On the morning of September 13, hurricane Ike hit Galveston Island, Texas, an island just off the coast of Texas. The hurricane was a category two and formed a wall of water that was 20 feet high.

Even though a mandatory evacuation was in place, about 40 percent of the residents decided to take their chances and stay in their homes. In many cases, the extent of the storm’s damage was a surprise and turned out to be worse than expected.

Ike caused flooding all along the shore and sporadic house fires burned down houses. The flooding shut down several oil refineries and caused an increase in gas prices. Areas surrounding the Gulf Coast especially felt the incline with a 20 cent increase.

The winds in the eye of the hurricane were estimated to be about 110 miles per hour with waves as high as 50 feet in the Gulf. These winds blew all the way to New Orleans, Louisiana at 50 miles per hour.

Although Maryland experienced no effects, some students, like sophomore Whytni Crist, who have family living in Texas, was aware fo the damage.

“I am happy that none of my family was affected by the hurricane, but I also feel bad for the families who have been affected by the storm,” Crist said.

Damage repair costs are estimated at $27 billion. In addition, there have been 143 deaths, primarily in Haiti, due to Ike. Ike is the third most costly Atlantic hurricane of all time.

Hurricane Ike was not the only hurricane that came through during the 2008 hurricane season. Before Ike, hurricanes Gustav and Hanna aroused excitement as well. Hanna was originally categorized as a hurricane at, but was soon downgraded to the level of a tropical depression.

“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing when I found out about all the hurricanes that were coming at once,” freshman Piper Spiller said.

Gustav was a category two hurricane, only one mile per hour below a category three. It caused $15 billion in damages. Gustav hit the U.S. on the coast of Louisiana, near the city of Cocodrie. 138 deaths were attributed to the hurricane in the U.S. and the Caribbean.

Hanna struck Myrtle Beach, South Carolina before it turned into a tropical cyclone. It caused at least 536 deaths, mostly in Haiti, due to extreme flooding. It was named the deadliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Ocean since Hurricane Stan in 2005.

Senior Justine Sery feels sympathetic towards the damage that Hanna created because she has an aunt who lives in Myrtle Beach.

“It was really unfortunate that this hurricane hit where it did because my family is feeling the damage. When someone you know is involved you care more about things that you would usually overlook,” Sery said.