Hurricane Ike Strengthens On Path To Texas

(AP)  They’re getting ready for Ike along the Texas coast as the Category 2 storm picks up strength from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.  Officials have started to evacuate the first of millions of residents who could be in the storm’s path.  Residents in the coastal portions of Matagorda County, about halfway between Houston and Corpus Christi, are being told they have to leave.  Since county officials can now order people out of harm’s way, there could be the first large-scale evacuation in South Texas history.  Prior to Hurricane Rita three years ago, state and county officials let people decide for themselves whether to leave a hurricane area.  As of mid-afternoon, Ike was about 250 miles west of Key West, Florida, with top sustained winds of around 100 miles-an-hour.

(NOAA) Ike is a very large tropical cyclone.  Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 90 miles from the center.  Maximum sustained winds are near 100 mph with higher gusts.  Ike is expected to become a major hurricane within the next 24 hours.  Ike is moving toward the northwest near 8 mph.  A turn back to a west-northwestward motion is expected tonight, and a mostly west-northwestward motion through the central and western Gulf of Mexico is expected over the next couple of days.

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