Hurricane Ike hits Texas
September 14, 2008 00:00:00
Hurricane Ike has made landfall on the Gulf coast of Texas, where it is expected to cause "potentially catastrophic" flooding and damage.
The National Hurricane Center said Saturday the storm's eye hit Galveston at 0710 GMT with winds of up to 110 mph (175km/h), reports BBC.
Much of the city, which in 1900 was the scene of the country's deadliest hurricane, is already under water after a 12ft (3.7m) storm surge.
There are fears for 23,000 residents who have ignored orders to evacuate. The authorities in Galveston, which lies on a small island off the coast of Texas, have imposed a curfew until dawn, the city had lost power and a number of houses were on fire.
Residents of low-lying homes were told they faced "certain death" if they stayed. Before it hit land, Ike, a Category Two storm, was unleashing storm force winds over a distance of up to 275 miles (443km) - the length of the Texas coastline - from its centre.