US:HURRICANE IKE, the second tropical cyclone to hit the southern US in 10 days, was approaching landfall last night heading directly towards Houston, Texas, with winds up to 115mph (185km/h) and sea level surges of more than six metres (20ft).
An unknown number of residents of a 400-mile strip of coastline confronted by the hurricane decided to stay and risk what the National Weather Service warned would be "certain death".
Some estimates put the figure as high as 20,000 people, despite mandatory evacuation orders throughout the threatened area.
At midday yesterday, the hurricane was classed a grade two storm out of a possible five though it could rise to grade three when it makes landfall. Winds were at 105mph, gusting beyond that.
Weather experts and local and federal authorities regard Ike as a serious threat because of a combination of factors. The hurricane itself, though not as powerful as Rita, which caused more than $10 billion (€7 billion) damage in 2005, covers a massive area.
Hurricane-force winds have been measured 120 miles out from the eye of the cyclone, and tropical storm-force winds up to 275 miles out.
The direction of the hurricane is also perilous as it is heading for Galveston, a town of about 60,000 on the Gulf coast that was scene of the deadliest storm in US history in 1900 in which about 7,000 people died.
The storm could cause devastating flooding as a result of the shallow waters along the coast which lead to sea level surges as the waves are driven onshore by high winds.
Weather forecasters say the waves could reach up to more than seven metres around Galveston, hence the warning of possible fatalities.
The National Weather Service directed its message particularly at anyone living in one or two-storey homes. "Residences of average construction directly on the coast will be destroyed. Vehicles left behind will likely be swept away," it said.
Houston, America's fourth biggest city, 50 miles inland from Galveston, is also in the path of the hurricane. The city faces the prospect of being battered by storm-force winds for up to 12 hours.
Hundreds of thousands of Gulf coast residents heeded warnings and have fled their homes. But the two million people of Houston were advised to stay put in an attempt to avoid the chaos and gridlock that occurred three years ago during Rita. The emergency effort was so bungled that 110 people died during it - far more than in the storm.
President George Bush went on the airwaves hours before the storm struck land to express his fears for his fellow Texans. "I'm deeply concerned about Hurricane Ike. It's a large storm headed to a major population centre," he said.
The hurricane has already claimed 70 lives in Haiti and four in Cuba from its earlier sweep through the Caribbean. - (Guardian service)