Austin Bay Blog

Here are some key points made this morning by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (DEM) in its morning conference to emergency managers in storm affected areas. I received the information via email. I stress that this is not an official statement. It does indicate what emergency management directors see as some of the more immediate challenges. For some thoughts on the snarled traffic, see this post on the Crawl-Away Scrape.

DEM’s key points as of this morning:

Texas Division of Emergency Management’s morning conference call: DEM has twice daily conference calls open to all emergency managers at times of heightened threat…

1. NWS [NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE] - Max winds decreased to strong Cat 3 or weak Cat 4.

East Texas in General - Flash flood watches to be issued later today. Storm may stall over East Texas resulting in much more rainfall - up to 25 or more inches possible over weekend.

Jefferson County - Coast to begin experiencing the effects of the hurricane in a few hours. There is a potential for strong tornadoes. 3- 6 pm for Tropical Force winds to strike coast.

Beaumont - 17 - 20 foot storm surge. Flood stage is 4 feet. 10 - 15 inches of rain. possible 25 inches in Lake Charles area.

Houston, Galveston Bay, Highway 59, and Liberty County - Hurricane effects beginning this evening. Rain and winds beginning around 8 - 10 pm in Harris county. Up to 10 hours of strong winds. Tree damage and power outages. 7-foot tide inbound and 7-foot tide going out of Galveston Bay.

Lufkin area tomorrow morning - Expect hurricane force winds. Rain increasing around 7 am. 6 - 10 inches of rain on Saturday.

2. Counties have many additional people in shelters. Counties need additional fuel, supplies, security and law enforcement for those who did not evacuate.

3. Airlift operations are no longer possible. Counties need to handle medical emergencies with other resources.

4. Law enforcement being taken off of traffic operations to begin security operations at the shelters and other locations. Some people who were unable to evacuate are beginning to exhibit stress-related problems and have been threatening each other.

5. SOC working on obtaining generators for cities to get lift stations and water plants operating following the passage of the hurricane.

6. Field hospital being set up in Houston now. Will need a second field hospital. Plan to set up in the Astrodome.

7. Highway 59 North will be closed soon. Reliant Center in Houston to be used for shelters following hurricane passing through the area.

8. Highways in Angelina County are moving. Main evacuation route, Highway 69, moving at 35 mph.

9. 1-877-LOVED1S (1-877-568-3317) so people can locate relatives in shelters.

10. [Subsequent] conference call will only focus on operational issues. No weather report.

UPDATE: From 1430 hours, from Texas’ State Operations Center (SOC):

1. At 2:15 pm today the tropical force winds arrived at the coast. We expect winds to continue for up to 16 hours. Hurricane force winds are expected to extend 100 miles inland along the track of the hurricane. These winds are 170 miles wide.

2. Texas is preparing for two major events - the hurricane strike and a 24-48 hour extended flood event following the hurricane.

3. Predeploying rescue elements to western Houston area to immediately enter impacted area after hurricane passes. Resources being staged near the eastern parts of Texas for the follow-on flood events.

4. Tornadoes now in LA. Expect the tornadoes (F3 - F5) to move into eastern Texas tonight and early Saturday.

5. Center of storm track appears to strike the Sabine pass area on the border of Texas and LA. Storm surge 15 - 20 feet. Will over top the sea wall in Port Arthur. 100 - 120 mph wind gusts.

6. Two mobile hospitals on standby and ready for final deployment to the Houston area to help reestablish medical services. Ten DMAT teams ready to deploy to the stricken areas. [ED NOTE: DMAT means Disaster Medical Asistance Team]

7. WAL-MART is working with the state to provide ice and water to the stricken areas after the hurricane passes.

8. Air ops are out until the hurricane passes and it is safe to start them again.

9. Shelter and mass care call scheduled for 1900.

10. Next call at 2230 for operational requests.