Hurricane Ike is projected to hit somewhere along the Texas gulf coast on Saturday. Right now, the specifics of where it is going to hit and at what intensity are up in the air.The Texans are scheduled to have their only home game of September against the Ravens on Sunday. The team has not yet announced their contingency plans, other than noting that they have plans.
Last year when fires threatened the Chargers home game against the Texans, the teams waited until Friday to determine that they were going to play the game as scheduled.
The Texans' Reliant Stadium has a retractable, fabric-covered roof that was designed to withstand serious hurricane force winds. Also many many windows. It's never been tested in an actual significant hurricane. This interesting article discusses the Reliant Stadium roof, and how it is designed to flex during bad weather while not letting the wheels come off of the track that moves the roof.
Eric Berger's excellent Sci Guy blog for the Houston Chronicle has the latest data on the storm including links to Weather Service discussion of Ike and the hurricane models. The error for three-day hurricane forecasts is nearly 200 miles. With some of the projections, the Houston area is expected to get at least tropical storm winds and may end up being on the wetter and windier northeast section of the storm.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-10-2008 @ 2:37PM
Wickedpissadude.com said...
I really don't want to be crass here, because I, along with everyone else in the country, wish only the best for the hurricane ravaged southern USA, but are we going to evacuate at the sign of every storm? Could we at least get better at forecasting? These poor people have to leave everytime a cloud floats overhead. I am sure they are tired of it. That being said, I wonder if the five people that had tickets to this game will get refunds.
http://www.wickedpissadude.com
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9-10-2008 @ 1:52PM
Stephanie Stradley said...
Wicked-
Thanks for adding insult to injury. By the way, the Texans have had home sell outs for every year of their existence.
Lots of population centers that could be effected by the storm, so yeah, people have to pay attention to evacuations if they live by the coast.
-Steph
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9-10-2008 @ 6:31PM
LoneSpot said...
Steph,
Just to clarify, they've had home sellouts for every GAME in their existence.
9-17-2008 @ 3:56PM
Brenda Kay Winters said...
Sad that they cannot play and donate the proceeds to people who lost all. There will be funerals to pay for. Life over property is always important. The people who remain need prayer for they must be in shock. Landmarks are gone. Pets and missing. Transportation is impeeded. It will take years to recover. In the beginning of a mega-disaster, it is important to have proper communication, and re- assurance that all will be good again, and even better. Disease and rats will come with the polluted water. Please stay out of the past. Blame does not work. Prayer and leg work do.
9-10-2008 @ 3:56PM
Marc from Baltimore said...
The question is not can they play indoors, but how do the Ravens fly to Texas and local fans get to the stadium during a hurricane?
Could they play the game in Baltimore instead? Would they reschedule the game?
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9-10-2008 @ 9:32PM
les said...
wonder how we can find out if the ravens have left balt. to travel to texas. If the airline goes friday noon i'm going i think the game will go on as the stadium has a roof.
9-10-2008 @ 3:56PM
Caseyatbat said...
Jeez Steph, you are way to civil to the trolls. Do not feed idiots like Wicked that come on blogs and spew their garbage. Just leave them exposed for the world to see.
Thanks for the input, I am very anxiously waiting to see what will happen with the Texans game. I have been looking forward to the first home game of the year for a long time and would hate to see it moved.
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9-10-2008 @ 4:21PM
Stephanie Stradley said...
Marc from B-
There's lots of questions and the Texans have never announced their contingency plans. The University of Houston game for Saturday is being rescheduled to be played in Texas Stadium in Dallas.
In the past, teams have either moved back games (like to Monday night) or have moved locations of games. They do not like to make a home game another road game, and usually prefer a neutral site, like when the Chargers moved a game to PHX a while back because of wildfires.
I'm guessing we hear a little more on this after the afternoon press conference. I will update.
Hope that helps,
Steph
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