Sustainable Power Corp (fka SSTP)

[irule]

One last IKE post...

FYI, the hurricane is approximately 500 miles wide, with hurricane force winds extending out about 120 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extending out the rest of the 500 mile width.

This storm, as far as actual physical dimensions go, is larger than Katrina, taking up about half of the Gulf of Mexico.

See:

http://www.weather.com/multimedia/videoplayer.html?clip=12045

So it seems to me, if the actual point of landfall (as measured from the "eye" of the storm) is at Freeport as expected and Baytown is approximately 80 linear miles away (well within the hurricane force radius), and on the windy side of the storm, it (along with Galveston, Pasadena/Houston) will suffer the most "direct" hit of all affected areas. This is especially true since the predictions are that this exact area will suffer the highest storm surges as well, with 10-15, even 20 feet surges expected. Galveston will likely be submerged again as it was when Katrina wreaked havoc on the area in 2005. Of course, the major path of destruction then was around the New Orleans area, so this could be bad.

In this sense "direct" doesn't mean where the eye will cross land. "Direct" is necessarily off center when it comes to hurricanes. It is where the most damage will be sustained, that is, on the east (windy) side of the storm (since the winds are blowing counterclockwise), and within the hurricane force radius (120 miles), precisely where Baytown will be if the current projections prove accurate.