DAYTON — September 14 marks not only the day Hurricane Florence made landfall on the Carolina coast, it's the anniversary of Ohio's most expensive natural disaster in recent state history--the windstorm related to Hurricane Ike, which swept across Dayton on September 14, 2008.
Wind speeds exceeded 75 mph, making the impact equal to a Category 1 hurricane hitting Ohio.
The hardest hit counties in the Miami Valley were south of I-70. People lived without power for weeks.
More than 2-million Ohio residents lost power, and the disaster led to $1.255 billion in insured losses.
Hurricane Ike first wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast states of Texas and Louisiana when it made landfall on September 13, 2008. The Category 2 hurricane remnants then moved north to Ohio. The damage caused by the hurricane force winds prompted state of emergency declarations in 29 Ohio counties.
Ice, generators, gasoline and chain saws disappeared quickly across the Dayton area. Many people lived by flashlights and candles for weeks while power workers from surrounding states worked around the clock to repair downed lines and restore electricity to communities.
