Hurricane Ike Video Series – Part 1

On the morning of September 13, 2008, the eye of Hurricane Ike approached the Texas coast near Galveston Bay, making landfall at 2:10 a.m. CDT over the east end of Galveston Island. People in low-lying areas who had not heeded evacuation orders, in single-family one- or two-story homes, were warned by the weather service that they may “face certain death” from the overnight storm surge.

In regional Texas towns, electrical power began failing before 8 p.m. CDT, leaving millions without power (estimates range from 2.8 million to 4.5 million customers).

September 11, 2008 – parts of southeast Texas have started calling for a voluntary evacuation.

During the evacuation, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) took control of the red lights to streamline the evacuation.

September 12, 2008, 10:31 AM Central Time Zone – The forecast models have changed, and now the impact point is Galveston, Texas. A projected path put the storm south of Galveston, more towards Texas City. But now, it looks like the Beaumont, Orange and Port Arthur areas will be getting storm surge.

Because of the change in path, my family and I now have to leave our home and seek stronger shelter.