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It was a Cape Verde-type hurricane, as it started as a tropical disturbance off the coast of Africa near the end of August, very much like the 1900 storm that struck Galveston. By the early morning hours of September 4, Ike was a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 km/h) and a pressure of 935 mbar (27.61 inHg).

Making landfall over Galveston, at 2:10 a.m. CDT on 13 September 2008, "giant" Hurricane Ike caused extensive damage in Texas, with sustained winds of 110 mph (175 km/h), a 21.5-ft (6.5 m) storm surge, and widespread coastal flooding.

More than 14,000 people had failed to evacuate, partly due to fears of multi-hour traffic jams as during Hurricane Rita, but over 940 were rescued from rising waters, and nearly 2,000 rescued afterward.

37 people are known to have lost their lives in Texas attributed to Ike while dozens are still missing.

The storm came ashore hours before daybreak with 110-mph (175 km/h) winds and towering waves, pushing boats ashore, smashing many houses, flooding thousands of homes, knocking out windows in Houston's skyscrapers, uprooting trees, and cutting electric power to millions of customers (estimates range from 2.8 million to 4.5 million customers) for weeks or months.

Some people survived by punching holes in attics, climbing to rooftops or trees, using nearby boats, or floating on debris until reaching solid ground.

Afterward, an estimated 100,000 homes had been flooded in Texas, and numerous boats washed ashore. Galveston was declared uninhabitable, and Houston imposed a week-long nighttime curfew due to limited electric power.

Landfall had been predicted near Freeport, Texas, by the National Hurricane Center, as of Wednesday, 10 September 2008. However, the actual landfall was further east, over the east end of Galveston Island, with the eye centered over Galveston Bay. Because some winds blew from the north at Galveston, water was pushed back out into the Gulf, and the actual storm surge in Galveston Bay was 19 ft (5.8 m), rather than the original prediction of over 25 ft (7.6 m).

On the night of September 12, 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, near Texas City. People in low-lying areas who had not heeded evacuation orders, in single-family one- or two-story homes, had been warned by the weather service that they "faced certain death" in the overnight storm surge.

Hurricane Ike's storm surge was the highest ever measured for a Category 4 storm. Sabine Pass recorded the surge as 21.5 ft (6.5 m), the highest surge ever recorded at that station.
In Gulf Coast towns, electrical power began failing before 8 p.m. CDT, leaving more than 3 million people without power. In addition, grocery store shelves in the Houston area were left empty.

Rainfall estimates indicated that 2-day rainfall totals from mid-day Friday through mid-day Saturday exceeded 20 inches (50 cm) in parts of both northern Harris County and southern Montgomery County, with a multi-county area receiving at least 10 inches (25 cm) of rainfall.

For more detailed information on the devastation of Hurricane Ike on the Texas Gulf Coast, please click here.

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