Estimates by me may differ from official reports - Hurricane Ike is the 6th costliest storm in US history, and was the second costliest worldwide before being eclipsed multiple times. Ike started off in the MDR before rapidly intensifying. Ike struck the Bahamas and then Cuba, which was impacted Hurricane Gustav just days earlier, and would be impacted by Hurricane Paloma a few weeks later, making 2008 the worst season on record for Cuba. Ike then moved into the gulf. Although the storm did not intensify significantly - only to a category 2 - Ike's wind field became massive. Ike struck Texas on September 13 and caused massive damage. Although Ike was only a category 2, the storm featured a category 5 storm surge and affected a massive area. When Ike made landfall, tropical storm force winds were felt as far as Mississippi. As a result, Ike became the second costliest storm on record for the time - and it didn't help that the US was in the middle of a massive financial crisis either. - Tags: #Scratchmaster295 #TropicalCyclone #Hurricane #Meteorology #HurricaneIke #Ike #Texas #Weather #Animations
