LIVE STREAMING: Ike Kicks Up Waves As It Passes By

In Alabama on Gulf Shores and Orange Beach a sister site is reporting a 5-plus foot storm surge and tropical force winds as Ike passes well off shore from the area.

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For more live streaming coverage of the storm from KHOU in Houston, click here.

The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning for Morgan City, Louisiana to Baffin Bay, Texas Thursday morning as Ike strengthens in the Gulf of Mexico. Storm conditions could reach the warning area by late Firday.

At 4:00 p.m. Thursday Ike was headed for the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. 
A hurricane warning is in effect from Morgan City, Louisiana to Baffin Bay, Texas.  Hurricane conditions could reach the coast within the warning area by late Friday. 
A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch are in effect from south of Baffin Bay to Port Mansfield, Texas. 
The center of Hurricane Ike was located about 510 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas.  Ike is moving toward the west-northwest near 10mph.  On the forecast track, the center of Ike will be very near the upper-Texas coast by late Friday. 

The Piedmont Chapter of the American Red Cross is deploying three volunteers to the anticipated landfall of Hurricane Ike. Joe and Janet Uldrick just came back from their work with Tropical Storm Hanna.  Now, they will be leaving for Texas to support shelter operations for Hurricane Ike evacuation. Jorge Gutierrez will also be joining Joe and Janet in shelter operations.

Follow the very latest on Ike in our Hurricane Center by clicking here

Houston-Galveston could face major damage from Ike

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) - The mayor has ordered a mandatory evacuation of Galveston Island as Category 2 Ike closes in on Texas

HOUSTON (AP) - For now, Hurricane Ike is still a Category 2 storm. But it may come ashore in Texas as a massive Category 4, which could put gleaming skyscrapers, NASA’s Johnson Space Center and many oil refineries in the middle of strong winds and damaging floodwaters.

Forecasters expect the storm to make landfall this weekend somewhere between Houston and Corpus Christi, but even if Houston doesn’t take a direct hit, it could still get pounded.

If Ike stays within predictions, Houston would be on the “dirty” side of the storm, where heavy rains, walloping storm surge and tornadoes can often be found.

Houston officials expect to get some flooding—the question is how much?

Gasoline prices spike on Ike’s approach

HOUSTON (AP) - The wholesale price for gasoline produced on the Gulf Coast has jumped about 30 percent as Hurricane Ike churns toward Texas and its massive petroleum refining infrastructure.

The wholesale price for a gallon of gasoline rose about $1 to $4.25 Thursday, topping the high price five years ago when hurricanes Katrina and Rita raked the Gulf Coast, said Tom Kloza, publisher of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J.

“It’s pure panic,“ Kloza said. “It’s related to the fact that there are worries about whether there’s going to be enough (gasoline) in the distribution system to satisfy some of the September pumping needs on the Gulf Coast.“

The spike will almost certainly lead to high pump prices for consumers.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)