Hurricane Ike
“I fight for my friends.”
Hurricane Ike, rating 34th on the EIH (Eisenhower Intensity Scale), was an Interstate hurricane that made inroads into Galveston and Houston, Texas on the night of September 13, 2008. During the Second World War, Ike served as Supreme Commander of the Gulf of Mexico, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of Texas. As a major tropical storm, Ike oversaw the cease-fire of the Galveston Crips and Rollin' 20s, participated in the Space Program by visiting NASA Houston Space Center, and christened Interstate 45 with 110 mph winds.
History[edit | edit source]
As a fledgling storm, Ike served with the West Africa infantry until August 22, 2008. He became the #3 leader of the 14th Division of Easterly Waves, but never saw combat. Ike moved to the coastal city of Dakar before assuming oceangoing duties on the Atlantic Ocean. His interest in intensification was strengthened by many conversations with Hurricane Patton. And of course, you'll get no sympathy from Ike.
Through most of early September 2008, the Americans had rightly regarded the possibility of a successful Hurricane Invasion in the western Gulf as remote. Preparations to counter an invasion were limited to the construction of seawalls, beachfront homes, and general apathy. The number of forces at the disposal of Ike reached its peak around September 10 with 59 thunderstorm divisions stationed around the north and east periphery of the storm.
A full high tide was required for Ike to unleash his assault, effectively limiting the window of opportunity for mounting the invasion to only a couple of hours each night. Ike had tentatively selected selected September 13 as the date for the assault. However, conditions were clearly unsuitable for a landing on this date as the New York Giants would be taking on St. Louis at Edward Jones Dome Sunday and Ike wanted to attend. On this basis, Hurricane Ike, after much consideration, decided to commence the invasion Friday night, despite opposition from some of his feeder band staff.
The best part about Hurricane Ike is that I got to miss school for 2 weeks, which led to the cancellation of all finals. By some high school students, Hurricane Ike was considered a God-sent storm as an answer to their prayers. Their parents thought otherwise.
The invasion[edit | edit source]
On Bolivar Peninsula, the 14th Spiral Band Infantry came ashore around 8 pm Friday night. They had advanced about 8 kilometres (5 mi) inland in mere minutes, but failed to make some of the deliberately ambitious targets like Houston. In particular, Houston Minute Maid Stadium a major objective, was still in American hands by the end of D-Day, and would remain so until the Battle for Houston on September 13.
The Beaufort Wind Forces that landed on Galveston Island faced heavy batteries of levees, houses on stilts, other concrete fortifications, and a seawall twice the height of the ones in New Orleans. Despite the obstacles, the Wind Forces were off the beach within hours and advancing inland. The Sea Forces were the only units to reach their D-Day objectives, although most units fell back a few kilometres to stronger defensive positions.
At Galveston Bay, the toll on the storm was also quite heavy, because the Americans had evacuated most of the population. However, the 50th Eyewall Division overcame these difficulties and advanced almost to the outskirts of Houston by the end of the night. The linkup with Supercell Commando Units securing central Texas gave Ike a base to deploy their destructive rainfall barrage on inland Texas. The then pushed deep into the interior of the nation, but lost the Battle of Ohio after heavy casulties.