Hurricane Ike

IKESeptember 1-15 2008

HOW IKE BECAME AHURRICANEOn the morning of September 1st, a tropicaldepression formed approximately 1750 mileseast of Puerto Rico. The depression quicklystrengthened into a tropical storm later thatafternoon. Moving west-northwest, Ikestrengthened into a hurricaneon the afternoon of September 3rd,and was located approximately885 miles east-northeast of Puerto Rico. Ike rapidly intensified into a major Hurricane late that afternoonand into the evening hours, reaching amaximum intensity of 145 mph during theearly morning hours on Thursday, September4th.

PIke hit cuba and haiti first Ike cameup through the gulf of mexico andended up hitting houston andgalveston texas and some parts oflouisiana then went up towardsoklahoma and curved to go back tothe ocean and dispaned

DI EDeaths occurred in 16 counties of the 44 countiescovered by the surveillance. The majority of deathsoccurred in Harris and Galveston (28 [38%] and 17[23%]), respectively. The deceased ranged in age fromyounger than 1 year to 85 years, with an average ageof 46 years (median 50 years); 70% were male. Of the74 deaths, 47 (64%) resulted from injuries, 23 (31%)from illnesses, and 4 (5%) were undetermined. Amongthe injuries, carbon monoxide poisoning (13 [18%]) anddrowning (8 [11%]) were the leading causes ofinjury-related deaths. Cardiovascular failure (12 [16%])was the leading cause of illness-related deaths.Defining the relation of death to hurricane using anactive mortality surveillance system is possible.The combined damage estimate from Ike and Gustav,and succeeding Paloma is about $9.7 billion (USD), with$7.3 billion of that from Ike, making Ike the mostdestructive hurricane in Cuban history.

WC 4HEven though winds approached 80 knots (95 mph) in some areas as Ikemove inland, hurricane force winds persisted for a long time as well. BushIntercontinental Airport reported tropical storm force winds beginning atmidnight on Saturday 13 September and ended when the observation failedat 5AM CDT. These winds most likely persisted longer than 5 hours as thesouthern eye wall of Ike had yet to pass through the area as seen byradar. According to HRD wind analyses from 0430 UTC 13 September (1130PM CDT, 12 September) through 1330 UTC 13 September, it is possible thattropical storm force winds affected most of southeast Texas for as muchas 9 hours or longer. Hurricane force winds east of the eye of Ike couldhave affected portions of east Texas just as long.In Texas much of the flooding with Hurricane Ike was due to the stormpushing enormous amounts of water from the Gulf of Mexico into low-lyingareas. There were also areas of southeast Texas where heavy rainfall wasabove 200 mm (close to 8 inches).Ike made landfall with sustained winds near 110 mph, just 1 mph short of aCategory 3 hurricane. Galveston took a direct hit, and the storm surgeflooded much of the island.Ike's highest sustained wind speed was 230 km/h (145 mph) and the lowestpressure 935 mbar. This made it, at some point long before making landfall,a category 4 hurricane.,The storm measured 550 miles in diameter (885km)allegedly making it the most massive Atlantic hurricane recorded.

