Hurricane Ike, the ninth named storm and 2008 hurricane season`s fifth hurricane, was one of the worst to hit the United States in recent memory. It formed near the Cape Verde Islands on September 1, 2008, and rapidly became a tropical storm as it tracked westward across the Atlantic.

Ike would become a hurricane on September 3, and then rapidly intensified to a Category 4 storm over the open Atlantic. Although the storm would weaken by September 6 to a Category 2, it quickly jumped back to Category 4 intensity later that day. Ike crossed the Turks and Caicos Islands, before setting its sights on Cuba, which it made landfall upon on September 7. While crossing Cuba, Ike increased substantially in size, going from a small storm to a hurricane with a diameter of more than 500 miles. After moving into the Gulf of Mexico, it strengthened to 110 mph.

Hurricane Watches were placed for the western Gulf coast, with Hurricane Warnings surrounding the Houston area. Hurricane Ike slammed the Texas Gulf coast at Galveston during the morning of September 13, with winds of 110 mph but storm surges of 15 to 20 feet.

Nearly every structure on Galveston Island and the nearby Bolivar Peninsula, Texas was destroyed, as well as significant damage to skyscrapers in downtown Houston. Several oil refineries were shut down as a result of Ike, leading to a spike in gas prices. In addition, several sporting events, including multiple baseball games for the Houston Astros, were postponed or moved. Ike would exit the region later on the 13th, bringing strong wind gusts and flooding up the Mississippi and Ohio valleys. Thousands of people have already been rescued from Galveston and nearby areas, and the relief effort will take months or years. Early estimates are of a $25 to 30 billion damage bill in Texas.

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