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Fuel shortage fear after US storm Storm curfew declared in Houston
(about 3 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. A week-long curfew has been imposed in Houston to prevent looting in the wake of Hurricane Ike which hit the US city and many other parts of Texas.
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". The night-time curfew is needed because most of America's fourth-largest city is without power, officials say.
Earlier, President George W Bush warned that people in Texas would take a long time to recover from the "tough storm". Meanwhile, rescuers have evacuated nearly 2,000 people from the worst hit areas along the Texan coast.
Nearly 2,000 people who refused orders to evacuate have so far been rescued. Texan oil refineries put out of action by the storm could take up to nine days to recover, a US official has warned.
Hurricane Ike made landfall in Galveston, Texas, 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 over Arkansas on Sunday.
Ike has so far been blamed for eight deaths - five in Texas, two in Louisiana and one in Arkansas.
Judge's plea
The authorities in Houston said the 2100-0600 curfew was imposed because downed power lines had cut electricity to millions of people.
Hurricane Ike caused widespread destruction in Galveston, TexasEnlarge Image
"Transportation arteries are still very very dangerous. Power's out and there are no street lights, there's still limbs down, there's still standing in water," said Judge Ed Emmert of Harris County, which includes Houston.
"Please don't venture out unless you absolutely have to," Judge Emmert urged residents.
Officials also said that city schools and regional airports would remain closed for some time.
The authorities estimate that up to 140,000 Texans ignored the mandatory orders to flee ahead of the storm.The authorities estimate that up to 140,000 Texans ignored the mandatory orders to flee ahead of the storm.
In the coastal city of Galveston, relief workers have been using boats, high-wheel trucks, and helicopters to undertake a door-by-door search through the many flooded streets and damaged buildings. In the coastal city of Galveston, which bore the brunt of the hurricane, relief workers have been using boats, high-wheel trucks, and helicopters to undertake a door-by-door search through flooded streets and damaged buildings.
Further inland, in Houston, the storm left millions without power. The authorities have imposed a week-long curfew to prevent looting. On Sunday Texan authorities said 1,984 people who had refused to evacuate had been rescued so far, including 394 by air.
Ike has so far been blamed for four deaths in Texas and Louisiana. President George W Bush - who is due to visit Texas on Tuesday - 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.
Meanwhile, 600 people were rescued in neighbouring Louisiana, where flooding ruined tens of thousands of homes and left nearly 200,000 householders without electricity.
'Severe disruptions''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". In a separate development, Texan Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said power outages and flooding at the state's oil refineries meant refined gasoline was "going to be in a shortage situation".
What's really frustrating is that we can't get to them Tommie Mafrei Galveston police chief In pictures: Ike damageEyewitness: 'People are in shock''One million homeless' in HaitiWhat's really frustrating is that we can't get to them Tommie Mafrei Galveston police chief In pictures: Ike damageEyewitness: 'People are in shock''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. In an interview with CBS, Sen Hutchison said she had been told by officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) that the facilities were "pretty much down".
"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 said.
"It is going to be felt for the next week that we have gasoline shortages, so people need to be prepared for that.""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".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.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.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.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.
Later on Sunday, local authorities said 1,984 people who refused to evacuate had been rescued so far, including 394 by air.
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.
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."
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.
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 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.
Among those killed by Ike were a woman in Pinehurst, Texas, and a teenage boy in Louisiana's Bayou Dularge, the Associated Press reported.
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