Hurricane Ike has arrived

We've had strong winds, gusting to tropical-storm force, and bands of heavy rain throughout the afternoon. A few minutes ago, the downpour was so fierce I could hardly hear anything else, even the music from my computer speakers.

(For those interested, it was 'Fantasia para un Gentilhombre' by Rodrigo. Lovely music, but too refined to compete with Mother Nature at her loudest! If you haven't heard this masterpiece, one of the greatest of Rodrigo's works for solo guitar and orchestra, YouTube offers a virtuoso performance by Narcisco Yepes. Click the numbers for the movements: 1, 2, 3 and 4.)

Anyway, back to the storm. There have been some amazing images of Ike from space, like this one published in the Daily Mail. Click it for a larger view.




Spectacular, isn't it? The cloud bands look like waves advancing on the Gulf Coast. The image below was taken less than two hours ago, and published on the NOAA Web site. My parish (county) in Louisiana is circled in black, to show you where I am in relation to the storm center.




Ike's eye will make landfall near Galveston in two to three hours from now, but he's such a vast storm that he's been affecting Louisiana and Texas since this morning. I hope and pray everyone got clear . . . but judging from news reports, far too many decided to ride this one out at home. I fear greatly for their safety in the 20-foot-plus storm surge that's awaited in the Galveston area.

So far we still have power and telephone service. That may change overnight as the stronger wind bands hit us. Here's hoping for the best!

Peter