I'll continue to post as long as I have electricity  

Lake Charles Regional Airport:

Lat: 30.12   Lon: -93.22   Elev: 15

Wind speed: NE 21 G 28 mph

Barometer: 29.67 1005.3 mb

Rain: none

Ike to Lake Charles: 241 miles to the South East

The constant parade of severe storms and hurricanes has prompted me to install accordion style storm shutters on all my windows.  

I"m ready.

I live in Lower Alabama and we have already began to see the effects of waves coupled with higher than usual tides starting yesterday. The causeway along Mobile bay was tempoarily under water. Flooding along the beach road in Gulfshores. Waves over 10-15' have been reported. Flooding on Dauphin Island and along Ft. Morgan. Even as far away as Ft. Walton beach (3 hours from me) Hwy 98 was closed beacause the road was partially underwater.

This storm is huge!!! While the winds right now are only 105mph. I heard that due to the shallow nature of Texas' coast that they are expecting a surge that is normally associated with a CAT 4 or 5 storm.

I hope all our friends in Texas and Louisiana are OK!!!

81*, no wind, hazy sky at 9:25 am. I am 52 miles north of Galveston. If the storm trac holds the eye should go right over my home(Or what's left of it) between 1:00 a.m. and 3:00a.m. Saturday morning.

I will give updates as long as the power stays on.

Good luck to everyone that is staying put.

10:30 a.m.

Cloudy

84*

Steady wind 20-25 out of the N.E.

No rain

Stay safe fellas. you are in my prayers

I live North of Fort Worth and am relieved that Ike (or remnents of) will go farther East than expected.  We are visiting my hometown of Paris and returning on Sunday morning.  Originally, I was really concerned about 60-70 mph winds in that area, but the track takes the storm even farther East than there.  Also, it looks like it will boogy on to the North before we leave on Sunday.  I was a little uneasy this morning as I heard the NWS bulletin that went something like this:

"If coastal residents don't evacuate, you are facing certain death."

Ooooooo kaaaaay.  I guess they mean business.  I pray that everyone makes it to safety soon.

Temp: 86.4 F

Clear skies

Calm wind to the NW

Humidity: 66%

Heat Index: 93 F

As the crow flies we're 75 miles from Galveston.

Expected to loose power for 2+ weeks.

See ya'll

-Ike

12:00 Noon

No change from the 10:30 report

12:30

Winds picked up some, It's kinda cloudy now.

-Ike

Winds picking up here(Channelview) and cloudy. Still no rain

Lake Charles Regional Airport which is 5 miles from my house

Wind speed: E 31 G 40 mph

Barometer: 29.59 1002.7 mb

Rain: light rain on & off; mostly off

Ike to Lake Charles: 196 miles to the South East

2:45 p.m.

East side of Houston

Weather going down hill

N.E. Winds 25-30

88*

First light rain band at 2:40, did not last

Ike is finally knocking on our door.

5:30p.m.

86*

N.E. Winds just jumped up above tropical storm force

No rain yet.

Just after 6pm

Winds are getting stronger.

87*

Cloudy, it looks like it's fixin to pour.

This'll probally be my last update for at least a week. We're expecting to loose power for a while. I'm gonna stay up and watch it come in. Maybe even head over to my buddies house and have an IKE party!

Stay safe ya'll

-Ike

Be safe guys!  I'll be down in a couple days to see if we can find my buddies Twin Vee.

7:45 p.m.

Still no rain

Wind  50-60

84*

Cannot believe I still have power. Will not for long.

Wind speed: E 26 G 45 mph

Barometer: 29.44 997.7 mb

Rain: no rain

Ike to Lake Charles: 140 miles to the South West

8:55

83*

No rain

East/ NE wind up to about 65 mph.

Hurricane force winds due around midnight lasting until about noon Saturday.

No damage yet other than minor tree limbs down

Storm surge 15-22 ft

Projected sustained winds 100 to 120 with gust to 140 later tonight

Landfall times are all over the place. Have heard anywhere from 2:00am to 8:00am depending on who you watch

Hold on man, lay low and stay away from the windows.

Prayers sent.

Hang in there dude  

As per stormpulse.com at 12:00 CST Ike is on shore with sustained wind at 110 mph but by 7:00 am the winds will be down to 80 mph and 38 miles north of Houston.

If y'all want accurate information on Ike log on to  

http://www.stormpulse.com/

I was watching The Weather Channel this morning around 2:30, and the reporter was talking on camera and a gust of wind blew him into the bushes. I hope all you guys that decided to ride it out stay safe.

God bless, and stay safe,

Falcon

Reporting from hometown of Paris,Texas (2 hours west of my home):

Wind is picking up now, light rain becoming more constant.  It looks like what used to be the eye will now move east of here a little bit more.  Home should only get up to 1" of rain and maybe 2 here.  I have a brother in Spring (just a little north of Houston).  At 6:00 AM I talked with him.  They were experiencing gusts up to 50 and had been without power since 3:30 am.  I only get his voice mail now and am a bit worried.  Does anyone have any current reports from down that way?  I'm seeing less on the news as it starts to dissipate.  Please share.

-Fisher

I spoke with Fishfordollars this afternoon.  He and his family were directly in the path of Ike.  They experienced sustained winds of up to 110 mph with gusts to 140.  Hurricane force winds beat on them for over ten hours.  Naturally, he no longer has power.  Neither do five million others. He lost a couple of trees, but his home is still in very good shape.  He says he did not lose one shingle off his roof, but the houses on either side of him will need new roofs.  Also, his boat is still parked in his drive.  Jack's cell phone battery was running low, so he wanted me to pass on his thanks for all your best wishes.  He'll be back on the board when he regains power.

How y'all are?

Catt & company faired very well lost electricity about 2:30 this morning but back on about an hour ago. There's so major flooding in outlying areas, the bayou 50 yds out my front door was full to the brim but has receded about a foot. One of my boys is wading about 1/3 of a mile to his house to check it out and has called in the last 30 minutes.

Thank God Jack & family is ok