Viewers' Hurricane Ike Questions Answered

Viewers sent thousands of questions about Hurricane Ike to the KPRC Local 2 Severe Weather Team. Meteorologist Anthony Yanez answered some of the questions on-air on Thursday morning. Here are his answers:

Q: How many miles wide is Hurricane Ike?

A: "Four hundred miles," Yanez said. "Basically, if you were to drive from Brownsville all the way into central Louisiana, that's how large this storm is."

Q: Who is going to get hurricane force winds?

A: "Those hurricane-force winds, those 75 mph-plus winds, extend 115 miles and those tropical storm-force winds extend 255 miles," Yanez said.

Q: What should I do?

A: "You have to have a plan," Yanez said. "You have to have a before, a during the storm and an after the storm plan. Preparation will always prevent the panic. As long as you're prepared for these storms, you're going to be OK if you have that plan beforehand. The problem comes when you don't think about it and you all of a sudden realize you have a special needs adult who lives in your house and you're like, 'If we lose power, what happens to the oxygen?'

These links may help with making a plan:

2008 Hurricane and Flood Survival Guide
Disaster Preparedness for People with Disabilities
Hurricane Survival Checklist
Prepare Home, Belongings for Flooding
Prepare, Protect Pets
More links on hurricane section

Q: What happens if I lose power?

A: "Where Hurricane Gustav hit in central Louisiana, there are people still without power," Yanez said. "Gustav was last week. They're expected to be without power for two more weeks. That's why you have to have a three-day supply because if you know it's going to be after that, then you can get out. But you have to be able to survive three days on your own at your house without power."

Q: Is it a good idea for people to evacuate into Houston?

A: "Here's the key: you want to be 10 miles away from the coast, 10 miles away from water, because that's where the storm surge will reach," Yanez said. "Houston's a safe place to go as long as you're going to a friend's house that's well-built, doesn't have a lot of windows. If it's a two-story house, downstairs there are some places that you can hide. What you do is you run from the water and hide from the wind. As long as you're in a nice, good shelter you're fine."

Q: How do I know if a mandatory evacuation has been ordered for my area?

A: "The city (and county) officials are the ones that do the evacuations by ZIP code," Yanez said. "They're only going to evacuate based on storm surge. If you live outside of a storm surge area, you'll never be asked to evacuate. You will not get a mandatory evacuation. The important thing is to be prepared and know your home."

Click here for a list of the areas under a mandatory evacuation order.

Q: Should I turn off the water to my home?

A: "That's more along the coastline," Yanez said. "You get that storm surge and it starts kicking everything up and you have that power of water. Once that starts coming in and breaking things in your home, and this is more specific along the coastline, it creates an even bigger mess."

Q: Are single-pane windows going to break during a hurricane?

A: "If the winds are strong enough, they're going to break," Yanez said. "Typically, in a category 3, 4 or 5 (hurricane,) all best are off because usually you have those homes that are built -- if it's a well-built home -- to a category 3 storm inland. Sometimes it doesn't matter because you could have a problem in another part of your house. The garage is the weakest part of your home. The key is you get away from windows when the storm is rolling on through."

Q: Is it a good idea to leave a window open during a hurricane?

A: "It's a myth," Yanez said. "In fact, it weakens your house. Close your windows."

Q: Is it a good idea to put tape on windows?

A: "If the window is going to break, it's going to break," Yanez said. "It will prevent more glass from spreading all over the place, but it will still break."

Q: I have a brick home. Am I safe>

A: "How well do you know your builder? Is this a great company that they have a reputation that they build great, strong sturdy homes? Or is it a brick home that wasn't built very well? A lot of it could be the foundation, too," Yanez said. "It's basically how well do you know your home? If it's a strong home, it's going to be able to stand up to this. If it's a weaker home it's going to have more problems."

Q: What will happen to trees?

A: "It all depends on how well that tree has been maintained," Yanez said. "If they're pruned well, have plenty of gaps, it's going to be OK if it's a healthy tree, with 100 mph winds. If it's an unhealthy tree or if the leaves have really grown in, the branches are close together, those trees will act like sails and they'll just dump. If they're weak, and typically a newer tree would be weak, they'll fall. That's why you want to get away from windows as the storm moves into the Houston area."

Q: Is Victoria going to be hit hard by Hurricane Ike?

A: "They're still in the cone, that left hand side," Yanez said. "The (forecast) trend has been to move off to the east and right now if it hits you're on the clean side. You're still going to experience some pretty strong winds, but the trend is away from you. We'll have to wait and see how those later runs go, but right now, Victoria is looking OK if it stays on track. It could also turn to the left at the last minute at that high strength. Be prepared and be careful."

Q: Is it a good idea to come into Houston for an event on Saturday?

A: "You're taking your chance," Yanez said. "We're dealing with this pretty much all day Saturday. The strongest winds will be from the morning all the way about until noon, and that's when it starts to exit southeast Texas. But you still have the feeder bands of rain. That's a real dangerous call. If it's me and my family, I'm saying no, but it's not so you have to make that decision."