Federal officials said Sunday it appears Hurricane Ike destroyed at least 10 production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and damaged some pipelines.
The full extent of the damage, including the amount of fuel capacity involved, hasn't been determined.
Ike is blamed for at least 16 deaths in the U.S., six of them in Texas. Three people have been found dead in Galveston, including one person found in a submerged vehicle near the airport.
In Houston, a 4-year-old boy died of carbon monoxide poisoning blamed on a generator being used inside the house.
Two people were killed in Louisiana and one in Arkansas, a man who died when a tree fell on his mobile home.
Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 people in Texas who refused orders to evacuate before Hurricane Ike have been rescued by land, air and water.
"Priority one is search and rescue," Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw said. "Thus far, 394 by air have been rescued and overall, 1,948 citizens down here have been rescued."
"There's not a square foot of Galveston Island, and for that matter southeast Texas, that will not be searched and, when people are found, rescued," McCraw said.
Officials in Galveston, where Ike came ashore early Saturday, are urging residents who evacuated to stay away for now.
"Galveston has been hit hard," Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said. "We have no power. We have no gas. We have no communications. We're not sure when any of that will be up and running."
Thomas said residents who evacuated should not even think about coming home now, reported KPRC-TV in Houston.
"Do not come back to Galveston," she said. "You cannot live here at this time."
"It is pretty obvious that there is substantial and long-term damage done to Galveston Island," Gov. Rick Perry said.
The West End was particularly hard hit.
"The devastation was horrendous," Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc said. "I counted at least 30 homes that were out in the water. I saw homes that were picked up off the piling and set down alongside the piling. I saw massive erosion that's occurred and tons and tons of debris."
LeBlanc said he did see one positive thing.
"We saw cattle that survived," he said. "Must have swam around all night, but they swam and were out and walking around. That's the only life I saw on the West End of the island."
LeBlanc said it was not known if anyone stayed on the West End despite a mandatory evacuation order.
Perry said the state has made arrangements for residents who did not evacuate to be able to go to shelters around Texas.
"We have about 2,000 that stayed that still want to leave," LeBlanc said. "That ought to send you a strong message not to come back."
LeBlanc said CenterPoint Energy is working to restore power at the University of Texas Medical Branch Hospital, but it will take at least a week.
"They're in line first," LeBlanc said.
Perry remained optimistic that the island will return to normal one day.
"Hurricane Ike threw us a hard punch but didn't dent our spirit," Perry said. "Galveston Island will be back better than ever and is one of the great gems of the Gulf Coast."
Ike has weakened to a tropical depression but still packs winds up to 35 mph as it dumps rain over Arkansas and travels across Missouri.
President George W. Bush planned to travel to Texas on Tuesday to express sympathy and lend support to the storm's victims. He asked people who evacuated before the hurricane to listen to local authorities before trying to return home.
Houston Inconvenienced; Curfew In Effect
The city of Houston has been dragged to a virtual stop by Hurricane Ike.
It's normally a bustling metropolis described by the governor as the economic heart of Texas, a headquarters for the oil industry, medical research and space technology. Now, the business district stands shuttered until further notice. Courts, schools, the airports and many gas stations are closed. And the main east-west freeway is shut down.
Long lines formed Sunday at hardware stores as the city's 2 million people began the chore of fixing what's broken.
Trees block streets and driveways. There's still some flooding. Skyscrapers in the nation's fourth-largest city had their windows blown out. And some major corporations plan to keep their offices closed Monday.
Houston officials announced that a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew would begin Sunday and last until Saturday. Most of the city has lost electricity, streets are littered with debris and police are worried about the safety of residents.
Police said residents should not be on the streets during the curfew unless it's an emergency.
On Sunday, heavy thunderstorms rolled through southeast Texas, hampering the cleanup in the aftermath of Ike, KPRC-TV in Houston reported.
"It's rough again today," meteorologist Anthony Yanez said. "For those of us who have trees in our homes, you get something like this and it does a lot more damage than what you already had."
"There's the possibility that some areas will see an additional 3 to 5 inches of rain and then maybe 1 to 2 inches widespread," Yanez said.
There is one bright side to the storms -- it isn't windy.
"We're not seeing any kind of strong winds with this," Yanez said.
Millions of homes and businesses were still without power.
Evacuees Face Long Stays In Makeshift Shelters
Ike has moved on, but the storm's deadly surge has kept thousands of evacuees holed up in some cramped quarters, unable to return to flooded neighborhoods left dark without electricity.
Nearly 5,000 evacuees are housed in shelters in San Antonio. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said more than 4,000 people rode out the storm in tents, RVs and campers.
In Tyler, city officials are trying to figure out what to do with 1,600 people huddled inside what once served as a Wal-Mart warehouse.
Previous Stories: - September 13, 2008: Ike Weakens; Search For Victims Under Way
- September 13, 2008: Gas Prices Spice Around US As Ike Hits
- September 13, 2008: Eye Of Hurricane Ike Slams Texas Shore
- September 12, 2008: Hundreds Of La. Homes Flood As Ike Passes
- September 12, 2008: Storm Surges Flood Venetian Isles, La.
- September 12, 2008: Hurricane Ike Begins To Batter Texas Coast
- September 12, 2008: 22 On Lame Ship OK After Worst Of Ike Roars By
- September 12, 2008: Boy, 10, Dies When Dad Preps Yard For Ike
- September 12, 2008: Weather Officials Warn Of 'Certain Death'
- September 10, 2008: Evacuations Begin In Texas Ahead Of Ike
- September 9, 2008: Texas Ponders Evacuation As Ike Hits Gulf
- September 9, 2008: Ike Veers From Keys; Texas Prepares
- September 7, 2008: Ike Moves To Cuba, May Miss Keys
- September 3, 2008: Ike Upgraded to Category 3 Hurricane
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
LIVE: 
No comments:
Post a Comment