Preparations continue as Hurricane Ike churns along projected path to Texas coast
State preparing for possible evacuations
By Claire Osborn, Mike Ward
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
After raking across Cuba, Hurricane Ike moved into the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and took a path that could bring it to the Texas coast early Saturday and into the Austin area as a still-powerful storm by Saturday afternoon.
The National Hurricane Center's latest tracking map Tuesday had Ike making landfall between Corpus Christi and Port Lavaca, then turning north and passing between San Antonio and Austin.
If Ike moves through the Austin area as predicted, it could pack winds as strong as 60 miles per hour, with flooding and isolated tornadoes Saturday afternoon, said Bob Rose, a meteorologist with the Lower Colorado River Authority. Rose said Ike could drop 3 to 5 inches of rain in the area, with rain becoming heavier by Saturday night.
"It's not out of the question that Ike could bring some isolated tornadoes to parts of the region Saturday afternoon and Saturday night as well," he said. "These are not good conditions to hold a football game with thousands of people in the stands...."
