- Hurricane Ike is the third costliest storm in American history, and it caused at least $27 billion in damages. Twelve-foot surge levels ruined entire neighborhoods on Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula.
- At least 22 Texas counties sustained damages and high winds produced more than 1,500 miles of damage, stretching into the Midwest.
- Hurricane Ike was not just a Gulf Coast tragedy. The storm claimed 72 lives across the country, more than 35 lives in Texas alone.
- There are about 7,000 households still without power in Galveston County.
- About a third of the people who live in Galveston County are still displaced, including 90 percent of residents on the Bolivar Peninsula and about 25 percent of residents in the peninsula’s San Leon area.
- Approximately 75 percent of the structures on Galveston Island sustained damage
in the storm, much of that due to floodwaters.
- The island’s only hospital, the University of Texas Medical Branch, sustained an estimated $700 million in damages. Although UTMB has been able to reopen some departments, staff is only able to use one out of every eight beds.
- Galveston Island schools reopened in early October with only 60 percent of the normal enrollment.
- At Bermuda Beach, where Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton visited on October 14, the cost to fix water, sewer, and road damage is estimated at $4 million. That figure is $150 million island-wide.
- This Bush Clinton Coastal Recovery Fund, a donor-directed 501(c)(3) fund, marks the third time Presidents Bush and Clinton have led a joint disaster recovery effort. In 2005, the two leaders helped rebuild the lives of individuals and communities affected by the Southeast Asia Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.
- The Bush Clinton Coastal Recovery Fund will provide grants to 501(c)(3) organizations, coordinating closely with civic and community leaders in the hardest hit areas along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast to identify and assist with the rebuilding of critical community infrastructure and services such as schools, libraries, hospitals, community health centers, and services for mental health.
- Every dollar donated to the fund is tax deductible and will go to hurricane recovery efforts.
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