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| Fuel shortage fear after US storm | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Oil refineries in Texas put out of action by Hurricane Ike could take eight to nine days to recover, US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has said. | |
| The Texas senator told the CBS network that power outages and flooding at the facilities meant refined gasoline was "going to be in a shortage situation". | |
| Earlier, President George W Bush warned that people in Texas would take a long time to recover from the "tough storm". | |
| Rescuers have meanwhile been trying to help those who ignored orders to flee. | |
| Specialist equipment is being used to comb through the city of Galveston, where Ike left a scene of devastation on Saturday. | |
| Further inland, in Houston, the storm left millions without power. The authorities have imposed a week-long curfew to prevent looting. | |
| Ike has so far been blamed for four deaths in Texas and Louisiana. | |
| 'Severe disruptions' | |
| In an interview with CBS, Sen Hutchison said she had been told by officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) that oil refineries in the state were "pretty much down". | |
| What's really frustrating is that we can't get to them Tommie Mafrei Galveston police chief class="" href="/1/hi/in_pictures/7615028.stm">In pictures: Ike damage class="" href="/1/hi/world/americas/7613741.stm">Eyewitness: 'People are in shock' class="" href="/1/hi/world/americas/7613851.stm">'One million homeless' in Haiti | |
| "We are looking at another week or eight or nine days before refineries are up and going, so refined gasoline is going to be in a shortage situation because of the power outages and flooding," she told the Face the Nation programme. | |
| "It is going to be felt for the next week that we have gasoline shortages, so people need to be prepared for that." | |
| Earlier, the oil company, Chevron, said it was "concerned about severe gasoline supply disruptions in the wake of Hurricane Ike". | |
| "It may not be possible for us - and other manufacturers - to maintain normal supplies in the coming days," it said in a statement. | |
| Production was halted at 15 oil refineries in Texas, including the giant Exxon Mobil refinery in Baytown, ahead of the storm. Together, they make up just under a quarter of US fuel production capacity. | |
| The storm also shut down crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, which is responsible for a quarter of total US output. | |
| Bush statement on Ike | |
| Ike sent fuel prices higher at the pumps and, analysts say, has triggered the biggest disruption to US energy supplies in at least three years. | |
| Earlier, President Bush announced that he would visit Texas on Tuesday to express sympathy for the storm's victims and lend support to recovery efforts. | |
| "This is a tough storm and it's one that's going to require time for people to recover," he told reporters in the White House after receiving an update on rescue efforts. | |
| Mr Bush urged residents who had obeyed evacuation orders ahead of the storm to also follow warnings from local authorities before trying to return to the affected areas. | |
| "It's very important for citizens, who I know are anxious to get home, to take your time and listen, take the advice of the local folks," he added. | |
| Distress calls | Distress calls |
| Hurricane Ike made landfall in Galveston early on Saturday with 110mph (175km/h) winds. | |
| It cut a 500-mile (800-km) swathe of destruction across a span of the Gulf of Mexico coast before weakening to a tropical depression on Sunday morning over Arkansas. It is thought to have wreaked at least $8bn (£4.5bn) in onshore damage. | |
| Police, paramedics, rescue dogs and structural engineers fanned out at daybreak on Sunday across the coastal city of Galveston, which took the brunt of the storm, hampered by floodwaters and widespread wreckage. | Police, paramedics, rescue dogs and structural engineers fanned out at daybreak on Sunday across the coastal city of Galveston, which took the brunt of the storm, hampered by floodwaters and widespread wreckage. |
| Hurricane Ike caused widespread destruction in Galveston, TexasEnlarge Image | |
| Galveston police officer Tommie Mafrei said: "What's really frustrating is that we can't get to [the stranded]... They are naive about it, thinking it's not going to be that bad." | Galveston police officer Tommie Mafrei said: "What's really frustrating is that we can't get to [the stranded]... They are naive about it, thinking it's not going to be that bad." |
| State Governor Rick Perry's office said 940 people had been rescued by nightfall on Saturday, but that thousands had made distress calls the night before. | State Governor Rick Perry's office said 940 people had been rescued by nightfall on Saturday, but that thousands had made distress calls the night before. |
| Officials said another 600 people were rescued in neighbouring Louisiana, where flooding ruined tens of thousands of homes and left nearly 200,000 householders without electricity. | Officials said another 600 people were rescued in neighbouring Louisiana, where flooding ruined tens of thousands of homes and left nearly 200,000 householders without electricity. |
| More than three million people had no power in Texas at the height of the storm, and the authorities said it could be weeks before supplies were fully restored. | More than three million people had no power in Texas at the height of the storm, and the authorities said it could be weeks before supplies were fully restored. |
| The hurricane also battered Houston, the fourth-largest city in the US and the nation's oil hub. Police there had used bullhorns to order people back into their homes. | The hurricane also battered Houston, the fourth-largest city in the US and the nation's oil hub. Police there had used bullhorns to order people back into their homes. |
| The BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani weathered the storm in Houston and described how ferocious winds ripped the glass from many of the city's skyscrapers. | The BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani weathered the storm in Houston and described how ferocious winds ripped the glass from many of the city's skyscrapers. |
| But officials were encouraged by the fact flooding brought by the storm surge turned out to be much less serious than forecast. | But officials were encouraged by the fact flooding brought by the storm surge turned out to be much less serious than forecast. |
| Among those killed by Ike were a woman in Pinehurst, Texas, and a teenage boy in Louisiana's Bayou Dularge, the Associated Press reported. | |
| Are you in the areas affected? Are preparing to evacuate or are you staying in your home? Send us your comments and experiences using the form below. | Are you in the areas affected? Are preparing to evacuate or are you staying in your home? Send us your comments and experiences using the form below. |
| Send your pictures to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to +44 7725 100 100. If you have a large file you can upload here.Read the terms and conditions | Send your pictures to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to +44 7725 100 100. If you have a large file you can upload here.Read the terms and conditions |
| At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. | At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. |
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