Hurricane Ike reportedly killed 55 people along the Gulf Coast, caused $27 billion in damage and it also touched the lives of several DU students.

Sophomore Chelsea Miller’s family lives in Houston but owned a beach house on the Bolivar Peninsula. That beach house was swept away before the storm even hit land. Miller’s family also has a house in Houston and trimmed their trees three days before the hurricane hit.

“Every year before hurricane season we have the trees trimmed,” said Miller. She reported no damage to the house, although a pine was uprooted and fell across the street.

Nonetheless, the Millers were among the millions who lost electricity. As of press time, the family is still without power. They also cannot go to inspect the damage to their beachfront property since the bridge to the peninsula was destroyed, and the ferries connecting it to the mainland are not operating.

Miller’s father works in downtown Houston but he is unable to work in his building because the storm blew out all the windows. Miller said her parents remain optimistic.

“We still have the land so were going to rebuild in a few years,” she said.

Senior Matt Whiteman’s family also lives in Houston. Whiteman’s dad works for Exxon Mobil which evacuated him to Dallas as part of a Hurricane Response Team. A tree fell and hit their house in Houston. The electricity was out at their home for a while but is now restored.

“I didn’t directly experience it, but it was scary nonetheless,” said Whiteman about the hurricane. He kept in close touch with his family.

Sophomore Rick Anderson’s grandmother had a stilted beach house on Galveston Bay but it too was swept away by the storm surge. Anderson’s grandmother is safe, as she does not live in her beach house.

Anderson’s aunt and uncles evacuated to their relatives in Austin and San Antonio. Both of his uncles’ homes were left without power for days, and his nieces and nephews were not able to go to school for a few days because they were shut down.

“They are all back already,” said Anderson about his aunt and uncles who evacuated. “They never felt particularly threatened [by the hurricane].”