 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Hurricane Ike |
Hurricane Ike was the third most destructive hurricane to ever make landfall in the United States. It was the ninth named storm, fifth
hurricane and third major hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. It was a Cape Verde-type hurricane, as it started as a
tropical disturbance near Africa at the end of August. On September 1, 2008, it became a tropical storm west of the Cape Verde
islands. By the early morning hours of September 4, Ike was a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230
km/h) and a pressure of 935 mbar (27.61 inHg). That made it the most intense Atlantic storm of 2008. Ike passed over the Turks and
Caicos Islands as Category 4, with winds 135 mph (217 km/h) on September 7. Moving west along Cuba, it made 2 landfalls as a
Category 4 hurricane on September 7 and a Category 1 hurricane on September 9. Ike made its final landfall over Galveston, Texas
as a strong Category 2 hurricane, with Category 4 equivalent storm surge, on September 13, 2008 at 2:10 a.m. CDT.
Hurricane-force winds extended 120 miles (193 km) from the center.
Ike was blamed for at least 195 deaths. Of these, 74 were in Haiti, which was already trying to recover from the impact of three
storms earlier that year: Fay, Gustav, and Hanna. In the United States, 112 people were killed, and 26 are still missing. Due to it's
immense size, Ike caused devastation from the Louisiana coastline all the way to the Kenedy County, Texas region near Corpus
Christi, Texas. In addition, Ike caused flooding and significant damage along the Mississippi coastline and the Florida Panhandle
Damages from Ike in US coastal and inland areas are estimated at $24 billion (2008 USD), with additional damage of $7.3 billion in
Cuba, $200 million in the Bahamas, and $500 million in the Turks and Caicos, amounting to a total of $32 billion in damages. Ike was
the third costliest Atlantic hurricane of all time, behind Hurricane Andrew of 1992 and Hurricane Katrina of 2005. The hurricane also
resulted in the largest evacuation of Texans in that state's history. It also became the largest search and rescue operation in U.S.
history.
Effects of Hurricane Ike in the United States
Due to the intensity of the storm, Texas closed many of its chemical plants and oil refineries. Because much of the United States oil
refining capacity is located in Texas, the closings caused a temporary increase in the prices of gasoline, home heating oil, and
natural gas. Increases were particularly high in North Carolina, especially in the mountains, where average prices were as much as
60 cents higher than the national average. The closing of refineries so soon after Hurricane Gustav, and the time required to restart
production, also resulted in shortages of gasoline in such places as the Carolinas and Tennessee, partly as a result of panic buying.
Preliminary post-storm damage estimates in the US were placed at 18 billion US dollars (2008) as stated by the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation. Eighty-two deaths have been reported in the US, including forty-eight in Texas, eight in Louisiana, one in
Arkansas, two in Tennessee, one in Kentucky, seven in Indiana, four in Missouri, two in Illinois, two in Michigan, seven in Ohio and
one in Pennsylvania, although there are 202 missing. On September 15, 2008 the United States Congress held a moment of silence
for those who died in the hurricane.
Effects of Hurricane Ike in Texas
On the morning of September 13, 2008, the eye of Hurricane Ike approached the Texas coast near Galveston Bay, making landfall at
2:10 a.m. CDT over the east end of Galveston Island. People in low-lying areas who had not heeded evacuation orders, in
single-family one- or two-story homes, were warned by the weather service that they may "face certain death" from the overnight
storm surge, a statement that turned out to be true for some who refused to evacuate.
In regional Texas towns, electrical power began failing before 8 p.m. CDT, leaving millions without power (estimates range from 2.8
million to 4.5 million customers). Grocery store shelves in the Houston area were left empty, in the aftermath of the storm.
Flood waters begin to rise in a neighborhood of Bayou Vista, Texas.In Galveston, by 4 p.m. CDT (2100 UTC) on September 12, the
rising storm surge began overtopping the 17-ft (5.2 m) Galveston Seawall, which faces the Gulf of Mexico; waves had been crashing
along the seawall earlier, from 9 a.m. CDT. Although Seawall Boulevard is elevated above the shoreline, many areas of town slope
down behind the seawall to the lower elevation of Galveston Island.
Even though there were advance evacuation plans, Mary Jo Naschke, spokesperson for the city of Galveston, estimated that (as of
Friday morning) a quarter of the city's residents paid no attention to calls for them to evacuate, despite predictions that most of
Galveston Island would suffer heavy flooding storm tide. By 6 p.m. Friday night, estimates varied as to how many of the 58,000
residents remained, but the figures of remaining residents were in the thousands. Widespread flooding included downtown
Galveston: six ft (2 m) deep inside the Galveston County Courthouse, and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston was
flooded. Tourist attractions on the island suffered various degreed of damage. The Lone Star Flight Museum suffered massive
damage as the storm surge washed though the airport and hangars with about 8 feet of water, and the recently completed
Schlitterbahn Water Park is still closed as of November; however, Moody Gardens was built with storms in mind and was able to
withstand the worst of the storm.
