It was only a short time ago that Louisiana was stuck by a major hurricane, yet spared the wrath of another Hurricane Katrina. Now it appears to be the turn of Texas and in particular Galveston and Houston with Hurricane Ike now hitting the US gulf coast in the vicinity of those cities.
Ike has already had a devastating impact on Cuba, causing massive damage in that country. Hurricane Ike is expected to bring with it a storm tide surge of several storeys in height, which would have a massive impact on Galveston and Houston in Texas. Already there is flooding in Louisiana as a consequence of the approaching hurricane.
Residents of coastal regions in the path of Ike have been told to evacuate or face near certain death if they live in a single or two storey building. Such is the expected impact of this hurricane. Yet the latest reports out of the region suggest that as many as 90 000 people have decided to risk their lives and ride out the storm.
Hurricane Ike is not a powerful as Katrina was, yet the storm is huge and is described as being of a similar size to Texas itself. It has therefore the ability to whip up an enormous tidal surge as it approaches and hits the gulf region of the United States near Galveston.
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