Remember when a hurricane hit Ohio, 14 years ago today?
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.
>>RELATED: Hurricane Ike: Ohio hit with its costliest storm 13 years ago today
Wind speeds exceeded 75 mph, making the impact equal to a Category 1 hurricane hitting Ohio.
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.
Across the state, 84 counties reported windstorm damage and power outages.
State of emergency declarations were issued in 29 counties: Brown, Butler, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Columbiana, Coshocton, Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Highland, Knox, Licking, Madison, Marion, Miami, Montgomery, Morrow, Perry, Preble, Richland, Seneca, Stark, Tuscarawas and Warren.
The hardest hit counties in the Miami Valley were south of Interstate 70 and 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.
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.
