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During Hurricane Ike, the storm surge swept more than ten miles inland. It wiped out the hunt clubs east of Anahuac National Wildlife refuge. That winter, I saw the largest congregation of snow geese I have ever seen in my life. An estimated 300,000 snow geese darkened the sky. When the flock settled, neighboring rice fields looked as white as snow. The sound of this many geese honking at each other was deafening.