Rescue teams scoured rubble and searched flooded homes on Sunday in a huge rescue effort after Hurricane Ike cut a swathe of destruction through Texas, knocking out power for millions of people.
State and local officials urged the federal government to speed relief efforts, complaining that crucial supplies like ice and water were arriving too slowly. About two million people fled the region ahead of the storm while about 2 000 were rescued from flooded areas.
”We expect Fema to deliver these supplies, and we will hold them accountable,” a visibly frustrated Houston Mayor Bill White told a televised news conference, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Ike plowed a destructive path through the state after slamming into the Texas coast early on Saturday, shredding the island city of Galveston and moving inland to pound Houston, the heart of the US oil industry.
Reuters energy correspondent Erwin Seba reported that 12 of the 15 Texas oil refineries shut as a precaution showed no visible signs of flooding or damage — a sign fuel production could resume more quickly than initially thought. However power failures could still hinder their resumption.
Clean-up operations continued in the debris-strewn streets of Houston but there was no chance that the city, a bustling energy centre, would be back to business as usual on Monday. The two major airports servicing the city were to reopen on a limited basis after closing on Friday.
Over four million people, several refineries and many businesses remained without power while most gas stations in the area were shut. Restoration, relief and rescue efforts were hampered by downed trees and other damage but flood waters were receding in some areas.
At least three bodies were found in the island city of Galveston which sustained some of the worst damage of the storm. The scale of destruction became apparent as authorities allowed more people to return.
The downtown area, containing the few buildings that survived a hurricane in 1900 that killed thousands, was under a layer of foul smelling mud and sewage.
‘Like a war zone’
”It looks like a war zone. Everything is gone. It’s heartbreaking,” said Susan Rybick, a retiree driving the sea front with her husband John.
The hurricane swamped Galveston as it crashed ashore on Saturday and hammered Houston, 85km inland, shattering skyscraper windows, showering streets with debris, tearing up trees and damaging buildings.
”It’s pretty obvious there was substantial and long-term damage done to Galveston Island,” Texas Governor Rick Perry said after flying over the historic coastal community.
The sea wall protecting Galveston was piled high with wreckage. The hurricane’s winds lifted houses off their foundations and pushed boats and cars around the island.
”Do not come back to Galveston, you cannot live here at this time,” Lyda Ann Thomas, told reporters. The city has no water, no power and no fuel she said.
As people complained about the lack of food, water and ice in the sweltering humidity, a rift emerged between federal and local officials over delays in aid.
US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff acknowledged a delay in distribution but said 80 trucks carrying food and ice would arrive on Sunday night.
Local media reported that many relief distribution centers were expected to be up and running on Monday morning.
The Bush administration came under heavy fire for its botched relief efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
President George Bush, who will visit his home state on Tuesday, said it was too early to determine the damage to US energy infrastructure. The storm also halted crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, representing a quarter of US output.
The US Coast Guard said the storm damaged some offshore oil production facilities but did not yet know the extent.
Authorities in Houston, the fourth most populous US city, ordered a weeklong dusk to dawn curfew because of flooding and downed power lines. Power failures could last for weeks.
Damage assessment has barely begun but early estimates suggest the bill could rise to $18-billion.
Ike triggered the biggest disruption to US energy supplies in three years and sent gas prices higher. But US crude oil futures dropped more than $1,59 to as low as $99,59 a barrel on Sunday as traders shrugged off supply concerns. – Reuters