Hurricane Ike Death Toll Up To At Least 30

The death toll from Ike is up to at least 30 people in eight states from Texas up to Ohio.

At least 15 deaths have been counted in the Midwest and mid-South, including a teacher and his father who were sucked into a culvert and drowned while trying to rescue a boy from a flooded ditch in Indiana.

Now, authorities must assess the damage caused as the storm rode up the central United States. Floodwaters in several states caused thousands of people to evacuate.

The first aid has arrived as Texas begins the long, laborious task of cleaning up after Hurricane Ike, which ravaged the state and prompted a weeklong curfew in Houston.

FEMA trucks filled with emergency supplies for Hurricane Ike victims have been delivered to the first five of 17 locations. But there was confusion regarding who would deliver the items to the locations, also called point of distributions or PODs, KPRC Local 2 reported Sunday.

Ice, meals, water and other emergency supplies will be available to residents because of widespread power outages and damaged homes.

But, some confusion between city, state and federal officials may have delayed the deliveries.

"At one time we were told that the state government would take the various pallets of food, water, ice to particular sites we designated, and handle the logistics and setting up the site at individual locations. We wanted to do it locally. We thought we could do it more efficiently," said Houston Mayor Bill White. "I found out this afternoon that the state had said it wanted FEMA to do that. FEMA said it would deliver, but it didn't have the trucks or people to do the off-loading."

White said local governments would now handle the tasks.

The damage knocked out power to 2.26 million CenterPoint Energy customers, 76 percent of whom are still without power, according to the company.

The company said crews are working around-the-clock in two 16-hour shifts. Also, 7,000 additional linemen from around the country are assisting in the restoration process.

Thousands Rescued

Nearly 2,000 people in Texas who refused orders to evacuate before Hurricane Ike have been rescued by land, air and water.

"Priority 1 is search and rescue," Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw said. "Thus far, 394 by air have been rescued and overall, 1,948 citizens down here have been rescued."

"There's not a square foot of Galveston Island, and for that matter southeast Texas, that will not be searched and, when people are found, rescued," McCraw said. Officials in Galveston, where Ike came ashore early Saturday, are urging residents who evacuated to stay away for now.

"Galveston has been hit hard," Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said. "We have no power. We have no gas. We have no communications. We're not sure when any of that will be up and running."

Thomas said residents who evacuated should not even think about coming home now, reported KPRC-TV in Houston.

"Do not come back to Galveston," she said. "You cannot live here at this time."

Gov. Rick Perry said: "It is pretty obvious that there is substantial and long-term damage done to Galveston Island."

The West End was particularly hard-hit.

"The devastation was horrendous," Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc said. "I counted at least 30 homes that were out in the water. I saw homes that were picked up off the piling and set down alongside the piling. I saw massive erosion that's occurred and tons and tons of debris."

Authorities went door to door in many of the hardest-hit towns, hoping to reach people stuck in their homes without power or supplies.

One Galveston resident rode out the storm in the third-story Jacuzzi at a neighbor's house. The Texan, Michael Geml, said as the storm crashed through he thought he was going to die there, and he's vowing he'll never stay for a hurricane again.

President George W. Bush is slated to visit the area Tuesday. He said restoring power to everyone is a high priority, though in some places that could take as long as a month.

Problems Uncovered As Ike Moves On

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said an investigation is planned into why staff at a public housing complex in Houston apparently left elderly residents without care overnight during Hurricane Ike.

Perry said many of the residents of the federally subsidized Independence Hall complex have medical problems and needed help.

After residents complained, a FEMA task force showed up at 2 a.m. Sunday and checked on them. The agency said the force checked again during daylight hours and that residents who wanted to leave were taken to a shelter at a convention center.

Of a total 260 residents, about 50 went to the center. Some others went to stay with family members.

The property manager said she couldn't really force residents to leave, but could just "keep an eye" on those who stayed.

Flights Resuming To Houston

Continental Airlines will resume flights in and out of Houston Monday, but Southwest Airlines won't resume operations in Houston until Tuesday.

Both airlines and other carriers halted flights to and from Houston's two major airports hours before Hurricane Ike slammed into the Gulf Coast.

Nearly 20,000 of Continental's 44,000 employees are based in Houston, which was hit with flooding and wind damage.

American Airlines is listing Houston flights again. And JetBlue said it would also resume flights to and from Hobby Airport Monday.

Southwest plans a "limited schedule" Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ike Not So Irksome For Gas Prices

Federal officials said Sunday it appears Hurricane Ike destroyed at least 10 production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and damaged some pipelines.

The full extent of the damage, including the amount of fuel capacity involved, hasn't been determined, but initial reports suggest no real damage to oil infrastructure from Ike.