Hurricane Ike (2008)

After crossing Cuba, Ike made landfall on the north end of Galveston Island, Texas, at 0700 UTC (2 a.m. CDT) on September 13, 2008, as a Category 2 hurricane with 95-knot (109 mph) winds and a central pressure of 950 mb.¹ Its center moved up Galveston Bay just east of Houston, then north across eastern Texas.¹

Surge was generally 15 to 20 feet on the Bolivar Peninsula and in parts of Chambers County, where FEMA's highest water mark was 17.5 feet about 10 nautical miles inland.¹ Galveston Island and the west side of Galveston Bay had an estimated 10 to 15 feet. The seawall kept Gulf surge off much of Galveston, but water from the bay flooded the city from its north side.¹ Sabine Pass recorded 12.79 feet and Port Arthur 11.03 feet, and in southwestern Louisiana surge pushed up to 30 miles inland and flooded homes in Cameron, lower Vermilion, St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes.¹ The highest measured gust was 97 knots (112 mph) at Crab Lake on the Bolivar Peninsula, and rain reached 18.90 inches along Spring Creek north of Houston.¹

Surge and waves razed almost every structure in parts of the Bolivar Peninsula, including Crystal Beach, Gilchrist and High Island.¹ Across Houston, trees and power lines came down, and downtown streets were littered with glass and fallen traffic signals, though NHC says downtown escaped significant wind damage.¹ NHC counts 21 direct deaths in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, 13 of them in Galveston and Chambers counties, plus as many as 64 indirect deaths in Texas. It estimates about $29.5 billion in damage across the three states.¹ After turning extratropical, Ike's remnants brought hurricane-force gusts to Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, causing about $4.7 billion more in damage, per NHC.¹