Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike (pronounced /ˈaɪk/) was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008. The intensity of Ike and its abnormally large size wrought havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. In these places, Ike remains the costliest tropical cyclone on record. Other locations were also seriously affected by Ike, which was ultimately the third costliest of any Atlantic hurricane and resulted in $25 billion in damages.

Ike developed from a tropical wave west of Cape Verde on September 1 and strengthened to a peak intensity as a Category 4 hurricane over the open waters of the central Atlantic on September 4 as it tracked westward. Several fluctuations in strength occurred before Ike made landfall on eastern Cuba on September 8. The hurricane weakened prior to continuing into the Gulf of Mexico, but increased its intensity by the time of its final landfall on Galveston, Texas on September 13. The remnants of Ike continued to track across the United States and into Canada, causing considerable damage inland, before dissipating two days later.