Disaster Recovery News

Hurricane Ike is expected to reach Texas early Saturday morning at a category 4 strength, experts have just announced. Mandatory evacuations are now being ordered all along the Texas Gulf Coast in order to reduce the number of potential casualties. Currently Ike is a Category 2 hurricane.
Roughly 15,000 people are being asked to leave Brazoria County in Texas though many are deciding to stay and wait out the storm. For more on mandatory evacuations in the area, please visit http://www.click2houston.com/news/4995385/detail.html

“One of the things that the public has to understand if they decide to stay, there will be a period of time during this storm when they will absolutely be on their own,” Brazoria County Sheriff Charles Wagner said to the press today.

President Bush has already declared an emergency in Texas so that preparation funds could begin to enter the state. The area around Galveston City and Corpus Christi are being told that flooding is likely under the current storm predictions.

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Texas and Louisianna are watching Hurricane Ike closely as it just misses the Florida Keys and continues to build strength in the Gulf of Mexico. Ike is expected to reach the U.S. this weekend somewhere along the Texas-Louisiana border.

The Governor of Texas, Rick Perry has already declared disasters in 88 Texas counties to help in the hurricane preparations needed as Ike looms. 7,500 National Guard men and women are currently on standby as well. Ike’s pathway is still not entirely clear but FEMA and the National Hurricane Center are keeping a close watch on it so that they can properly give evacuation orders in the next 48 hours.

In Louisiana, residents are being told to prepare hurricane emergency kits – water, food, batteries, etc. – even as thousands of residents remain without power after Gustav. Even if Ike does not directly land in Louisiana, winds and rains are still expected to pummel the area.

Check out the latest press release from FEMA, Get Serious, Be Prepared: Federal Preparedness for Ike for more on what the federal government is doing to prepare residents for hurrican damage.

Tropical Storm Hanna is moving through the Bahamas and toward the South Carolina shore say weather experts causing the South Carolina Governor to recommend the evacuation of two northeast counties – Horry and Georgetown.

“Every one of us needs to continue to watch out in the Atlantic because this could be a dress rehearsal for a thing called Ike,” said Gov. Mark Sanford in a recent address. “Time will tell.”

Hurricane Ike is still churning in the Atlantic but has already been categorized as a level 4 hurricane and is being watched very closely as it may slam into the U.S. soon after Hanna.

Tropical Storm Hanna is expected to reach the U.S. coastline on Friday night. Wind, rain and increased riptide occurrences are expected to hit the U.S. hard as early as Friday morning.

More on water damage caused by massive flooding

Photo courtesy of AFP/NASA-HO