t like it but one can’t complain.  Meanwhile, the cats are dining on their Salmon and Tuna.  Nit and Wit are eating better than I am.  Here is a report with aerial video including Valhalla with some of the damage.

On This Date In History: Thomas Morton was an English lawyer who arrived in the Massachusetts Colony in 1625 as part of a number of people who settled about 25 miles from Plymouth near present day Quincy.    The rather stern “Puritan Saints” had landed at Plymouth a few years earlier and thought of New England as a “hideous and desolate wildnerness full of wild beasts and wild men!”  I’m sure that’s what some present day visitors from rural America might think about San Francisco.  But really, I’m not sure what the Puritans expected to find…Ye Olde Malt Shoppe on every corner?  Anyway, Morton wasn’t so dour as he thought the land was “paradise” and that he found the Indians to be “more full of humanity” than the Christians who had gotten there before him…in other words…the Puritan Saints. 

Raising the Maypole

The leader of the group near Quincy left for the milder climate of Virginia and Morton and a dozen cohorts took advantage by throwing out the second in command, releasing the indentured servants and going about exploiting the fruits of their paradise.  They renamed the place Merry Mount and in 1627 reintroduced “revels of merriment after the olde English cutom.”  They put up a maypole and invited the neighboring Indians to join in a days-long  fertility rite with lots of beer flowing, dancing and amenities of erotic nature.    Perhaps not suprisingly, Merry Mount became quite popular with fur traders.  Guess whose business suffered?  The grumpy old puritans, who thought that such mingling with the natives and their “wickedness” would undermine their own resolve which was so rigid that “unseemly laughter” was prohibited, not to mention any sort of revelry.  I guess their resolve wasn’t so resolute as they were afraid others having fun would spoil their grumpiness.  So, in an attempt to revive their own flailing fur trade and make certain that everyone was grumpy, the Puritans sent a group of armed me to Merry Mount and make it not so merry.  They captured Morton and left him on an island.  They put him on a boat back to England to face charges of selling guns and spirits to the Indians but the Mother Country wouldn’t prosecute.  So, in 1629 Morton went back to Merry Mount .

Chopping Down the Maypole

Puritan leaders John Winthrop and John Endicott hailed his return by cutting down his Maypole and on this date in 1630 put Morton in the stocks and seized his property.  Then they exiled him to England and burned down his house.  Again, the English courts refused to prosecute but Morton was thwarted at his attempt to get the charter for the Massachusetts Bay Colony revoked.  For some stupid reason, Morton returned to where he was obviously not welcome and was thrown in irons without fire or blankets.  Finally, when they determined that he was “old and crazy” Winthrop had Morton released.  What a great guy.  Morton died in 1646.  The moral to this story is if you want to pursue a life of merriment in the face of great grumpiness, make certain that you and your merry makers are better armed than the grumps.

More Hurricane Ike Damage Photos/Video; Crystal Beach Before and After; Lootin’ Means Shootin’ & Smokin’ With Willie September 16, 2008

Don't Mess With Texas

Ryder Cup Clean-Up At Valhalla

for additional Hurricane Ike Damage photos and video from Texas and the Louisville area, CLICK HERE. 

In Louisville, Hurricane Ike left over 300,000 Louisville Gas and Electric customers without power.  By Monday evening, that number was down to 215,000.  A problem that is hampering efforts, aside from the number of lines down, is that some of the LG&E folks had gone to Texas to help out with restoring power in that state.  Now, the state of Kentucky is experiencing its largest power outage ever.  Several counties in Indiana are not only without power, but also under a state of emergency.  Just like the LG&E folks help out in other areas of the country, others will come to the Commonwealth to pitch in.  Well, other states in the region have their own problems and many of their folks are also down in Texas.  So, they just had a press conference and announced that it may be 10-14 days before power is fully restored. Great…guess who has

I-45 South 7 Miles from Galveston

no power?  I’m glad our weather will be dry with cool nights and warm afternoons.  Don’t worry, the Ryder Cup will come off  without a hitch. The clean up is in full force and there was only minor damage at Valhalla. You folks should see the people crowding into the gas stations and grocery stores that are open.  And the fast food joints that are open are running out of food.  One thing we don’t have is looting.  The mayor got a bit testy when a reporter even uttered the word.  From the picture above, you can see that they probably don’t have much of a looting problem either…..if they do, it won’t last for long.  Looters will find out the reason why people have guns in Texas.

Not Such a Crystal Beach after Ike

Speaking of Tejas.  Crystal Beach is just to the east of Galveston Bay.  Galveston Island is on the west side of the entrance to the bay while Bolivar Peninsula with Crystal Beach is on the east side of the entrance.  Bolivar Peninsula was immediately to the right of the eye of Ike as it made landfall which means that it caught the full force of the winds and surge.  At the bottom are more photos from Texas.  One is a slide show from a Boston TV station.  The others are video of Crystal Beach.  One is directly after the storm but the others are from Crystal Beach before Ike so you can get an idea of what it looked like.  The after images shows ravines gouged out by the water is it retreated to the sea.  Crystal Beach is almost wiped clean in some places.

