Hurricane Ike Hitting Galveston Hard

That's the view from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony at about 3 pm here in Fort Worth. While watching the news about Hurricane Ike while I had lunch I heard a Fort Worth weather guy say the clouds we are seeing are Ike related, pushed ahead of the storm.

Twelve hours before Ike is expected to hit Galveston the storm surge is so strong and the waves so big that they are already over the seawall. And I was surprised to see Geraldo Rivera knocked down, so early into the storm, into what he described as very dirty water. Emergency workers helped Geraldo get upright. He assured them he was okay.

I've been to Galveston once. Loved it. But I was surprised to see so many structures built out over the water. I assumed, even though some of them looked a bit rickety, that they were built to withstand a hurricane. As usual, I was wrong.

Even before Hurricane Ike has officially arrived in Galveston damage is already being done. The pier to the fishing pier/beer bar you see in the photo has already been wiped out. Or so it appeared from what I was being shown on FOX NEWS.

I thought the seawall was supposed to protect Galveston from a repeat of the hurricane disaster of 1900. Maybe it will. But it doesn't look good with water already surging over the wall. That's the Galveston seawall on the right.

To see photos from my one and only trip to Galveston and some of the other structures built out over the water and now in danger, go here.