The layout of a balance sheet reflects the basic accounting equation: Assets = Liabilities + Owners' Equity. with assets listed on the left side and liabilities and equity detailed on the right. Consistent with the equation, the total dollar amount is always the same for each side. In other words, the left and right sides of a balance sheet are always in balance.
Hurricane Ike was the first hurricane to hit the Houston area since Hurricane Jerry in October of 1989 and the first big hurricane to hit since Hurricane Alicia in 1983. Ike is the hurricane that changed the Saffir-Simpson scale, the scale that rates how strong a hurricane is, as we know it.
Today is the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Ike. When it swept through Houston in 2008 -- and was subsequently swept under the rug by national media thanks to a collapsing economy -- it packed much more punch than anyone expected.