54321D B fThe government of the Bahamas first issued a hurricane watch for the Turksand Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas approximately 24 h beforetropical storm force winds began to spread across the easternmost Turks andCaicos but almost 33 h before these winds reached Great Inagua Island in thesoutheastern Bahamas. The watch was also issued 33 and 39 h before hurricaneforce winds reached the Turks and Caicos Islands and Great Inagua Island,respectively. The government of Cuba issued a hurricane watch for theeasternmost Cuban provinces from Guantanamo to Camagüey approximately 21 hbefore tropical storm force winds began spreading across the eastern end of Cubaand about 33 h before hurricane force winds reached the area around Cabo Lucrecia.Subsequent hurricane watches and warnings were issued for the entire length ofCuba. A hurricane watch was issued for the Florida Keys from Ocean Reef to theDry Tortugas when Ike was located over Great Inagua Island, with the anticipation thatthe hurricane would move close to the island chain. Although hurricane forcewinds remained well south of the keys, a tropical storm warning was required for thesame area, including Florida Bay, and was issued approximately 24 h before tropicalstorm force winds began to spread across portions of the Middle and Lower Keys.Much of the Upper Keys remained outside the area of tropical storm force winds.After Ike moved into the Gulf of Mexico, a hurricane watch was issued on theafternoon of 10 September from Cameron, Louisiana, to Port Mansfield, Texas, while atropical storm warning was issued from the mouth of the Mississippi River toCameron. The issuance of the tropical storm warning for parts of the Louisianacoast, without the previous issuance of a tropical storm watch, was required due tothe unforeseen rapid expansion of Ike’s wind field once the storm moved acrossCuba. However, the warning was still issued with appropriate lead time as tropicalstorm force winds began to affect the Mississippi Delta region about 24 h later. Ahurricane watch was issued from Cameron, Louisiana, to Port Mansfield, Texas, earlierthan the usual 36-hr threshold since significant storm surge was expected to impactthe area well before tropical-storm-force winds reached the coast. A hurricanewarning was issued from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Baffin Bay, Texas about 24 hbefore storm surge began to affect the region.



F SS● Highest storm surge recorded on Galveston Island since 1915● 12-15 foot storm surge across Harris County● 15-17 foot storm surge across Bolivar Peninsula● 1.2 to 1.5 million residents evacuated from zip code evacuation zones prior to landfall● Storm surge levels averaged near the 1% (100-yr) levels for Harris County● Storm surge extended 15-18 miles inland over Chambers County● 2,550 homes flooded from storm surge in Harris County● Highest surge level in recorded history at Sabine Pass, Texas (14.24 feet)



D ● 3rd costliest hurricane in U.S. history behind Hurricane Andrew (#2) and Hurricane Katrina (#1) ● Estimated $27 billion in U.S. damages, including $15 billion in insured losses ● 34 Texas counties declared federal disaster areas ● 92,000 homes damaged in Harris County ● 2,400 injuries in Harris County ● 11 fatalities in Harris County ● 7,100 businesses damaged in Harris County ● 3,266 homes destroyed on Bolivar Peninsula ● 24,165 structures damaged in Galveston County ● 646 businesses damaged in Galveston County ● 700 homes destroyed in Chambers County; 3,418 additional with major damage ● 27,000 miles of wire down ● 2,431 signals damaged in the City of Houston ● 1,100,000 traffic signs damaged ● Estimated 10 million cubic yards of debris in Harris County ● First time curfew issued for the City of Houston ● $428 million in damages to UTMB Galveston ● $132 million in damages to transportation systems ● 52 oil platforms destroyed ● 60% of Galveston Bay oyster beds lost to storm surge sedimentation ● FEMA estimate of 25 million yards of debris in all affected counties…enough to fill NRG stadium 7.5 times

MF ● Resulted in 29 tornadoes ● On Great Inagua Island in the Bahamas, a few West Indian flamingos were killed by Ike, but most of the 50,000 flamingos in Inagua National Park—the world’s largest breeding colony—survived by taking shelter within the park’s mangroves or flying to other islands. ● Although Ike became extratropical while moving northward over Arkansas, its remnants caused several deaths and produced significant wind damage across the Ohio Valley. At least 28 direct and indirect deaths were reported in Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. In Ohio, almost 2.6 million people lost power with the most extensive damage reported in the areas near Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton. ● The Property Claim Services of the Insurance Services Office estimates that the insured damage (not including inland flooding or storm surge) from Ike in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas is about $12.5 billion dollars ● Maximum storm surge height: Approximately 15-20 feet Bolivar Peninsula, TX ● Fatalities: 103 (20 U.S.) with at least 23 still missing