Beyond watching television reporters standing in screaming winds and sideways rain as Hurricane Ike roars over Houston this morning, there's not a great deal of specific information out there about exactly what is happening at Johnson Space Center and in the surrounding neighborhoods where thousands of NASA workers live.
Here's a round-up of what we're able to find this morning from wire, television, web and other sources this morning that is specific to the JSC area. If you've got something to report, email me at jkelly@floridatoday.com or post comments in our Space Chat forum by clicking comment below. We'll add to the list as we get information today:
U.S. Geological Survey real-time water level data shows the Clear Creek, near Clear Lake and the Friendswood area where lots of NASA folks live, is more than 12 feet above flood stage this morning, which matches with other reports of storm surge waters impacting the JSC area. Most other USGS data for the surrounding area shows levels high and NOAA storm surge maps predict water levels 20 feet or more above normal, so low-lying areas around JSC are likely to experience some flooding.
The latest dispatch from the AP this morning includes this paragraph: "Some 30 miles inland, storm surge of about 10 feet was pushing into a neighborhood near Johnson Space Center ... Nearby, the popular Kemah Boardwalk at the mouth of Galveston Bay, ringed by million-dollar homes, was submerged, state officials said."
NASA has an information hotline for employees and journalists but, as of 8:20 a.m. this morning, it had not been updated since noon Friday. We'll check back later but it's unclear when the hotline might be updated with new information.
On the other hand, there's likely to be some solid geographic-specific information available at the Houston Chronicle web site, including a very useful storm damage map taking reports from residents. Check it out here. While most people are stuck inside right now and reports are limited to power outages, this map is likely to include a lot of hyper-local specific information about JSC's area later today after the storm passes.
Image note: The image above is the radar from the 6 a.m. hour this morning. JSC is in the southeastern suburban area of Houston, for those who don't know.
Beyond watching television reporters standing in screaming winds and sideways rain as Hurricane Ike roars over Houston this morning, there's not a great deal of specific information out there about exactly what is happening at Johnson Space Center and in the surrounding neighborhoods where thousands of NASA workers live.
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