Galveston Bay residents "face certain death" with Hurricane Ike

The National Weather Service in Houston told residents along Galveston Bay on Thursday night they "face certain death" if they don't leave home before Hurricane Ike roars ashore:

The weather service painted a vivid picture in its warning of the destruction it expects: a towering wall of water -- possibly up to 22 feet high -- crashing over the Galveston Bay shoreline as the brunt of Ike comes ashore. That wall of water could send floodwaters surging into Houston, more than 20 miles inland.

"All neighborhoods ... and possibly entire coastal communities ... will be inundated during the peak storm tide," the weather service warned. "Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one or two story homes will face certain death."

The last time the weather service used such language was for the August 2005 warning for Hurricane Katrina, "most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks ... perhaps longer" and that people and animals "exposed to the winds will face certain death."

The Associate Press provides the following video report on the approach of Hurricane Ike:

Take it seriously folks.