Hurricane Ike, which struck the United States in September 2008, was the ninth most expensive hurricane in terms of damages. It caused nearly $30 billion in damage, of which nearly $12B were insured losses, after making landfall on the Bolivar Peninsula, Texas. We used the Delft3d-FM/SWAN hydrodynamic and spectral wave model to simulate the storm surge inundation around Galveston Bay during Hurricane Ike. Damage curves were established through the eight hydrodynamic parameters (water depth, flow velocity, unit discharge, flow momentum flux, significant wave height, wave energy flux, total water depth (flow depth plus wave height), and total (flow plus wave) force) simulated by the model. We found that the damage curves are sensitive to the model grid resolution, building elevation, and the number of stories.
Citation to related publication:
Xu et al. (2023). Damage curves derived from Hurricane Ike in the west of Galveston Bay based on insurance claims and hydrodynamic simulations.