Two Down, IKE too Go!

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With Gustav and Hanna diminished, Hurricane Ike is on course to strike Houston Texas as it slowly gains strength while being in the warm waters of the Gulf Coast. Starting out as a category 2 hurricane, Ike has already claimed 61 lives in Haiti and 4 in Cuba. Ikes’s devastating winds and rain would have left an impact on the Florida Keys if it would have passed over the area. Now headed North West of the Florida Keys, Hurricane Ike is likely to slam into southeast Texas and western Louisiana later this evening or, at the latest, early Saturday morning.

The National Weather Service has informed residents in the coastal areas of Texas and Louisiana that they face “certain death” if they are not evacuated. Ed Emmett, chief administrator of Harris County (Texas) has advised residents to “leave now”. He also stated, “The storm surge is stronger and it’s important that people understand that this really is a life or death matter.” Considered to be the worst storm to hit Texas since the late 1950’s, Hurricane Ike is threatening the metropolitan Galveston area with a Storm Surge of up to 20 feet of water. The metropolitan area of Galveston is adjacent to the Houston, one of the largest cities in the country, thus putting more than 5 million people in the wake of the storm.

Photo by: NOAA / Getty Images