Walls of water have been pounding the gulf coastline all day, Friday.

Galveston's 17-foot high sea wall has been no match for the 20 and 30 foot waves.

Hurricane Ike is expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday.

Most people have followed the mandatory evacuation orders for coastal communities, but those who stayed behind are already seeing major flooding.

The Coast Guard has started air lifting some people from their homes.

The National Weather Services issued an unusually strong warning Friday, saying anyone in low-lying areas could "face certain death" if they try to ride out this storm.