Ike Track Setting Up For a Bad Day in Houston

The track is narrowing right on Freeport, TX which will make for a very bad day in Galveston and Houston:
The real scary about the graphic above is that Ike is still shown as a hurricane as far inland as the Tyler area. That's a lot of Texas that will be hit by hurricane or tropical force winds and rain, and these things always spin off tornados when they make landfall.

This is starting to look like a really serious storm.

Related: My Texas hurricane story (Celia - 1970)

UPDATE - From Accuweather:

Very large Hurricane Ike continues to barrel toward a potentially devastating strike in Galveston and Houston, Texas. The damage could be on a level not seen since Hurricane Alicia tore a path of destruction through the cities in 1983.

The AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center reports that Ike should reach Category 3 strength as it moves northwest through the Gulf of Mexico.

Landfall is forecast early on Saturday between Freeport and Galveston, which puts Houston and surrounding Harris County on the dangerous east side of the storm.

Because of the expected intensity of the hurricane at landfall and the angle at which Ike will approach the upper Texas coast, a storm surge of up to 20 feet may occur in Galveston Bay with a storm surge of 12 to 16 feet expected on the immediate coast. Gulf water will be pushed into the confined area of Galveston Bay. Hence the higher storm surge.