How badly did Hurricane Ike damage downtown Houston?
Hurricane Ike slammed the Texas and Louisiana coast on Saturday with ferocious winds and a wall of water that flooded hundreds of miles, cut power to millions and caused billions of dollars in damage. But relieved officials and residents said Ike may not have caused the catastrophe they had feared in the densely populated region. The storm, which idled about a quarter of U.S. crude oil production and fuel refining capacity, paralyzed Houston, the country’s fourth-largest city, shattering skyscraper windows and showering streets with debris. Ike could lead to $8 billion to $18 billion in insurance claims, according to an early insurance industry computer-modeled estimate of damage. Ike was the biggest storm to hit a U.S. city since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. Houston is home to 2.2 million people and a metropolitan area of 5.6 million residents. Unlike much of the United States, the city has a booming economy thanks in part to demand for energy. Sources:
Before the storm made landfall Saturday morning, damage forecasts ranged from $8 billion to $25 billion, but then the storm’s path spun away from the heart of Houston’s ship channel and refining and chemical plants. Howard Mills, insurance adviser to the consulting firm Deloitte LLP, said the early forecasts were “a little bit high.” “Houston is a mess, but not as bad as it could have been if the surge had gone up that ship channel,” Mills said. “But you’re still looking at very significant business-interruption losses. The power outages in downtown Houston alone are a problem.” Beyond Texas, Ike’s most obvious impact was being felt at the gas pump. Federal officials had bad news for motorists when they announced Sunday that the storm destroyed at least 10 oil and gas platforms and damaged pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico. Sources: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080914/ike_economy.html?.
Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city, was reduced to near-paralysis in some places. Power was on in downtown office towers Sunday afternoon, and Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical complex, was unscathed and remained open. Both places have underground power lines. Its two airports — including George Bush Intercontinental, one of the busiest in the United States — were set to reopen Monday with limited service, but schools were closed until further notice, and the business district was shuttered. Of the 21 dead, five were in the hard-hit barrier island city of Galveston, including one body found in a vehicle submerged in floodwater at the airport. Many deaths, however, were outside of Texas as the storm slogged north. Ike’s 110 mph winds and battering waves left Galveston without electricity, gas and basic communications — and officials estimated it may not be restored for a month. “We want our citizens to stay where they are,” a weary Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said. “Do
