Ike Makes Landfall
September 13, 2008
The category 2 storm sustains strength and pounds Houston, Tx., with rain and wind, Hari Sreenivasan reports.
12 Sep 2008 15:03 Africa/Lagos
Hurricane Ike threatens Texas
London, 12 September/GNN/ --
MET OFFICE News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service. 12
September 2008
As the hurricane season continues all eyes now turn to Hurricane Ike. Following
fast on the heels of Hurricanes Gustav and Hanna, Ike has already killed more
than 70 people in the Caribbean, with Haiti and Cuba particularly badly hit.
Now it is heading for the coast of Texas, where evacuations are taking place
because of fears of a storm surge of up to 20 feet above normal tide levels.
The Met Office provides forecast information of tropical storms and hurricanes
from its unified model twice daily to its colleagues at the National Hurricane
Center (NHC) in Miami. This valuable information is used by forecasters
in the NHC when compiling the official forecasts of track and landfall of
hurricanes and tropical storms, and the issue of warnings to affected areas.
The latest forecast indicates that the centre of the hurricane will come
ashore near Galveston at around 6am Saturday UK time. However, Ike is a
large hurricane and much of the Texas and Louisiana coast are already being
affected. British holiday makers and those with friends and family on the
Gulf coast of the United States will be paying close attention to the NHC
advice and warnings for wind, rain and storm surges.
The Met Office has a responsibility to protect the lives of British citizens
abroad and issues regular briefings to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(FCO) for tropical cyclones around the globe throughout the year. In addition
the Met Office provides forecast information to humanitarian agencies and
the insurance industry, giving advanced notice for mitigating action.
The latest forecast tracks can be found at the National Hurricane Center
website. Satellite images of Hurricane Ike
Source: Met Office
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