The Economic Impact Of Hurricane Ike In Texas

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Wilkes Professor Nora Kabaji English 100 12 July 2009 Hurricane Ike Texas was not prepared for what was about to devastate the people, animals, homes, and communities along the coast. Hurricane Ike was a huge and powerful storm that brought along a majority of the water in the Gulf of Mexico to the coast of Texas on September 13, 2008. Ike was a category two hurricane that was only one miles per hour from becoming a category three. Hurricane Ike caused a lot of damage such as flooding, wind, and even fires. Evacuations started only a couple of days before the hurricane made landfall and many decided to ride out the storm. Many people were unable to evacuate for Ike because people had just evacuated for Hurricane Gustav that ended…show more content…
Ike was a huge economic burden to the U.S. and “estimates suggest Ike may become one of the costliest hurricanes on record” (FEMA 10). Hurricanes are known for causing severe structural damage to houses, but also have an effect on many businesses as well. Many people had to evacuate and be out of work for up to two weeks due to power outage and debris. Also, some businesses were damaged by flooding and wind, which caused the loss of crucial business equipment. Businesses were flooded along the Texas coast and lost all of their vital technology such as computers, telephones, and other office equipment. This caused a huge burden on many businesses and some businesses were totally destroyed, which left many workers unemployed. Many homes were flooded from the storm surge that got as high as twenty feet. In one city alone, 3,382 out of 3,400 homes were totally destroyed due to flooding. This causes thousands of people to become homeless and displaced. Also, not every household had flood insurance, so then FEMA stepped in to assist these people. This process of FEMA stepping in to help people in need of emergency help is very expensive. Government funds are used to give people mobile homes to live in and money to help fix their destroyed homes. Insurance companies were pounded after the storm with many insurance claims due to all the flooding and wind damage. A lot of policies would not cover the flooding that was caused by storm surge. This left a lot of people with no money to fix their homes and an insurance policy that is useless. Not only were the people homeless, but also lost all of their clothes, beds, and valuables. Many of the valuables and memories could not be replaced. Very few people along the Texas coast had the proper flood insurance so homes were unsuitable to live in and lack of money to fix them. Many people abandoned their damaged homes and moved to higher
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