Friday Morning...

**Stay tuned....new tropical weather video coming later this morning....will be docked above.**

Hurricane Ike is gradually gaining strength today as it heads for landfall tonight. Ike is a huge hurricane in size, taking up much of the Gulf of Mexico. Due to its tremendous size, it has built up a very significant storm surge. In fact, there was storm surge flooding yesterday in places such as Tampa and Mobile....nowhere near the center of the hurricane.

Ike will likely come ashore tonight near or just west of Galveston Island. I anticipate huge problems with storm surge for Galveston and then into the low-lying areas of Houston. In fact, a significant storm surge can be expected for most of the Texas coast as well as the western Louisiana coast.

Ike could be a Category 3 hurricane at landfall, and obviously winds will be a big problem as well. Ike's wind field is huge, so much of the Texas and Louisiana coast will experience a prolonged period of sustained hurricane force winds.

Check out this statement from the NWS regarding the Galveston area....

LIFE THREATENING INUNDATION LIKELY!

ALL NEIGHBORHOODS...AND POSSIBLY ENTIRE COASTAL COMMUNITIES...
WILL BE INUNDATED DURING THE PERIOD OF PEAK STORM TIDE. PERSONS
NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY
HOMES MAY FACE CERTAIN DEATH. MANY RESIDENCES OF AVERAGE
CONSTRUCTION DIRECTLY ON THE COAST WILL BE DESTROYED. WIDESPREAD
AND DEVASTATING PERSONAL PROPERTY DAMAGE IS LIKELY ELSEWHERE.
VEHICLES LEFT BEHIND WILL LIKELY BE SWEPT AWAY. NUMEROUS ROADS
WILL BE SWAMPED...SOME MAY BE WASHED AWAY BY THE WATER. ENTIRE
FLOOD PRONE COASTAL COMMUNITIES WILL BE CUTOFF. WATER LEVELS MAY
EXCEED 9 FEET FOR MORE THAN A MILE INLAND. COASTAL RESIDENTS IN
MULTI-STORY FACILITIES RISK BEING CUTOFF. CONDITIONS WILL BE
WORSENED BY BATTERING WAVES CLOSER TO THE COAST. SUCH WAVES
WILL EXACERBATE PROPERTY DAMAGE...WITH MASSIVE DESTRUCTION OF
HOMES...INCLUDING THOSE OF BLOCK CONSTRUCTION. DAMAGE FROM
BEACH EROSION COULD TAKE YEARS TO REPAIR.