Ike may have come in one mph below a Cat 3 but the storm surge was the equivalent of at least a 4 and moved a lot of Galveston from the Gulf to the Bay. Heard several reporters from out of town who were reporting at the time that there seemed to be minimal damage, but they didn’t know the before versus the after. Many of us are still trying to recover - 5 years later.
Much of the damage from Katrina was because the levee system didn’t function as it should, not because of the storm.
Since we are now at the 5 year anniversary of Ike, there has been much local discussion. Galveston reportedly could be protected from future surge damage for only about $16 Billion dollars.
I was visiting the woman who is now my wife and left the area on Labor Day, just a few days before it hit. Moved down to the area three weeks later once the power was restored.