Lessons from Hurricane Ike

Ch2: Hurricane Ike

Introduction the arrival of hurricane ike on the texas coast on September 13, 2008 marked the beginning of a re-evaluation of Gulf Coast hurricanes, both in terms of their perceived potential damage and in the ways that communities choose to protect themselves. ike was the most destructive storm to make landfall on the texas coast since the Galveston hurricane of 1900 and with $24.9 billion in damages, ike was the third costliest storm in US history (Berg 2010). At its peak intensity, ike was characterized as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds reaching 145 mph and a minimum central pressure of 935 mbar (fig. 2.1). the wind field of hurricane ike spanned 450 miles at landfall, covering most of texas and parts of louisiana. in texas, wind damage caused 2.6 million power outages and many people were without power until early October and some, even longer. the eye of ike passed just north of downtown houston and on the morning of September 13, the streets of downtown were littered with broken glass from the skyscrapers, blown out by the pressure of the storm and high winds (fig. 2.2). trees across the city were uprooted, roads were blocked, and homes and cars crushed. hurricane ike brought comparatively little rainfall to the houston /Galveston Area, but storm surge caused significant flooding along the barrier Peninsula from Seaside Beach to Bolivar island. it was determined that the storm surge was 17.8 feet on Bolivar Peninsula. One high watermark , collected by FEMA, was at 17.5 feet, located in Chambers County, approximately 10 miles inland (Berg 2010). After the water receded, the destruction on Bolivar Peninsula was nearly complete (fig. 2.3a). On Galveston island, many homes were flooded and beachside houses were washed away. debris was piled up all over the island (fig. 2.3b). Along the Galveston Sea Wall, no beach sand was left and on the island, many live oak trees were permanently damaged by salt water and could not be saved. As ike traveled north across the Philip B. Bedient and Antonia Sebastian 2 hurricane ike 17 Figure 2.1 Prominent bands of hurricane ike as seen from the international Space Station. Photo courtesy nASA. Figure 2.2. Broken window damage on the JPMorgan Chase building downtown houston after hurricane ike. houston police closed off streets surrounding the building due to extensive damage . Photo courtesy James nielsen/houston Chronicle. 18 Table 2.1. Hurricane Ike timeline. date and time (2008) Event August 28 ike originates off the coast of West Africa as a tropical wave September 1 ike develops into a tropical storm west of the Cape Verde islands September 3 ike is classified first as a hurricane and, within 3 hours of first reaching hurricane strength, is reclassified as a major hurricane with maximum wind speeds of 115 mph September 4 ike is reclassified as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum wind speeds of 145 mph September 7 ike makes landfall over the turks and Caicos islands September 8–9 ike makes landfall over Cuba and enters the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane September 10 ike continues on its track towards Galveston island as a large Category 2 hurricane with a pressure of 944 millibar September 11 ike is measured at 450 miles wide; nOAA issues a hurricane Warning for the area between Morgan City, louisiana and Baffin Bay, texas September 12 the storm surge effects of hurricane ike are felt along the texas coast 24 hours before the storm makes landfall 2:10 am Cdt; September 13 hurricane ike makes landfall at Galveston, texas as a Category 2 storm with winds of 110 mph and a central pressure of 950 mbar 4:00 am Cdt; September 13 hurricane ike makes landfall near Baytown, texas 1:00 am Cdt; September 13 ike is downgraded to a tropical depression as it passes 100 miles east of dallas, texas late October, 2008 Most energy customers with the ability to be connected to the power grid have power returned to their homes 19 Figure 2.3a. hurricane ike’s ferocious storm surge leaves Bolivar Peninsula in shambles. the peninsula was one of the hardest hit areas, leaving the island with permanent beach erosion and destroying many homes. Photo © 2011 Bryan Carlile, Beck Geodetix. Figure 2.3b. A debris pile, including a boat, sits on the front lawn of Galveston island...