Hurricane (Typhoon) — Hardin, Texas

2008-09-12 to 2008-09-13 · Hardin, Texas

Event narrative

Hurricane Ike caused category 1 wind damage across Hardin County. Many trees and power lines were downed, some landing on homes and businesses.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Ike caused wind damage and significant storm surge flooding across southeast Texas. Ike made landfall near Galveston, TX early in the morning on September 13th as a strong category 2 hurricane.

Sustained hurricane force winds were confined to Jefferson County, Hardin County, western Orange County, southernwestern Jasper County, and western Tyler County. The highest recorded winds were at Southeast Texas Regional Airport with sustained winds of 61 kts (70 mph) and gusts of 83 kts (96 mph). The lowest pressure reading also occurred at Southeast Texas Regional Airport, with a low of 982.4 mb.

No tornadoes were reported in southeast Texas.

Storm surge was a significant event. Sabine Pass had its highest water level recorded during Ike, with a maximum of 14.24 ft MLLW. This storm surge almost topped the seawall around Port Arthur, but large waves did crash over the seawall, causing some flooding of homes within 3 blocks of the seawall. In Orange County, Bridge City had nearly all of their homes flooded (over 3000), and this extended north to Rose City, and northeast to the city of Orange, where water topped the levee on the east side of town. Over 3000 homes were also flooded in Orange.

Maximum storm total rainfall was between 5 and 8 inches across Jefferson, Hardin, Orange, and southern Jasper counties.

Only one fatality occurred during Ike. A 40 year old man was trying to drive back to his home in Port Neches. His truck was swept off Highway 73 near Rainbow Bridge by the large storm surge and waves.

Total damages, however, were high. Loses are estimated to be at least 1.3 billion dollars across southeast Texas.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 136889. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.