Dubya Opens the Government Bank Account to HURRICANE IKE RESCUE EFFORTS

Gov. Rick Perry said Saturday that state and federal officials were working well together in what he called the largest search and rescue operation in Texas history.

Help was "on the way," Perry promised as 57 helicopters took to the air and 1,500 people worked on the ground portion of the operation, according to state officials. The far-flung missions stretched from the Louisiana border to parts of Brazoria County.

By Saturday evening, the storm had made its way out of the state.

Perry's spokeswoman, Allison Castle, said late Saturday that since Hurricane Ike made landfall there had been 940 rescues statewide of people stranded in homes, vehicles or other places. Most of the rescues have been in Galveston and Orange counties, she said.

It wasn't known how many people were still stranded or missing, Castle said.

Jack Colley, director of the governor's division of emergency management, said state authorities were ferrying storm victims to prearranged locations where transportation and medical attention can be provided.

"Where we see people we're picking them up," Colley said. "We pick them up and we're moving them to designated places."

Officials said they helped coordinate, with the U.S. Coast Guard, the rescue of four critically ill patients from a Galveston hospital.

Meanwhile, Perry said the state is working well with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

At a sports arena in Houston, tractor-trailers and large sport utility vehicles sat idle as the vast storm churned northward across the state. Stone said federal officials are now seeking to pinpoint the hardest-hit areas.

Speaking to reporters at the emergency operations center in Austin, Perry said state officials have been "working well with our federal counterparts, with our local counterparts." In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Perry issued blistering criticisms of the agency. But he said Saturday it would be premature to engage in any finger-pointing.

"If it's a perfect operation I'll be surprised," he said. "I think we've got a good operation to date." He said in advance of the storm the state had "prepositioned the largest search and rescue operation in the history of the state of Texas."

Perry also urged Texans who had evacuated to wait official word before returning home. He said residents who ignored warnings to evacuate Galveston would be allowed to stay but could not return if they left. Authorities said they would only allow emergency personnel to go to the island.

Officials said about a third of the people who dialed 911 for help spoke Spanish. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who appeared at the news conference with Perry, urged Spanish-speaking Texans — in their language — to contact local authorities for assistance.


Watch the HURRICANE IKE RESCUE EFFORTS and see the DAMAGE in HOUSTON and GALVESTON on LIVE WEBCAM's

HURRICANE IKE UPDATE - Texas Officials Survey the DAMAGE and WARN HURRICANE IKE IS NOT OVER YET

Hurricane Ike ravaged Galveston, Texas early Saturday, battering the coast with driving rain and huge wind gusts as residents that stayed behind, realized they should have evacuated. These stragglers made futile calls for rescue. So far the damage from Hurricane Ike is not known.

Authorities are not certain just how many people may have perished as the worst of Ike was passing over the Houston-Galveston area. But even before daylight arrived, damage was extensive. Thousands of homes and buildings were flooded, and 2.9 million people lost power.

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Everyone’s greatest fear was the tens of thousands of people that defied the evacuation orders, that would need to be rescued from flooded homes.

Early morning found emergency officials taking calls for help from residents along the coast who remained behind and were trapped in their homes. Gov. Rick Perry mobilized 7,500 National Guard troops and his homeland security chief, Steve McGraw, said rescues would start as soon as crews could safely go out.

Officials in Galveston, on a vulnerable barrier island, said an estimated 40% of the city’s 57,000 residents ignored the evacuation orders.

“The unfortunate truth is we’re going to have to go in … and put our people in the tough situation to save people who did not choose wisely. We’ll probably do the largest search-and-rescue operation that’s ever been conducted in the state of Texas,” said Andrew Barlow, spokesman for Governor Rick Perry.

The eye of the strong, category two storm powered ashore just after 3am local time. Officials had warned that as many as 100,000 homes could be smashed by the wall of water expected to hit the coast.

“The size, strength and current path of the storm have the potential to produce catastrophic — let me repeat that — catastrophic effects and to threaten the lives and safety of citizens along the Texas coast and the western part of Louisiana,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said.

As the front of the storm moved into Galveston, fire crews rescued nearly 300 people who changed their minds and fled at the last minute, wading through floodwaters carrying clothes and other possessions.

“We don’t know what we are going to find. We hope we will find the people who are left here alive and well,” Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said. “We are keeping our fingers crossed all the people who stayed on Galveston Island managed to survive this.”

Let’s hope the people that stayed behind managed to survive Hurricane Ike. We still have to worry about the back end of the hurricane

HOUSTON TEXAS NEXT on HURRICANE IKE's PATH - View HOUSTON TEXAS HURRICANE IKE WEB CAMERA'S HERE