Texas clears Gulf Coast area for Ike

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By Juan A. Lozano ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON | Authorities in the Houston area and along the southeast Texas Gulf Coast ordered hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate Thursday as Ike bore down with hurricane-force winds that encompassed more than 200 miles and were expected to gain even more strength.

Forecasters issued a hurricane warning for the coast from the Louisiana state line to near Corpus Christi, Texas.

The warning, which also extended east along much of the Louisiana coast to Morgan City, means hurricane conditions could reach the coast by late Friday with the front edge of the storm before its powerful center hits land over the weekend.

Ike is expected to become at least a Category 3 storm, meaning winds upward of 111 mph, before it comes ashore, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

In Houston, gleaming skyscrapers, the nation's biggest refinery and NASA's Johnson Space Center lie in areas that could be vulnerable to wind and floodwater if Ike comes ashore as a major hurricane.

If current projections of the storm's path hold up, the area surrounding Houston - home to about 4 million people - would be lashed by the eastern or "dirty" side of the storm, said meteorologist Jeff Masters, co-founder of San Francisco-based Weather Underground. This stronger side of the storm often brings heavy rain, a walloping storm surge and tornadoes.

"I expect a lot of damage in Houston from this storm," said Mr. Masters, adding that Ike could cause a "huge storm surge" affecting at least 100 miles of the Texas coast.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered for tens of thousands of people in low-lying areas in Harris County, where Houston is located.

"They are areas subject to storm surge of up to 15 feet and it very important for people to understand we're not talking about gently rising water but a surge that could come into your home," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, the county's chief administrator.

Authorities hoping to avoid the traffic gridlock of three years ago, when Hurricane Rita threatened the area, urged people who don't live in eight specific zip codes in the low-lying areas and near Galveston Bay to remain at home.