WORLD> America
Grave warning issued to Texas coast ahead of Hurricane Ike
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-13 00:02
A swimming prohibited sign is seen as Hurricane Ike approaches at the coast of Galveston, Texas September 12, 2008. [Agencies] 

Paul King of Galveston said hurricanes are part of life on the Texas coast. "You enjoy it 360 days of the year," he said, "And the other five, you have to get out of town."

Related readings:
 Texas prepares for a gigantic hurricane Ike
 Cars, trucks stream inland in Texas as Ike nears
 Texas evacuates parts of Gulf Coast ahead of Ike
 Ike gains strength over Gulf, heads for Texas
In a better scenario, a slight northward change in Ike's path could spare much of the Houston area and its millions of residents from catastrophic flooding by keeping the surge out of the bay and pushing it to less-populated areas.

US President George W. Bush has declared a state of emergency for Texas while Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff warned that "this is not a storm to gamble with."

Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas told the island's 60,000 people that they should leave and the city had finished evacuating to Austin thousands of residents who needed assistance leaving because of age, disability or lack of reliable transportation.

Mandatory evacuations remained in effect for low-lying coastal areas such as northeast and southwest of Galveston, in Chambers, Matagorda and Brazoria counties.

Ships in Houston port were told to leave, said Port of Houston spokeswoman Linda Whitlock.

The area's two major airports, George Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby, also halted all commercial flights.

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page