Hurricane Ike's huge wind field contributed to values of integrated kinetic energy in excess of 120 TJ, rendering a 5.1 on the Surge Destructive Potential scale despite an intensity not worthy of classification as a major hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. A detailed reconstruction of Hurricane Ike's wind fields was combined with USGS water level time series and simulations from a 3D Finite Volume Coastal Ocean Circulation Model (FVCOM) to understand relationships between time of landfall, time of peak wind speed, and time of water level peaks at a variety of locations. Results indicate variability in the timing of peaks relative to time of landfall related to the complexity of the coastline and bottom topography, as modulated by the forerunner wave.