Ike Leaves Long Trail Of Destruction

Entire subdivisions obliterated. Oil and chemical slicks in the surf where vacationers once frolicked. Longhorn cattle roaming desolate streets. But, most stunning of all, no more deaths.

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Grim scenes greeted rescuers Monday as they penetrated the areas hardest-hit by Hurricane Ike, two days after it thrashed the Texas Gulf Coast and left thousands homeless.

State officials say there are still 37,000 evacuees seeking temporary shelter in the 284 facilities set up in Texas.

On Bolivar Peninsula, east of Galveston, rescuers Monday were able to fly in and found that the storm had wiped out entire subdivisions. Emergency crews are afraid they'll find more victims there.

The city manager in Galveston said a "health crisis" is approaching for the people remaining there. At least one-third of Galveston's 60,000 people remained in their homes.

A line formed early Monday at a strip mall in the town of Orange, Texas, on the Louisiana state line, a day after food and water were distributed there by the National Guard. The line dispersed after state troopers told the gathering that the supplies would be passed out elsewhere.

At least 39 people have been killed by Ike and by remnants of Ike in Texas and nine other states. The storm also is responsible for power outages from Texas to Illinois, on to Ohio, Kentucky and New York.

Nearly 1.5 million homes and businesses had no electricity Monday. However, restoring power in some places could take as long as a month.

Flooding touched off by a half-foot or more of rain is reported in parts of Illinois, Indiana and Missouri.

Gas Prices Continue To Climb

Gasoline prices are still climbing even as power has been restored to a number of refineries along the Gulf Coast.

Industry officials said it could be several weeks before the refineries are producing as much gasoline as before Hurricane Ike.

At least 14 Texas refineries closed before Ike made landfall, removing more than 20 percent of the nation's petroleum refining capacity. The storm destroyed at least a dozen production platforms and drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, and production is still shut down in the critical region.

Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, which represents the major oil companies, said refineries appeared to have escaped a repeat of the widespread damage three years ago.

The price of a gallon of gas is up about nickel nationwide, to an average of $3.84 for regular. Prices in some areas, particularly the South, have zoomed past $5 a gallon.

The chief analyst for the Oil Price Information Service expects the national average for gasoline to be close to $4 a gallon through the end of the month.

After a briefing on hurricane recovery efforts, President George W. Bush said Monday that he was concerned about the "upward pressure" on prices for consumers.

He said he was planning to visit Texas on Tuesday, where Ike came ashore early Saturday at Galveston. The eye missed the center of Houston, as well as the largest concentrations of oil and gas refineries, but it left many without homes or power.

Bush said it was good news that the hurricane did not damage the infrastructure as much as some people feared. He said he would bring a message to Texas saying the government is working fast to help people recover.