On Labor Day, September 1, 2008, forecasters announced that Tropical Storm Ike had formed over the Atlantic Ocean. The storm was first spotted about 1,400 miles off the coast of the Leeward Islands, moving west at 16 miles per hour. Ike moved across the Caribbean, eventually reaching Category 3 Hurricane strength.
Hurricane Ike was downgraded to a Tropical Storm on September 13, 2008, after 12 days of destruction and death spread across Cuba and the Texas coast of the Gulf of Mexico.1
Tropical Storm Ike became Hurricane Ike on September 3, 2008. Over the next few days it fluctuated between Category 3 and 4. It made landfall in Cuba on September 7 and 9, where over a million residents were forced to evacuate. Homes were destroyed and four residents were killed during the storm.3
Two days after leaving Cuba, Ike grew in strength again, crossing the Gulf and targeting Galveston Bay in Texas. Ike made landfall in the early morning of September 13, 2008 just short of a Category 3 storm.4 By 1:00 p.m. CDT, the storm was downgraded to a Tropical Storm as headed up the Texas/Louisiana Border.5
Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Hanna | Hurricane Ike Storm Surge | Tropical Storm Paloma