Phew!

Don't wish Ike on anybody, but, phew! We were lucky this time. Here is an excerpt from the latest hurricane update which John #5 has been sending me for the duration. This will be the last hurricane update...at least for this one!
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Ike is on track to move inland over western Galveston Bay this evening. There are no changes to the forecast track. Once inland, Ike should track northward through east Texas on Saturday and turn northeast into Arkansas on Sunday morning. Ike could strengthen a little up until landfall, possibly reaching Category 3 strength of 115 mph this afternoon. Once inland, Ike's winds should steadily weaken, probably to below hurricane force by noon Saturday and below tropical storm force Saturday night.
It is very important to note that Ike's maximum winds are not located near Ike's center, they're located about 80-90 miles east of Ike's center. This means that if Ike moves inland into Galveston Bay as forecast, Ike's strongest winds will move ashore south of the Port Arthur/Sabine Pass area this evening. We expect that the storm surge near the Texas/Louisiana border from south of Port Arthur to south of Lake Charles may reach 15-18 feet, perhaps even a little higher this evening and Saturday morning as Ike's center approaches the coast. The surge into Vermilion Bay could reach 10-15 feet. Across southeast Louisiana, tides may run up to 7-10 feet above normal this afternoon and tonight.
Across Galveston Island, the surge could reach 12-16 feet east of where the center crosses the island. In western and northwest Galveston Bay, the surge could reach as high as 15-20 feet. However, with Ike's max winds well east of the center the surge estimate for Galveston and Galveston Bay could turn out to be too high.
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Tomorrow's blog...back to normal with gossip, updates on friends, the good stuff.