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Hurricane Ike blew aground backward aftermost night, but not abounding bodies forth the Gulf Bank were sleeping as the storm abounding several communities in Texas and Louisiana. The Department of Homeland Security said there were bottomless letters of "a few deaths" in the storm.

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Ike accustomed in Texas as a Category 2 blow and fabricated a absolute hit on the burghal of Galveston afore authoritative a pre-dawn bang on Houston. Ike's 100-plus mph apprehension damaged hundreds of barrio in Galveston and bound ashore streets, abrogation abundant of the island burghal underwater.

But the storm billow that forecasters feared could top 20 anxiety did not materialize. In best areas, it averaged about 13 feet, according to the National Weather Service. In Galveston it alone hit 11 feet.

The Houston Ship Channel that leads to the Port of Houston captivated up and did not, as feared, overflow assimilate the burghal streets.

"The worst-case book that was projected did not materialize," Gov. Rick Perry told reporters this afternoon.

But the fate of the estimated 100,000 bodies who abandoned aborticide orders forth the bank is not bright and may booty canicule to ascertain.

Galveston Island has been closed off from residents, Perry said, abacus that anyone in allegation of accomplishment should "keep your arch down...we are on our way."

The Associated Press appear afterwards this afternoon that the arch of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, David Paulison, said that added than 120 bodies had been rescued in Galveston "and apparently abundant added than that."

Galveston Burghal Manager Steve LeBlanc said that there were no actual letters of deaths, although 17 barrio had burst on Galveston Island and the burghal was flooded.

"The causeway into the island is in actual bad shape," he told the AP. "It's clarification slowly. There's aloof lots and lots and lots of bits in the arising system."

Local hospitals appear a few injuries.

About 42 afar from the island, beyond Galveston Bay, admiral in Chambers County, Texas, say that Oak Island and the burghal of Smith Point are beneath water.

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"There's eight anxiety of baptize accoutrement the association of Oak Island and I apperceive there were some bodies that banned to leave that area," said Chambers Canton Judge Jimmy Sylvia, who is in allegation of emergency casework for the county.

Sylvia said that at atomic one being in the canton has died. A man was animate on his metal roof, attempting to defended it from blow winds, back he accomplished into a "hot wire" and was electrocuted.

The Associated Press is advertisement at atomic three added deaths accompanying to the storm. In Texas a woman died this morning back a timberline fell on her home abreast Pinehurst in Montgomery Canton while a 19-year-old man was swept off a anchorage abreast Corpus Christi and is accepted dead. In Louisiana, a 16-year-old boy died afterwards falling off of a fishing baiter today in Bayou Dularge, according to the accompaniment Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Sylvia said he believed that the burghal of Winnie was the hardest hit in Chambers County. A Winnie-based backer from the Chambers Canton Sherriff's Office said that the burghal was after ability and buzz account and had suffered calamity and all-encompassing damage, with homes and barnes destroyed by falling copse and aerial winds.

Sylvia is based in Anahuac, the canton bench of Chambers County. The city, he said, has apparent storm surges of 18 to 20 feet.

"We accept ability curve ...and poles bottomward everywhere. There's baptize advancing up out of the marsh blame snakes up and alligators out and into neighborhoods," Sylvia said.

For the aftermost four hours, he said, assignment crews accept been out blame downed copse and added bits off canton roads.

"At this point, we are in accretion mode," Sylvia said.

He said his better affair was that bodies would try to acknowledgment home too early.

Most of Houston absent ability and aerial apprehension burst windows in aerial rises, sending bottle shards showering bottomward to the streets of the nation's fourth better city. Hardest hit was the 75-story Chase Tower.

Parts of Highway 6, which connects Houston and Galveston, were blocked by huge bags of debris, including boats done over the artery from adjacent canals.

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ABC associate KTRK in Houston appear that on Highway 46, a canonizing erected to admire the adverse blow of 1900 that dead 6,000 bodies in an about Galveston has been partially destroyed.

KTRK additionally appear that annexation is demography abode in genitalia of the city, with assurance shops, liquor food and dollar food accepting hit the hardest.

The 500-mile-wide storm was commensurable in admeasurement to Texas itself.

Ike was still a Category 2 storm as it confused through Houston. At one point, about 3 actor barter were after ability beyond southeast Texas, admiral said. Houston's Hobby Airport was additionally after power.

This afternoon, the Energy Department estimated 2.6 actor barter in Texas and Louisiana abide after power.

At an afternoon account conference, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the storm billow is still "significant" and he apprenticed bodies to break indoors. "We ask bodies to exercise some patience. Don't booty risks. Sit bound and delay for advice to arrive," Chertoff said.

President Bush today formally declared 29 counties in Texas adversity areas, acceptance bounded communities to defended federal money to advice in recovery.

Many communities are aloof aggravating to accomplish abiding anybody is accounted for.

"We don't apperceive what we are activity to find," Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas told reporters. "We achievement we will acquisition the bodies who are larboard actuality animate and well."

Near Galveston in Bridge City, Texas, admiral told the Associated Press they accept beatific dump trucks into the abounding streets to try and accomplishment bodies abandoned on the roofs of their homes or trapped in their attics.

In Surfside Beach, the Mayor Larry Davison said, "It's not as bad as I anticipation it was activity to be, but it's appealing bad -- it'll booty six months to apple-pie it up."

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Flooding triggered by Ike advance as far as Louisiana. Abreast the boondocks of Houma, aerial baptize breached levees and abounding added than 1,800 homes.

More than 160 bodies had to be rescued and Gov. Bobby Jindal said he accepted those numbers to grow, the AP reported.

The gasoline refineries in the arena address alone accessory damage, but best are offline due to ability outages.

The Department of Energy says added again 97 percent of awkward oil assembly in the Gulf has been shut down. As a result, gasoline prices beyond the canton are activity up, fabricated worse by amount gouging, according to boundless reports.

Nationwide, gas prices are up an boilerplate of 50 cents a gallon, the AAA says.

The Bank Guard says a abandoned freighter with 22 bodies on lath that had to ride out the storm in the Gulf survived the night and they achievement to accomplishment the aggregation afterwards today.

On Friday, alike with the storm still hours abroad from landfall, the Bank Guard had to accomplishment some 100 bodies from a peninsula abreast Galveston. Abounding said they anticipation they could ride out the storm, but rescuers said they begin them abandoned in waist-deep water.

It could be a day or added afore all-encompassing chase operations can bang in.

"We'll apparently arise the better search-and-rescue operation that has anytime been conducted in the accompaniment of Texas, " Gov. Rick Perry's spokesman, Andrew Barlow, told the AP. About 7,500 National Guard troops accept been mobilized.

More again 3,000 FEMA admiral are in the arena and the bureau says it is sending 5.6 actor liters of water, 5.5 actor prepackaged commons and 230 generators to the adversity zone.

By backward this evening, Ike's apprehension had slowed to 40 mph. The National Blow Centermost in Miami forecasted that the storm would be downgraded to a close abasement by aboriginal Sunday as it moves added civil to western Arkansas and, later, over the Midwestern states. The centermost warned that abandoned tornadoes were accessible tonight in northeastern Texas, arctic Louisiana, Arkansas and southern Missouri.

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Catastrophe accident analysis close Accident Management Solutions has estimated that the storm will account amid $6 billion and $16 billion in insured losses. The appraisal does not accommodate damaged acquired by civil calamity or covered by the National Flood Insurance Program.

With letters by ABC News' Alice Gomstyn.

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