In Houston, windows also broke in downtown buildings such as the 75-story JP Morgan Chase Tower, and Reliant Stadium was
damaged. Also as a result of the high wind and eye wall that passed directly through the city, power outages were a major problem,
as some residents were still without electricity over two weeks after landfall. Some parts of Houston were not expected to have
power until November 1. Luckily, since the storm system moved rapidly and did not linger over Houston, flooding wasn't a major
problem for most of the city, as it normally is as a result of the geography. Due to the damage to the stadium, the Houston Texans'
game with the Baltimore Ravens, originally scheduled for September 14, was pushed back to November 9. Hurricane Ike affected the
Houston Astros' late dash for Major League Baseball's playoffs, postponing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday's games against the
Chicago Cubs. Two of the games were moved to Milwaukee's Miller Park and were played Sunday September 14 and Monday
September 15. The final game was tentatively scheduled for Monday September 29 in Houston. The Astros were eliminated from
playoff contention on September 26 and the game was officially canceled as it would not affect post season standings.
On Bolivar Peninsula, Texas dozens of people were rescued as flood waters exceeded 12 feet (3.7 m) above sea level in advance of
the hurricane. The peninsula bore the brunt of Ike's right-front quadrant, historically the worst part of a hurricane, and experienced
catastrophic damage with the worst being between Rollover Pass and Gilchrist, Texas - west of High Island. Media estimates of lost
homes exceed 80% and could top 95%. A large number of people who did not evacuate in advance of the storm remain unaccounted
for.
The Southeast Texas communities of Bridge City on Sabine Lake and large areas of nearby Orange, (80 miles from the center of
around two dozen) homes in the city were unaffected by the surge.
NASA's Johnson Space Center suffered minor roof damage to Mission Control and minor cosmetic damage to some of its other
buildings. NASA's operations at Ellington Field also sustained roof and awning damage, and one hangar was severely damaged.
As a historical comparison, on September 8, 1900 the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 landed along a path similar to Ike's, bringing with
it a storm surge that inundated most of Galveston Island, then Texas' largest city and a major U.S. port. As a result, much of the city
was destroyed and at least 6,000 people were killed in a few hours. Engineers subsequently increased the average elevation of the
island by 4 feet (1 m) and constructed a 17-foot (5 m) seawall to block incoming waves.
hurricane and third major hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. It was a Cape Verde-type hurricane, as it started as a
tropical disturbance near Africa at the end of August. On September 1, 2008, it became a tropical storm west of the Cape Verde
islands. By the early morning hours of September 4, Ike was a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230
km/h) and a pressure of 935 mbar (27.61 inHg). That made it the most intense Atlantic storm of 2008. Ike passed over the Turks and
Caicos Islands as Category 4, with winds 135 mph (217 km/h) on September 7. Moving west along Cuba, it made 2 landfalls as a
Category 4 hurricane on September 7 and a Category 1 hurricane on September 9. Ike made its final landfall over Galveston, Texas
as a strong Category 2 hurricane, with Category 4 equivalent storm surge, on September 13, 2008 at 2:10 a.m. CDT.
Hurricane-force winds extended 120 miles (193 km) from the center.
Ike was blamed for at least 195 deaths. Of these, 74 were in Haiti, which was already trying to recover from the impact of three
storms earlier that year: Fay, Gustav, and Hanna. In the United States, 112 people were killed, and 26 are still missing. Due to it's
immense size, Ike caused devastation from the Louisiana coastline all the way to the Kenedy County, Texas region near Corpus
Christi, Texas. In addition, Ike caused flooding and significant damage along the Mississippi coastline and the Florida Panhandle
Damages from Ike in US coastal and inland areas are estimated at $24 billion (2008 USD), with additional damage of $7.3 billion in
Cuba, $200 million in the Bahamas, and $500 million in the Turks and Caicos, amounting to a total of $32 billion in damages. Ike was
the third costliest Atlantic hurricane of all time, behind Hurricane Andrew of 1992 and Hurricane Katrina of 2005. The hurricane also
resulted in the largest evacuation of Texans in that state's history. It also became the largest search and rescue operation in U.S.
history.
Effects of Hurricane Ike in the United States
Due to the intensity of the storm, Texas closed many of its chemical plants and oil refineries. Because much of the United States oil
refining capacity is located in Texas, the closings caused a temporary increase in the prices of gasoline, home heating oil, and
natural gas. Increases were particularly high in North Carolina, especially in the mountains, where average prices were as much as
60 cents higher than the national average. The closing of refineries so soon after Hurricane Gustav, and the time required to restart
production, also resulted in shortages of gasoline in such places as the Carolinas and Tennessee, partly as a result of panic buying.
