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Hurricane Ike made landfall early Saturday morning as a Category 2 storm near Galveston, Texas.  The size of the hurricane was gigantic, nearly filling up the entire Gulf of Mexico, extending edge to edge  from the Texas-Mexico border on one side to the Eastern border of Louisiana on the other.

Millions of residents are still without power and many areas remain flooded.  Reliant stadium, home to the Houston Texans, was also damaged, forcing the NFL to reschedule the game to November 9.

With much of the nation’s refinery capacity located in the region, gasoline prices are expected to hit $4 once again despite the recent fall in the price of crude oil.  It’s still not known when refining operations will begin again as much of the focus is on assessing the damage and clean up operations.

Initial estimates for insured property damages ranges from between 8 and 18 billion.  When it’s all said and done, Hurricane Ike may well rank as the third most expensive hurricane in U.S. history behind Andrew and Katrina.

Emergency crews have their hands full and some are saying it could be weeks before power is fully restored.  FEMA is also finding it difficult to deliver relief supplies to the most devastated areas.

For now the 2 million residents who evacuated from Ike’s path are being told to stay away and it could be some time before they are allowed to come back.