Hurricane Ike Aims for Houston

Houston mayor Bill White issued statements today instructing people to evacuate at least eight Houston zip codes in anticipation of Hurricane Ike. Ike is expected to make landfall in the Houston-Galveston area by Saturday.

Traffic jammed highways out of the Houston area today as people fled the hurricane. Ike has tripled in size in the few days and set its sites on the city of 5.6 million people. Ike is currently larger than Katrina was when it made landfall in 2005, with the strongest winds of over 100mph, extending 115 miles outward from the eye.

Hurricane Ike is following the same course as the most deadly storm in American history, the 1900 Galveston hurricane that killed 8,000 people. Most in the Houston-Galveston area are taking it seriously and getting out, many headed inland to San Antonio, where emergency shelters are being prepared.

Forecasters said Ike, which is currently a Category 2, is likely to "strengthen to at least a major hurricane with Category 3 intensity, meaning sustained winds of at least 111 mph, before landfall," according to Bloomberg. Ike may even become a Category 4 storm, on the five step Saffir Simpson Scale, packing winds from 131 to 155 mph.

The Houston area is expected to get hit with the right hand side of Hurricane Ike, the strongest side. The storm is also predicted to cause flooding and damage along a wide swath of the Texas coast.

Governor Rick Perry and President Bush have already declared a state of emergency. Perry told Texas today: "My message to Texans in the projected impact area is this: finish your preparations because Ike is dangerous and he's on his way. If your local officials tell you to evacuate, follow their instructions.''

Traffic proved to be a problem in the 2005 evacuation of Houston as Hurricane Rita bore down. Many families attempted to evacuate multiple vehicles causing bumper to bumper traffic in which the ubiquitous SUVs ran out of gas by the thousands. Mayor White is asking Houston families to take only one vehicle this time to avoid such a fiasco.

96 percent of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut down at this point. The Department of Energy said today, that Hurricane Ike could impact fuel production as refineries are closed down, some having been since Gustav.