Hurricane Ike

[JDNSW]

Now some no doubt will be wondering why this is worth mentioning here. Well, from a personal point of view, I have been taking an interst because my brother lives in Houston, and the eye of the hurricane is due to pass just about over his house in about 48 hours. But looking at the news items raises a few points worth mentioning, because of their potential effect on fuel prices (and other things) here.

Already, 96% of gulf oil production has been shut in, and the US's largest refinery, in Baytown , has been shut down (and is expected to be flooded) and the US's main oil import port has been closed. While it is a bit difficult to say exactly what effect this will have on prices both for crude and for refined products, it seems unlikely that there will be no effect.

With the hurricane having forecast winds of 160kph over a band 300km across, which is aimed straight at the Houston metropolitan area (about the size of Sydney or Melbourne), and storm surges forecast to reach ten metres (well above the Galveston sea walls) think about what this is likely to do to the US insurance industry - and the knock on effect to your insurance!

John

[JDNSW]

Had a phone call from my brother in Houston in the middle of the night. He seems to have come through OK with only very minor damage to the house.

The biggest problem is that the power is out, and is likely to remain out for some time (possibly weeks), judging from the spectacular display of green lightning seen through the rain from the direction of the substation a few miles away shortly after the power went off. In fact, two of the three companies supplying power in the area say 99% of their customers are without power, the third says 100%. The city's main pumping station has no power and water pressure is falling, but they hope to get a mobile generator to it when the roads reopen.

Without power he has no internet, although he says he has a UPS he shut down when the power went off, and it should have enough power left to run his modem for a while using the laptop.

The major oil refining complexes at Baytown and Texas City seem to have escaped major damage, but it will take perhaps a week to check them for minor damage and restart processes. (They have their own power)

The downtown area has been cordoned off, mainly because of the amount of glass in the streets from broken windows in high rise buildings - and more is still falling.

Over the whole metropolitan area damage has been very extensive, both from flooding and wind damage, but there are few reports of deaths and injuries, partly because a lot of people heeded the evacuation advice, and partly because the worst areas are still inaccessible. NASA has lost part of the roof over their Mission control and have had other damage to buildings. Both main airports remain closed while damage is assessed and until power can be restored.

John

[JDNSW]

Update - just got a phone call from him. Mainly to tell me the phone network is now out, probably because the backup generator has run out of fuel. Mobile phone still works though.

John

[Narangga]

Know how they must be feeling as we've had power outages with cyclones etc over the years.

Do you know if the emergency services are taking in generators for the essential services?

[JDNSW]

Know how they must be feeling as we've had power outages with cyclones etc over the years.

Do you know if the emergency services are taking in generators for the essential services?

I have read that the main Houston water pumping station is planning to get in a mobile 12MW plant as soon as the roads are passable. My brother's place is not on this water supply (he is in an outer western suburb), but on a local one, and he knows that they have a diesel backup pump.

The main medical centre is still on mains power - their power lines, together with a lot of downtown, are completely underground, and they seem to be coping OK, although another major hospital has had to close when the sewer pipes backed up, flooding the ground floor - the flood gates on all the openings on the ground floor did not save it. Apparently pumps supposed to save this from happening malfunctioned.

Apart from that there seems to be a lack of information coming out - I suspect that almost everyone has moved their systems to function via the internet, and with no power, most people are cut off from it. Also, so far the only flights allowed in the area are medical emergency flights, which has cut down on a lot of available information.

For local information, see Houston news, entertainment, search and shopping | chron.com - Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com) (The Houston Chronicle) or HOUSTON, TEXAS NEWS | KHOU.com | News for Houston, Texas (http://www.khou.com) (a local TV station).

John

[George130]

The main medical centre is still on mains power - their power lines, together with a lot of downtown, are completely underground, and they seem to be coping OK, although another major hospital has had to close when the sewer pipes backed up, flooding the ground floor - the flood gates on all the openings on the ground floor did not save it. Apparently pumps supposed to save this from happening malfunctioned.

I know a health facility where this is a common problem.

[JDNSW]

Update this morning via another phone call.

He now has power back (probably because he is in a fairly new subdivision with all underground power), but the phones are still out, and the mobile network has largely failed, although he found a spot about a block from home that had coverage.

With most of Houston still without power, it seems likely that a lot of the phone system has inadequate backup power. I wonder how our own phone system would do in similar conditions?

John

[The Import]

Glad to hear your brother is OK. Hope it continues to go in his favor. My experince with post-hurricane stuff in the U.S. has been that the **** really hits the fan in the weeks following. Clear heads, hopefully, will prevail!

Holly