Editing Bolivar Peninsula, Texas (section)

==Hurricane Ike==
[[File:BolivarReconsFlag - 22809(40).JPG|thumb|Damage, Reconstruction, and Memorial - Feb 28 2009]]

At 7:10 UST on September 13, 2008 (2:10 am local), [[Hurricane Ike]] made landfall at the east end of [[Galveston Island, Texas]], as the largest [[North Atlantic hurricane]] in recorded history.<ref>[http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/reports/billionz.html NOAA - National Climatic Data Center (U.S. Department of Commerce)]</ref> At the height of the storm, Ike's cloud mass essentially covered the entire Gulf of Mexico. The Wind and Surge Destructive Potential Classification Scale, which was detailed in Tropical Cyclone Destructive Potential by Integrated Kinetic Energy (by Dr. Mark Powell and Dr. Tim Reinhold, April 2007) offers a new way to assess hurricane size and strength by calculating the total kinetic energy contained in a 1-meter deep horizontal slice of the storm at an elevation of 10 meters above the land or ocean surface. Using this type of calculation, the integrated kinetic energy was calculated for Ike and was found to be 25 percent greater than the comparable maximum estimate for [[Hurricane Katrina]] in 2005.<ref>[http://www.disastersafety.org/resource/resmgr/pdfs/hurricane_ike.pdf Ike Wind and Surge Destructive Potential] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007020009/http://www.disastersafety.org/resource/resmgr/pdfs/hurricane_ike.pdf |date=2009-10-07 }}</ref><ref name="Wwweenewsnetpublicfeaturesdocument_cw_pdfDestruction">[http://www.eenews.net/public/25/12353/features/.../09/.../document_cw_01.pdf Destruction of the Peninsula]</ref>

Hurricane Ike caused [[wikt:cataclysmic|cataclysmic]] destruction of the peninsula, reducing the region to rubble and causing severe, permanent change in the shoreline. Entire communities along the upper Texas coast were simply wiped out by Ike's catastrophic storm surge.<ref>[http://weatherblog.abc13.com/2008/09/ikes-aftermath.html Houston Weather: Ike's Aftermath]</ref> Ike's effects were disproportionally felt near the long, low-lying Bolivar Peninsula which has typical elevations around 2&nbsp;m. Despite being only a strong category 2 storm with maximum winds at landfall of 95 knots (49&nbsp;m/s, Berg, 2009), Ike's extremely large, long-lasting surge and waves devastated the peninsula.<ref name="Wwweenewsnetpublicfeaturesdocument_cw_pdfDestruction" /> In [[Gilchrist, Texas]], NOAA aerial photography reveals complete destruction. The Rollover Pass bridge was reduced to one lane. Of the 1,000 buildings in Gilchrist, 99.5% of them were knocked off of their foundations. Of the buildings off of the foundations, the storm demolished some and washed others onto swamplands behind Gilchrist.<ref>Connelly, Richard. "[http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2008/09/goodbye_gilchrist.php Goodbye, Gilchrist] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524005036/http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2008/09/goodbye_gilchrist.php |date=May 24, 2011 }}." ''[[Houston Press]]''. September 17, 2008.</ref>

The Bolivar Peninsula was just to the right of landfall, placing it on the strong side of the hurricane. H Wind reconstructions (Powell et al., 1998) show winds blowing strongly from offshore-to-onshore for most of the [[tropical cyclone|storm]], which acted to increase both [[storm surge|surge]] and [[wave]]s. Surge is extremely important for the particular case of the Bolivar Peninsula, as it allowed large waves to penetrate inland into areas they could not otherwise have reached. Shoreline erosion was around 75&nbsp;m, which undermined the piled foundations of oceanfront buildings.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.economics.noaa.gov/?goal=weather&file=events%2Ferosion&view=costs |title=Damage, Erosion from Ike |access-date=2018-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725192618/http://www.economics.noaa.gov/?goal=weather&file=events%2Ferosion&view=costs |archive-date=2011-07-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Most other houses in this area were reduced to either piles or slabs by large waves riding on surge, with only a very few remaining more or less intact. Peak coastal surges reached {{convert|21|ft|m|adj=on}}. Water depths of at least {{convert|5|ft|m|adj=on}} covered all of the Bolivar Peninsula, with most areas covered by at least {{convert|15|ft|m|adj=on}} of water (not including wave action).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/ike/AddedInfo.HTM |title=NOAA Info Center |access-date=2009-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826171817/http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/ike/AddedInfo.HTM |archive-date=2009-08-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Much of the southern part of Chambers County was also inundated by at least {{convert|12|ft|m|adj=on}} of water. According to post-storm analyses by both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Hurricane Research Division and Applied Research Associates (ARA), a research and engineering company, the best estimates of 3-second peak wind gusts along the eastern portion of the peninsula were between 110&nbsp;mph and 115&nbsp;mph. Research observations also suggest most of eastern and southeastern Texas was subjected to tropical storm and hurricane-force winds for ten hours, and possibly longer.<ref>[http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hgx/projects/ike08.htm Ike Technical Report]</ref><ref>[http://www.waveworkshop.org/11thWaves/Papers/Kennedy_Paper.pdf Waves, Surge and Damage on the Bolivar Peninsula During Hurricane Ike]</ref>

Cindy Horswell of ''[[McClatchy - Tribune Business News]]''<!--This is the who, do NOT remove the journalist--> said that authorities said that 3,600 structures on the peninsula, 62% of them, were destroyed or severely damaged by Ike's storm surge.<ref name=Horswell>Horswell, Cindy. "Holes left in wake of storms: Ike hit before some Texas communities recovered from Rita." ''[[McClatchy - Tribune Business News]]''. January 19, 2009. Available at [[ProQuest]], document ID 456273366</ref> By January 2009, 40% of Bolivar Peninsula's population had returned. Of the Bolivar Peninsula communities, [[Gilchrist, Texas|Gilchrist]] received the fewest returnees.<ref name=Horswell/>

===Bolivar Peninsula after Ike===
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File:Hurricane Ike Gilchrist damage edit.jpg
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File:Hurricane Ike Bolivar Peninsula, TX.jpg
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