You can see other photos and videos from Hurricane Ike Damage by clicking HERE and HERE.

President Carter

On This Date In History: Remember during the 1976 Presidential election how Jimmy Carter used his stellar integrity as a campaign club? Remember the famous “lust in my heart” comment and the focus on his Southern Baptist upbringing? President Carter was extremely bright. He served honorably in the United States Navy as a Captain directly under the command of Admiral Hyman Rickover aka the “father of the nuclear navy”. President Carter was known as a peanut farmer in campaign literature but the truth is he was a nuclear engineer of great ability. He and President Herbert Hoover are the only academically trained engineers to serve as President…you can draw your own conclusions. Anyway, all of this makes what happened in the middle of September 1980 all that more remarkable.

On this date in 1980, the old Red Headed Stranger was probably feeling pretty good about himself.  Just three days before, on September 13, 1980 President Carter hosted a concert by none other than Willie Nelson at the White House. Willie Nelson of “Whiskey River” and “Outlaw” fame. Willie Nelson on his 3rd marriage at the time. Later Nelson went on to run up an interesting rap sheet of marijuana arrests and was convicted of failure to pay his income taxes. Not one to be kept down, Willie made a new record called The IRS Tapes: Will You Buy My Dreams? A lot of people did because Willie paid back the hundreds of thousands, if not millions(I can’t remember how much it was) in back taxes.

 

Willie Nelson

But, I suppose to forgive is Divine, especially if you are forgiving a country music star with some good tunes. Seems President Carter liked to listen to Nelson’s music while pondering policy and other items associated with the pressures of being President. Carter told Rolling Stone magazine, “All the good things I did as president, all the mistakes I made — you can blame half of that on Willie.” Nelson, who was a public supporter of NORMAL (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws) exercised his protest right, I suppose, by lighting up what he called “a big fat Austin torpedo” while on the White House roof. That would be a giant joint for all of you lacking in the hip verbiage of the day. Carter said he never knew about it but Nelson claims the Secret Service kept a sharp eye on him while he sparked up on the Carter White House roof. Nelson has traced his lineage to the American Revolution. Perhaps he was doing his version of the Boston Tea Party as he toked away on top of the Presidential residence.

 

 

Hurricane Ike Damage -Boston WCVB Slide Show 63 images

Crystal Beach Video-Before Hurricane Ike

Crystal Beach Family Photo Video-Before Hurricane Ike

Crystal Beach Video-After Hurricane Ike Destruction

We’ve Had Enough of Hurricane Ike; Are Two Uncle Sams too Many? September 15, 2008

You Think You Had Trouble Getting To Work?

for more photos and video of damage from Hurricane Ike along the coast and in the Ohio Valley, CLICK HERE and scroll down through several posts with numerous photo/video sources

Hurricane Ike is but a memory now.  An exiting one for some, a nightmare for others.  804 miles from Galveston, Ike on Sunday midday was situated around Terre Haute.  The pressure in Louisville was at 997 mb and the winds ran from about 40 to 60 mph from about noon until 3pm.  The peak wind (gust) at the Louisville airport was 75 mph at 1:51 pm EDT.  Snow White and I have joined several hundred thousand of our closest neighbors as being those who lost power.  The church next door has it. The people behind me have it.  The apartments down the street have it. The houses across the street have it.  The only ones who do not have it in our neighborhood is my condominium complex.  hmmm….I wonder if the Condo Association did somethng to make the mayor upset.  Speaking of the mayor, he is making certain that the Valhalla Golf Course is up and ready to go for this week’s Ryder Cup.  Maybe I should have been a better golfer.  The official forecast kept calling for Ike to get “absorbed” into a cold front.  But, on Saturday night I observed that the storm had a great integrity going for it in Arkansas and I didn’t think it would just go away in less than 24 hours.  I was concerned about pop-up low topped tornadoes.  We had none of those that I have heard of, but there was plenty of wind for everyone.  Fortunately, Ike was zipping right along and the winds diminished by late afternoon.  Now, the aforementioned front has moved through.  High pressure will build in and the week looks great for cleaning up, the Ryder Cup and for anything else.

As for Ike, there are more photos coming in. Below you will find a news story about Louisville and a slide show. The Austin American Statesman has a 265 photo slide show, found at the bottom of this here post.  My previous post I spoke of my thoughts that Galveston really got lucky that the storm wasn’t a little stronger and about 20 miles farther west.  If you look at the video from KHOU of Bolivar Peninsula and Crystal Beach, on the east side of the entrance to Galveston Bay, you will get an idea of what I am talking about.  That side got the brunt of the winds and biggest storm surge, just to the east of the eye.  It’s over 30 minutes of video but worth it. You will also find photos from CNN.

