Texas is home to the Houston Ship Channel, one of the world’s busiest maritime waterways. Also in Houston, and along the Ship Channel, are refineries and chemical plants that make up the nation’s largest refining and petrochemical complex. It’s a major economic hub.
But what would happen to the area if a major hurricane hit?
In 2008, Hurricane Ike swept through Texas, and resulted in billions of dollars in damages. But it could have been much worse. The 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 what would happen if a worst-case storm hit the region in the not-so-distant future – a storm that scientists have dubbed “Mighty Ike.”
