Hurricane Ike made landfall on Galveston Island on Septermber 13th at 2:10am CDT as a Category - 2 with winds of 110mph and a central pressure of 952mb... This track was VERY similar to the Great 1900 Galveston hurricane... Of course the 1900 hurricane was a stronger and smaller 145mph Category 4 with a central pressure of 936mb... However you have to consider that the seawall didn't exist back in 1900... At the time the highest part of the island was only 9 feet and a surge of 15-20 feet killed at least 6,000 people with numbers closer to 10,000 more likely... This lead to the construction of a 17 foot seawall in 1902 that was finished in 1911... Four years later Galveston was tested by the 1915 hurricane which was a 135mph Category - 4 with a central pressure of 940mb... Thankfully the 17 foot seawall held up to the 16 foot storm surge... Point being that without the seawall I wonder if Galveston would exist! When it's all said and done Hurricane Ike's surge will be similar to both the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the Galveston 1915 Hurricane...
Storm Surge Estimates:
Galveston (St. Luis Hotel): 19 feet
Galveston (West End): 18 feet
Sabine Pass (Texas/Louisiana Border): 14.5 feet
Crystal Beach (Goat Island): 14 feet
Lake Charles: 11 feet
Wind Speed Estimates:
W. Park/Hillcrest Houston, TX: 112 mph
Galveston Beach: 104 mph
Anahuac, TX: 102 mph
Sea Rim Park: 99 mph
Sabine Pass: 95 mph
Hobby Airport: 92 mph
On a side note I have read many chaser accounts on stormtrack.org which claim wind gusts near 125 mph on Galveston Island... Granted I was on the 3rd floor of a parking deck, but I would agree with those estimates 100%
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