I knew we were in trouble when I saw video of waves crashing over the seawall in Galveston. And that was early Friday afternoon, twelve hours before Hurricane Ike made landfall. The wind was blowing from the north, yet the waves were rolling in from the south, against the wind.
Two weeks earlier, Ike was a mere tropical wave off the west coast of Africa. On September 1, the winds were estimated to be over 39 mph and the tropical storm was given a name. We weren't too concerned about Ike at the time because we were busy tracking Hurricane Gustav as it moved toward Louisiana and Tropical Storm Hanna was threatening the east coast. A week later things had changed. On September 7, Ike strengthened into a category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. From there it tracked across Cuba, into the northern Caribbean Sea and then made a second landfall on the west side of Cuba. When it emerged into the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, September 9, Ike was a weaker storm with winds blowing about 80 mph.
By the time Hurricane Ike moved into the middle of the Gulf, it looked powerful on the satellite. Yet Hurricane Hunters couldn't find winds stronger than 100 mph. However, they did find tropical storm force winds covered a large area, extending 275 miles out from the center of the storm. Just beyond our horizon, buoys were bouncing around in twenty foot waves.
Originally, the "cone of uncertainty" covered the entire western Gulf with the center track aimed toward the upper Texas coast. Then on Monday, September 8, the National Hurricane Center made a big change in the forecast; redrawing the track toward southern Texas put the focus on Corpus Christi. Evacuation orders were given and contraflow lanes were set up. But that didn't last. 24 hours later the forecast track shifted again toward Matagorda Bay. And from there, the track continued to inch north until late Thursday, when it zeroed in on Galveston. Local officials first posted voluntary evacuation orders for the coastal areas. Once it became obvious that the track wasn't going to change the evacuations became mandatory.
Even then, many people expected the storm to shift east and go into Sabine Pass or southern Louisiana. That's what Hurricane Rita did three years before. We were also concerned that Hurricane Ike would intensify like Rita when it crossed the deep warm water in the middle of the Gulf. But dry air and wind shear on the left side of the storm prevented it from getting stronger. Rita and Ike were completely different storms with entirely different results.
Hurricane Ike made landfall in Galveston at 2:10 AM, Saturday, September 13. When the eye was moving over Galveston, the front part of the eyewall was hitting Houston. Ike turned north after crossing the coast with the center of the cyclone tracking over eastern Harris County. That put the city of Houston and most of Harris, Montgomery, Galveston and Brazoria counties in the eyewall where hurricane force winds blew for several hours.
Click here to watch a radar loop of Hurricane Ike making landfall.
Click here to watch a color-enhanced satellite loop of Hurricane Ike.
Long before the strongest winds started to blow and before the heavy rain started to fall, the water level along the coast started to rise. The surge was moving in. This sudden rise in the water level is the most destructive, dangerous and deadly part of a hurricane. Ike was unique because the winds were category 2 strength at landfall, while the storm surge was as powerful as a category 4 hurricane.
We heard from a judge in Chambers County who estimated the water at the courthouse was up to 20' high. A trusted weather observer in Jamaica Beach told me the water in his area was over 14' deep.
Here are some preliminary storm surge reports from the National Weather Service:
- 14.24' at Sabine Pass near the Louisiana Border
- 13.37' at Texas Point near the Louisiana Border
- 12.64' at Pleasure Pier in Galveston
- 11.95' at Eagle Point near San Leon (This gauge failed at 1 AM.)
- 11.23' at Rollover Pass on Bolivar Peninsula (This gauge failed at 1 AM.)
Some of the traditional water level gauges failed during the storm because of the high winds and waves, but a USGS research team installed special surge sensors along the Gulf coast prior to the storm. Click here to read the full report.
The storm surge caused major damage all along the upper Texas coast from Surfside Beach, along Galveston Island, eastward to Bridge City and Orange near Beaumont.
Bolivar Peninsula was on the so-called "dirty side" of the storm where the wind and storm surge are the worst. The long, narrow finger of land, once covered with beach homes, suffered catastrophic damage. Most buildings were heavily damaged or completely washed away. Before and after photos taken by a USGS research team shows the large number of homes destroyed by Hurricane Ike.
The view is the same along the entire peninsula. In Gilchrist, only one house was left standing after the storm.
