Ike weakens to tropical storm over Texas

IkehiteasternTexas as a Category 2 hurricaneSaturday with winds of175 km/h and heavyrain before it weakened to a tropical storm later in the day.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami,issuing an update in the early afternoon,said winds remained near 96 km/h and tornadoes were still a threat.

Stretching 965kilometres in width, thestorm made landfall at the island city of Galveston at 2:10a.m. local time, floodingthousands of homes in coastal areas.

Scores of roads were washed out,and millions of people in Texas and Louisiana were without power, according to emergency officials.

The storm surge topped out at four metres, lower than forecasters feared.

A woman was killed north of Houston when a tree fell on her home, officials said. Ike left more than 70 people dead in Haiti and killed four in Cuba as it swept through the Caribbean earlier this week.

In Galveston, tens of thousands of residentsdecided to not evacuate the area, city managerSteven LeBlanc said. Nearly 100 per cent of the populationleft ahead of Hurricane Rita three years ago.

Fire crews rescued about 300 people who tried to flee the islandat the last minute. They were foundwalking through flooded streets late Friday.

The hurricane drove a wall of water over Galveston and submerged a seawall built more than 100 years agoto protect the city.

About 80 kilometresinland, Ike also battereddowntown Houston, shattering windows of severalskyscrapers thathouse some of the world's largest energy companies.

Around 8 a.m. local time Saturday, Ike weakened to a Category 1 storm as it moved inland, 30 kilometres south-southeast of Huntsville, Texas. Its maximum winds slowed to 144 km/h.

Thestormhasidled more than a fifth of U.S. oil production. Some4,000 offshore oil rigsdot theGulf Coast.

U.S. President George W. Bush saidhis government intends to monitor gasoline prices to make sure there is no price gouging.

Bush said his administrationhas also suspended Environmental Protection Agency waivers on some reformulated gasoline to make it easier for foreign imports to reach the U.S. market.

"The storm has yet to pass and I know there are people concerned about their lives," Bush said in remarks from the south lawn of the White House after he participated in video conference with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and David Paulison, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.