Lots of folks at the grocery this morning buying up bottled water, batteries and canned goods, in anticipation of possible lengthy power outages if Ike’s core comes close to Austin after crossing the coast early Saturday. Mom, visiting friends in Maryland, is scheduled to come back Saturday but now may have to wait until Sunday, if Austin’s airport is closed. Texas Longhorns home game Saturday with Arkansas has already been postponed.
Local forecast sounded dire yesterday: Not just torrential rain all-day and all-night Saturday, but sustained winds of 50 to 70 mph. Meaning trees downed and flying limbs and other debris. Today’s forecast is milder, with winds only gusting to 45 mph and less rain. Evacuees from the coast still may be sorry they came. All depends on how close the core comes to us. Fifty miles east would be good. Ten miles west would be a true disaster. Meanwhile Ike is already bigger than Katrina in ’05. It’s pussyfooting through a patch of cool water in mid-Gulf this morning, but is expected to strengthen. Lots of uncertainy yet, but Houston looks now to bare the brunt of the winds and rain, and the storm surge is expected to be a killer on the coast, sweeping miles inland. Possibly overtopping Galveston’s seventeen-foot seawall.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 