Kentucky Remembers Hurricane Ike’s Surprising Impact in 2008

There's no question about it. In terms of weather news around the United States, nothing is dominating the headlines quite like Hurricane Erin. While the massive and powerful storm isn't expected to make landfall, it's certainly having some impacts along the eastern coast of the country as it continues to make its way north.

I suppose we're a bit lucky here in the Midwest. Though we routinely have to deal with tornado threats, we rarely have to deal with the impacts of hurricanes. But, residents who lived here in Kentucky and surrounding states back in 2008 are well aware that we're certainly not immune to those tropical monstrosities. It was September of that year that the Commonwealth was hammered by Hurricane Ike.

HOW STRONG WAS HURRICANE IKE?

Ike- a Category 4 storm- initially plowed through Grand Turk, Haiti, and Cuba. It eventually made its final landfall in Galveston, Texas on September 13th, 2008. The day after, it morphed into extratropical storm that continued to make its way north and through the central part of the U.S. That storm caused major damage and deaths in the following states- Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

HURRICANE IKE IN KENTUCKY

Here in Kentucky, the winds we experienced were indeed hurricane-force. Those winds and their impacts were captured on camera. It's astounding to watch this. This looks like hurricane season-footage from the Caribbean.

Get our free mobile app

As you can imagine, trees were knocked down.

There was substantial structural damage to buildings and major power outages throughout the state.

Then Governor Steve Beshear declared a statewide state of emergency.

Today, Ike still ranks inside the Top 10 of the costliest hurricanes in the history of the U.S.