On This Date In History:  On This date in 1961, Samuel Wilson of Troy, New York was basking in the limelight shown on him the day before by Congress….or he would have been had he been alive.  He was born in 1766 in Massachusetts.  He moved to Troy and was such a kindly man, that people affectionately called him “uncle Sam.”  During the War of 1812, Sam sold 300 barrels of beef and pork to food wholesaler Elbert Anderson who stamped each barrel “EA-US”.  Anderson had a contract with the US Army and the lettering was meant to stand for Elbert Anderson and United States.  When a worker was asked what the letters stood for, he said “Uncle Sam Wilson.”  The name stuck.  150 years later, Congress passed a resolution honoring Sam Wilson of Troy, NY as the progenitor of America’s Uncle Sam.  Congress must not have had much else to do that day, even though it was but a month before the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Some things never change….like in the fact that Congress may have gotten it wrong.

Seems another Samuel Wilson was born in 1778  in Delaware and this Sam Wilson also moved to Troy, New York.  He took a job as a clerk in a store owned by…Ebenezer Anderson.   During the War of 1812, Sam oversaw orders taken from the government.  The boxes were also stamped “EA-US” for Ebenezer Anderson and Sam Wilson.  Again, someone identified the initials as those belonging to Uncle Sam. 

The first Sam was born first but only lived to be 87. The second Sam was born later but lived to be 100.  While the first Sam was the first, then the title should go to him.  But the second Sam was the last Sam, so the title should go to him.  Both were procuring orders for the military for the War of 1812 so the title should end in a tie.  You can make your choice.  But oh…those clever 19th Century Newspapermen caught wind of it and the moniker Uncle Sam as a synonym for the US government began appearing in newspapers in 1813.  So, you see, the press pack-mentality of everyone running with the same stuff began long ago and there has been no shortage of uninspiring, un-original stories in the press ever since.

You Figure it Out!

Here’s the kicker….I’m not so sure that the photo attached and widely spread as the 1766 SAm Wilson is not really the 1778 Sam Wilson as the 1766 Sam Wilson died in 1853 which would have been prior to photographs being so easily available. Further, his attire looks more like the Civil War Era and it seems possible that it was taken during that conflict as a sort of propaganda instrument for the North.  But, I may be mistaken.  Whatever it is, he sure doesn’t look like the more familiar character that started showing up in World War I.  Funny how Uncle Sam seems so closely associated with war.  Perhaps he was a product of the military industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about.

 

Louisville Wind Damage From Ike video

Louisville Wind Damage Slide Show

KHOU-Bolivar Peninsula Destroyed-Video

CNN photos 19

CNN Houston Photos 8

Austin American Statesman photos 265

for more ike damage photos and video, see previous post

Hurricane Ike Damage-Very Close Call for Galveston September 14, 2008

6-8 Hours BEFORE the storm

for more hurricane ike damage photos and aerial video of damage, CLICK HERE and scroll down to numerous posts with various links to photos and video

As you may have noticed in my posts or bio, I am from Houston. I know the area backwards and forwards. I even used to to airborne traffic reports in the area. From the still photos and from stories, it would seem to moe that Galveston and all those people who stayed barely avoided an enormous catastrophe. As it was, ther are numerous stories of people waking to rising water in their homes and having to swim or wade out. Some of these stories are very dramatic. But, no one has heard from the West End of the Island. There is no seawall there. I really thought that there was no way anyone stayed down there but apparently some did. But, if you check out these slide shows that I got from several sources, you see that near downtown Houston, Buffalo Bayou rose very high. The flooding in those pictures I do not believe was caused by rain but instead a storm surge. If you look at Crystal Beach, which is on Bolivar Peninsula jutting out from the east into the mouth of Galveston Bay, it would appear that parts of the beach were wiped clean…it would appear that the houses are all gone and you see runoff lines gouged in the ground. That is the beginning of the area that would have gotten the most extreme and violent storm surge, just to the east of the center in the eastern eyewall. I betcha on the west end there are inlets that have been carved in the island.

Photos will show that I-45 south is totally covered by debris. It appears those photos come from near the Hwy 6 intersection with I-45 which is still a fair piece inland. I really believe that had this storm been a shade stronger and made landfall 20 miles farther west, then this story may have been far different.

NYTIMES Slide show

AP SLIDE SHOW-via yahoo

Here are a whole mess of blogs with lots of posts. Not only will you find people’s stories and if you scroll through you will find video and photos…worth the snooping.

Houston Chronicle

Houston Chronicle Reader’s Photo Gallery

More Photos from Houston

More Galveston Photos

Hurricane Ike Rescue photos

BBC Slide Show

CNN Link Video-Some Live shots(as of 4pm EDT 0914)