Ike’s Havoc Expands

GALVESTON, Texas — Emergency crews on Monday reached some of the beach towns most devastated by Hurricane Ike, which left a giant disaster zone spread from the Gulf Coast to the upper Midwest. Three days after Ike crashed ashore, 47people were reported dead, the majority outside Texas. Ike's remnants caused flooding as far north as Chicago. Across the Midwest, the violent weather closed hundreds of schools and blocked roads. In Texas, the largest search-and-rescue operation in state history was likely to continue for several days. Rescuers found 60 survivors on the Bolivar Peninsula, which stretches across the Texas Gulf Coast. Some communities were nearly washed away, including Smith Point and Oak Island just north of the peninsula. Oak Island, which has about 500 residents, lost about 95% of its homes.

Among the biggest problems in Ike's aftermath: an estimated 3.9 million people were still without power Tuesday in Texas, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana and Arkansas, the Energy Department reported; nearly 40,000 people were in shelters; about 99% of crude oil production operations in the Gulf region were offline. Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said the situation is nearing a health crisis. The city can produce only a tiny amount of clean drinking water, there is minimal electricity and the University of Texas Medical Branch is unable to care for seriously injured people. To the roughly 20,000 people who remained, Thomas said simply, "Please leave. The city is in ruins." Along the 30-mile Bolivar Peninsula that stretches across the southern part of Galveston Bay, towns were accessible only by boat. About two-thirds of Houston's 2.2 million residents lacked power Tuesday.

ST. LOUIS — Just a few months after near-record flooding across the Midwest, roads in the region were under water again Tuesday and more than 1 million people were without power thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Ike. Several rivers in Missouri were rising toward crests expected later this week, some more than 15 feet above flood stage. Flooding already was occurring at several towns along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, including St. Louis. Ike dumped as much as 8 inches of rain on parts of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri after coming ashore in Texas during the weekend. It spawned hurricane-force wind in Ohio and a tornado in Arkansas that damaged several buildings.