Preliminary post-storm damage estimates in the US were placed at 18 billion US dollars (2008) as stated by the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation. Eighty-two deaths have been reported in the US, including forty-eight in Texas, eight in Louisiana, one in
Arkansas, two in Tennessee, one in Kentucky, seven in Indiana, four in Missouri, two in Illinois, two in Michigan, seven in Ohio and
one in Pennsylvania, although there are 202 missing. On September 15, 2008 the United States Congress held a moment of silence
for those who died in the hurricane.
Effects of Hurricane Ike in Texas
On the morning of September 13, 2008, the eye of Hurricane Ike approached the Texas coast near Galveston Bay, making landfall at
2:10 a.m. CDT over the east end of Galveston Island. People in low-lying areas who had not heeded evacuation orders, in
single-family one- or two-story homes, were warned by the weather service that they may "face certain death" from the overnight
storm surge, a statement that turned out to be true for some who refused to evacuate.
In regional Texas towns, electrical power began failing before 8 p.m. CDT, leaving millions without power (estimates range from 2.8
million to 4.5 million customers). Grocery store shelves in the Houston area were left empty, in the aftermath of the storm.
Flood waters begin to rise in a neighborhood of Bayou Vista, Texas.In Galveston, by 4 p.m. CDT (2100 UTC) on September 12, the
rising storm surge began overtopping the 17-ft (5.2 m) Galveston Seawall, which faces the Gulf of Mexico; waves had been crashing
along the seawall earlier, from 9 a.m. CDT. Although Seawall Boulevard is elevated above the shoreline, many areas of town slope
down behind the seawall to the lower elevation of Galveston Island.
Even though there were advance evacuation plans, Mary Jo Naschke, spokesperson for the city of Galveston, estimated that (as of
Friday morning) a quarter of the city's residents paid no attention to calls for them to evacuate, despite predictions that most of
Galveston Island would suffer heavy flooding storm tide. By 6 p.m. Friday night, estimates varied as to how many of the 58,000
residents remained, but the figures of remaining residents were in the thousands. Widespread flooding included downtown
Galveston: six ft (2 m) deep inside the Galveston County Courthouse, and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston was
flooded. Tourist attractions on the island suffered various degreed of damage. The Lone Star Flight Museum suffered massive
damage as the storm surge washed though the airport and hangars with about 8 feet of water, and the recently completed
Schlitterbahn Water Park is still closed as of November; however, Moody Gardens was built with storms in mind and was able to
withstand the worst of the storm.
In Houston, windows also broke in downtown buildings such as the 75-story JP Morgan Chase Tower, and Reliant Stadium was
damaged. Also as a result of the high wind and eye wall that passed directly through the city, power outages were a major problem,
as some residents were still without electricity over two weeks after landfall. Some parts of Houston were not expected to have
power until November 1. Luckily, since the storm system moved rapidly and did not linger over Houston, flooding wasn't a major
problem for most of the city, as it normally is as a result of the geography. Due to the damage to the stadium, the Houston Texans'
game with the Baltimore Ravens, originally scheduled for September 14, was pushed back to November 9. Hurricane Ike affected the
Houston Astros' late dash for Major League Baseball's playoffs, postponing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday's games against the
Chicago Cubs. Two of the games were moved to Milwaukee's Miller Park and were played Sunday September 14 and Monday
September 15. The final game was tentatively scheduled for Monday September 29 in Houston. The Astros were eliminated from
playoff contention on September 26 and the game was officially canceled as it would not affect post season standings.
On Bolivar Peninsula, Texas dozens of people were rescued as flood waters exceeded 12 feet (3.7 m) above sea level in advance of
the hurricane. The peninsula bore the brunt of Ike's right-front quadrant, historically the worst part of a hurricane, and experienced
catastrophic damage with the worst being between Rollover Pass and Gilchrist, Texas - west of High Island. Media estimates of lost
homes exceed 80% and could top 95%. A large number of people who did not evacuate in advance of the storm remain unaccounted
for.
The Southeast Texas communities of Bridge City on Sabine Lake and large areas of nearby Orange, (80 miles from the center of
around two dozen) homes in the city were unaffected by the surge.
NASA's Johnson Space Center suffered minor roof damage to Mission Control and minor cosmetic damage to some of its other
buildings. NASA's operations at Ellington Field also sustained roof and awning damage, and one hangar was severely damaged.
As a historical comparison, on September 8, 1900 the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 landed along a path similar to Ike's, bringing with
it a storm surge that inundated most of Galveston Island, then Texas' largest city and a major U.S. port. As a result, much of the city
was destroyed and at least 6,000 people were killed in a few hours. Engineers subsequently increased the average elevation of the
island by 4 feet (1 m) and constructed a 17-foot (5 m) seawall to block incoming waves.
Our Hurricane Ike aftermath video
Radar animation of Ike
at landfall
at landfall
