Join a panel of elected officials, journalists and scholars to discuss the events and circumstances surrounding Hurricane Ike. Before the hurricane roared ashore in the early morning hours on Sept. 13, 2008, Gulf Coast residents in some areas were warned of "certain death" if they did not evacuate. And the damage was indeed catastrophic and deadly. Ike left its mark as the costliest storm in Texas history, with initial damage estimates as high as $22 billion. Approximately 75 percent of the homes in Galveston were damaged, and the streets of downtown Houston were filled with glass that was blown out of the windows of its office towers. Almost as painful as the initial landfall was the agonizing recovery process that left many victims frustrated and angry with the federal government.
So what lessons did we learn? Could the loss of life and property have been minimized? And how could the recovery effort have been improved? This panel examines what can be done now to lessen the impact of Texas" next killer storm.