Thursday, October 16, 2008

Facts and Figures :-

Hurricane Ike was the third most destructive hurricane to ever hit the United States. It was the ninth named storm, fifth hurricane and third major hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season.It was a Cape Verde-type hurricane, as it started as a tropical disturbance off the coast of Africa near the end of August, then tracked south of Cape Verde and slowly developed. On September 13th 2008, it became a tropical storm west of the Cape Verde islands.

By the early morning hours of September 5th, Ike was a Category 4 hurricane, hitting its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph and a pressure of 935 mbar .That made it the most intense storm so far in the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. At one point the diameter of Ike's tropical storm and hurricane force winds were 550 and 240 miles (885 and 390 km), respectively, making Ike the most massive Atlantic hurricane recorded.Ike also had the second highest IKE (Integrated Kinetic Energy) of any Atlantic storm in the past 40 years. Integrated Kinetic Energy is a measure of storm surge destructive potential, similar to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, though the IKE is more complex and in many ways more accurate. On a scale that ranges from 1 to 6, with 6 being highest destructive potential, Ike earned a 5.2 on September 11 at 12:30pm (EDT). In comparison to Ike, hurricanes Katrina and Wilma, both from the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season peaked at 5.1. As such, had Ike made landfall as a Category 3 or higher, the hurricane would have likely had a record breaking storm surge and the potential for damage could have been worse than what was seen with Hurricane Katrina.However, Ike made its final landfall in Texas, United States as a Category 2 hurricane.

Ike has been blamed for 177 deaths. Of these, 74 were in Haiti, which was already trying to recover from the impact of three storms earlier that year: Fay, Gustav, and Hanna. In the United States 96 people were killed, and 202 are still missing. Damages from Ike in US coastal areas are estimated at $27 billion (2008 USD), with additional damage of up to $4 billion in Cuba, amounting to a total of $31.5 billion in damages for the United States and Cuba alone.Ike was the third costliest U.S. hurricane of all time, behind both Hurricane Andrew of 1992 and Hurricane Katrina of 2005.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

HistoricIKE

"To suffering there is a limit; to fearing, none."

Finally i am writing my story with ike.From long time i was thinking about sharing the most historic event of my life which has jus shaken me from inside as well as outside.Infact i still feel that i am swinging in my bed with hurricane winds and whistling trees...

"Calamity is the test of integrity."

Before that let me tell u that hurricane is not just violent storm, characterized by extreme fury and sudden changes of the wind, and generally accompanied by rain, thunder, and Lightning but far more wreckage which can bring mass devastation and slump in ones life.

I had heard this name HURRICANE many times through discovery channel and always feel that it must be a momentous event but things are not what they seems.We recently moved to houston from pittsburgh where i was between snow and nature while houston is just the reverse of that no snow and not so much nature.

"There is no calamity that right words will not begin to redress."


In houston the hurricane season starts from july till november every year so you just have to cross fingers and pray that u dont get any hurricane this year..
You can see the flash messages on road "HURRICANE IS FORMING IN GULF FILL UR GAS TANK",store can food and water as much as u can but we often dont take things seriuosly in life untill we face it.
Mandatory evacaution was issued in our area because of IKE and a sudden agitation what to do,what to take and where to go??
When you were asked to pack ur things and leave ur house it make u wonder that you have to leave ur home,things,memory and many more overnight.these things make u think that what happened to the people who dont get this 12 hours and every things ripe out in a fraction of seconds.....

"Calamity is the perfect glass wherein we truly see and know ourselves."

I was asking my husband that i will carry my wedding cloths,jwellery,documents,shoes and all and he was trying to make me understand that its not easy to move ur house so u have to make choices...

“There are moments when you have to just walk away and cry.”

Finally i listen to his words and packed just 2 suitcases along with documents, jwellery and what u think that i will leave my wedding dress no way i love them alot so i packed them.To be frank i hardly wear any of them but still if u have any memory linked up with things you have,you will never be ready to leave it..

“Life gives us brief moments with another...but sometimes in those brief moment we get memories that last a life time...”

We rakishly kept most of the stuff in closet and bathroom as we want to leave the area as soon as possible. We had seen a documentary on discovery sometime back and it helped us that how to keep ur things safe when storm is on the way.

Early morning we had our brunch and all set to leave the place.On the way we saw people all around.
We reached our friends place and stayed there for 3 days.
Next day we got the news water and electricity both are gone so nothing to do jus play game and enjoy..We had played each and every game they had at there place and were waiting for the storm to pass away.

Storm was its on full swing with winds of 100 MPH and Ike made U.S. landfall at Galveston, Texas, on September 13 at 2:10am CDT (07:10 UTC), as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 110 mph (177 km/h) and a central pressure of 952 mbar (28.11 inHg).
During the day of September 13, Ike began a slow turn to the north and then northeast. After losing strength to Tropical Storm force winds, it passed 100 miles (160 km) to the east of Dallas, Texas; and west of Little Rock, Arkansas. It became a Tropical Depression and continued northeast, passing near St. Louis, Missouri. It brought heavy rainfall all along its path, but moved more quickly the farther north it went.
Early on September 14, Ike merged with a large cold front moving from west to east across the central United States, and became extratropical. This deep low pressure continued toward the north-east spreading heavy rains throughout the Midwest. It crossed into Canada on the night of the 14 to the 15th, giving strong winds and large amounts of rain in Southern Ontario, and most regions of Quebec, before exiting into the Atlantic at the latitude of the Labrador Sea early on the 16th.

Finally storm said bye to houston and we went out to see the after effects.Every where water and trees it was a perfect pictures to be drawn on canvas for an artist like me...:):):)
Luckily, since the storm system moved rapidly and did not linger over Houston, flooding wasn't a major problem for most of the city, as it normally is as a result of the geography.
Hurricane Ike's winds and giant waves caused by Ike's low pressure destroyed oil platforms, tossed storage tanks and punctured pipelines. The environmental damage is massive. At least half a million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and the marshes, bayous and bays of Louisiana and Texas. During the days both before and after the storm, companies and residents reported around 448 releases of Gas, Oil and other substances into the environment in Louisiana and Texas. The hardest hit places were industrial centers near Houston and Port Arthur, Texas, as well as oil production facilities off Louisiana's coast.

We got news that HEB(grocerry store in houston)is open we went see the scene and what we saw was allot of people waiting to go in.We came back home and on sunday morning left for san marcos.
As there was no power and water back in houston so its better to move to a new place where we can work and atleast get some water..
After 2 days we came back to our home things were much better and with gods grace nothing was damaged in my community which brings a big smile on our faces.
Still we didn't have power for 2 days so we cooked our food at pool side on grill and enjoyed my 2 days with cleaning,reading books and painting on canvas..

It was rightly said by someone that :-

"We are never ripe till we have been made so by suffering."

So thats my part of story..
Hope to see ur comments which will boost a tyro like me.
Thanks
Aditi