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The city of Galveston was also swamped by the storm surge. The 17' seawall was built after the 1900 hurricane to protect the city and it worked as planned. But the powerful surf eroded most of the sandy beach in front of the seawall. The waves also tore apart the historic Balinese Room and washed the debris into one big pile. Most other Galveston landmarks survived the storm.
The backside of the island is lower and, as forecast, water flowed into Galveston from the bay side. There was at least a foot of water in the first floor of UTMB hospital. Several feet of water flooded the Strand shopping area.
Toward the west end of Galveston island, sand-filled "geotubes" were torn apart by the waves early on Friday. Several feet of sand was eroded from under many beachside homes.
The storm surge also pushed water into Galveston Bay and also flooded many homes in Baytown, Kemah, Smith Point and other bayside communities. Before the storm, we were concerned that water levels could be higher in communities along the north side of the Bay. Final surge numbers will be coming later after all the data is analyzed.
What the water didn't wash away, the winds tore apart. Wind damage was reported throughout the Houston area and surrounding suburbs. Sudden gusts within the eyewall caused substantial damage to many homes and businesses. Where roofs were torn off, wind driven rain soaked everything inside. Trees were toppled, power poles were pushed over and transformers exploded in bright blue flashes as Ike blew through. Power was knocked out for almost 90% of the people living in southeast Texas.
The National Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory created a map showing the maximum sustained winds from Hurricane Ike. I mapped the data onto one of our weather maps so you can estimate how fast the winds were blowing in your neighborhood. The black line down the middle of the map shows the track of the center of the storm.
While the strongest winds were on the right side of the track where you would expect them to be, over half of Harris County was hit with hurricane force winds over 74 mph. There was a pocket of winds over 84 mph in the northern part of Harris County, all of Galveston county, most of Chambers and Liberty counties, and southern Polk and San Jacinto counties.
Here are some preliminary wind gusts reported by the National Weather Service. Wind speeds over hurricane force (74 mph) are in bold:
- 83 mph at 12:36 AM in Freeport
- 73 mph at 12:38 AM in Anahuac
- 72 mph at 1:00 AM at Pleasure Pier in Galveston
- 89 mph at 1:00 AM near San Leon
- 61 mph at 1:08 AM at Hobby Airport
- 82 mph at 1:24 AM near San Leon
- 82 mph at 1:27 AM in Anahuac
- 75 mph at 2:05 AM at the University of Houston
- 83 mph at 2:15 AM at Hobby Airport
- 74 mph at 2:20 AM in Pasadena
- 64 mph at 2:29 AM at Bush Intercontinental Airport
- 102 mph at 2:45 AM in Anahuac
- 80 mph at 2:54 AM at the University of Houston
- 81 mph at 3:30 AM on a buoy 20 miles east of Galveston
- 82 mph at 4:00 AM at Bush Intercontinental Airport
- 78 mph at 4:20 AM at Pleasure Pier in Galveston
- 72 mph at 5:00 AM in Dickinson
- 92 mph at 6:10 AM at Hobby Airport
These wind speeds were measured at established weather stations. During the final analysis, we might discover winds were actually higher in some locations. The National Weather Service will be examining data from weather stations scattered around the community. They will also look at archived radar data to determine how fast the winds were blowing.
Early estimates indicate Ike might have caused as much as $25 billion in damage possibly making this the third costliest hurricane in history, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992. But the total economic impact will likely be much greater when you factor in lost wages, higher insurance rates, the affect on tourism and the costs to restore the beach along Galveston Island.
Now, everyone who lives in southeast Texas has lived through a significant hurricane. There was Hurricane Carla in 1961. Hurricane Alicia in 1983. Now we have Hurricane Ike. We have a new reference point. Future hurricanes, and there will be more, will always be compared with this one.
Based on the extreme damage caused by Hurricane Ike, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration retired the name Ike in early 2009.
The National Weather Service has written a technical report on Hurricane Ike.
The National Hurricane Center also published a complete report on Hurricane Ike. You'll need the free Adobe Reader to read this report.
To view stories which aired on 13 Eyewitness News before, during and after the storm, visit our video library.
Additional blog posts with updated information:
Compare our forecast issued before the storm with what really happened.
Way out over the cool waters of the Atlantic Ocean, a little tropical storm named Laura is spinning away. This cyclone is not a concern for populated areas... in North America. But tropical storm force winds could be blowing in Ireland and Great Britain this weekend.
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