Tue, September 16, 2008
AUSTIN, the United States, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Two days after Hurricane Ike landed on Texas, U.S. authorities intensified relief efforts but many Texans are still struggling in a slow recovery process.
The National Weather Service said the remnants of Ike have left the United States later Monday after leaving a path of destruction through the Gulf coast in the south to the Great Lakes in north.
So far, 27 people have been confirmed dead as a result of the storm, a figure much lower than expected. But the economic impact is tremendous, insurers put their estimate of the loss to as much as 18 billion U.S. dollars.
U.S. President George W. Bush promised his administration will try its best to speed up the rescue and recovery efforts.
"My message will be that we hear you and we'll work as hard and fast as we can to help you get your lives back up to normal," he said in a statement targeting those affected by the storm.
Authorities have set up some 300 big shelters to accommodate some 37,000 evacuees who can't afford a hotel room. Richer evacuees have packed hotels in Austin, the state capital of Texas, and rental car agencies are running out of the cars because high demand from the evacuees.
Some estimate that two million people leaves coastal areas before the landfall of Ike. But officials told evacuees that they need to stay out longer because conditions in their home cities are not back to normal.
In Galveston, the island city where Ike landed, situations are deteriorating for some 20,000 remained there. City manager Steve LeBlanc said there's not enough clean drinking water to serve their needs.
He also said it could be a month before electricity is restored. The cleanup will be massive, he said, and the city is "unsafe."
Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas even pleaded to those evacuees: "do not come back to Galveston. You cannot live here at this time."
North of Galveston, Texas Governor Rick Perry urged residents who evacuated Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city, not to hurry back to their homes.
Power has been restored to at least 500,000 customers in the Houston area, but another 1.5 million people in the state still have no electricity.
At least 14 Texas refineries closed in the hours before the hurricane hit, taking away more than 20 percent of the nation's oil capacity. As a result, it is very hard to find gasoline in Houston at present.
"Very clear that recovery from Ike is going to be a long process," said Perry.
