'Fraid not. :)

I dunno. I don't trust the models (w. underground has their 2pm update up now, btw). For a week, everyone has been saying Ike will turn North: first they said into the mid-Atlantic away from land, and Ike continued West. Then they said Ike would follow Hanna up the east coast, then that said Ike would hit Miami, then they said Key West. But this stubborn storm keeps tracking West.

I'm worried for NOLA and the LA coast, and my gut says at this point, to hope for a continued Western track to hit the lower TX coast, rather than a north turn into Florida.

I give up prognosticating on thsi storm. I'm just as happy that he looks opposed to coming to visit here. :D

Back up to a Cat 4 and looking pretty mean.

Looks like some of the Turks and Caicos will take a direct hit tonight or early Sunday.

yeah Turks and Caicos are boned. Ike could ramp up to a Cat 5 as he roars over them and into eastern Cuba.

Meanwhile a monster Bermuda High is extending westward with Ike, protecting Florida.

It's amazing to watch.

Crow for two please.

Latest conspiracy theory. Hedge funds can steer hurricanes. They are long oil.

Oh crap...there goes my free week off :(

Indeed. I'm done prognosticating.

The only thing I'm sure of is that I'm glad Ike's not going to pay ME a visit. :D

Ike will truly be a historical storm. On a scary note, he's quickly approaching the path of the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900. This is truly unprecedented though, coming from the direction he came from.

[QUOTE=oldpenny16;10322167]Our local newspaper reported that the average cost of evacuating by car was $500 per carload of people. That for gas, food and expenses. The average may also include motels.
QUOTE]

There is a conspiracy going on here folks. Ike has partnered with the oil companies to scare folks, this time perhaps convincing the entire Gulf coast to evacuate. And you just know McCain and Palin are involved in this too.
As a result everyone will now be rushed to the pumps to fill up and leave their homes.
:p

You jest, but for fun I occasionally read a conspiracy board where people think this is actually the case. The camp is split on whether Katrina was steered to New Orleans by President Bush because he hates black people or whether it was steered there by the Russians or Chinese as a weapon of mass destruction. :D

;

just out of curiosity -- if you were in the area hit by Gustav, and now facing the possibility of Ike, and say you were in charge of telling people how to evacuate, recover, allocating supplies, etc -- would you tell people to stop repairing stuff that they just returned to? I mean, if a hurricane is about to flatten your house again, at what point do you say it's not worth cleaning/rebuilding after the first one?

If you know another one is coming in a week, do you not bother to clean up the first one? How about a month? How long is worth it to have a place to live before it gets demolished again?

(or a year? if you're cynical :eek:)

and just something I have noticed --

in most government publications, it's difficult to get a sense of urgency or seriousness regarding a subject, because they're often phrased conservatively, or trying not to offend anyone or be too dramatic. Or you feel that you're probably just as knowledgeable on the subject as some functionary.

For me, at least, that is definitely not the case with the advisories from the NHC, which I've read, and the following phrase actually gives me shivers often when I read it, knowing it comes from respected and careful forecasters:

"...PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION."

Few other statements from the government instill such a sense of urgency, certainty, and command, don't you agree?

Here's another site from the Tampa area with lots of big graphics.