Some 24 people across nine American states have been killed in the fierce winds and driving rain. Now, residents in Houston are being told to stay indoors between 9pm and 6am all week as police say they fear for the population's safety and warn people to stay off the streets unless it is an emergency.America's fourth largest city has lost much of its electricity after the storm and President Bush is set to visit Texas to offer support. The former Texan governor will fly in tomorrow, days after he declared it a disaster zone. He said it was too early to determine the extent of the damage Ike had on petrol production.
"The Secretary of Energy briefed us on preliminary reports on gasoline production, pipeline distribution, and it's a little early to fully assess where we stand," Mr Bush explained. "Although I can say that one of the pipelines coming out of the Gulf Coast area is running."
Hurricane Ike flattened hundreds of homes, and flooded barrier islands across 500 miles of coastline, cutting off nearly all oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. The inland damage has been estimated at around £4.5bn ($8bn).
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said some deaths had been reported but gave no more details.
Some 2.2 million people fled inland but more than 100,000 residents - including 20,000 in Galveston alone - decided to ride out the storm despite warnings to evacuate.
"Fortunately, the worst-case scenario that was projected in some areas did not occur, particularly in the Houston ship channel," said Texas Governor Rick Perry. "But there is plenty of damage out there."
Strange, another storm that hits an area of the world where there are oil fields, forcing the fields to close down. Result - oil prices go up again. Surely it's coincidence? I mean there's nothing in man-made storms is there?
