The perfect storm

Published: Sept. 2, 2017, 4:05 a.m.

Hurricane Harvey brought unprecedented rain and destruction to Houston, and it likely will take years for the city to recover. In the aftermath of the storm, we get an eyewitness account of what residents are experiencing from Reveal’s Neena Satija.

Then we revisit her earlier reporting about Houston’s vulnerability to hurricanes and rain.

In 2008, Hurricane Ike swept through Texas and resulted in billions of dollars in damage. But it could have been much worse. Just like Harvey, that storm turned at the last minute and didn’t hit Houston head on. So imagine if Ike happened again, but with slightly higher winds, and this time, the storm didn’t turn but headed straight toward Houston.

In this hour of Reveal, we work with The Texas Tribune and ProPublica to take a look at a computer model of a worst-case hurricane called “Mighty Ike,” and what that would mean for Houston and the nation.