Bush to visit Texas as Ike relief rolls in

Millions of people remain without power, the battered island city of Galveston was deemed unfit for habitation and there were reports of 27 deaths nationwide from the storm that churned far inland after striking the Texas coast on Saturday.

Aid efforts continued, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency pledging to deliver 7.5 million meals, 5.1 million gallons of water and 19.2 million pounds (8.7 million kg) of ice over the next few days.

For all its power, Ike caused minimal damage to oil refineries along the Gulf Coast. Companies are preparing to restart operations at the 14 refineries in Texas and Louisiana that remained shut due to Ike, the Energy Department said.

Bush is still trying to rebuild his image as a disaster manager after being widely criticized for a botched relief effort in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed about 1,800 people in the United States.

"I'm looking forward to going down," Bush said on Monday about his planned visit to his home state.

"We're looking forward to hearing from, you know, the local folks. ... My message will be that we hear you and we'll work as hard and fast as we can to help you get your lives back up to normal," Bush said.

Aid was rolling in but in some of the worst-hit areas like Galveston, there was scant sign of relief work.

"FEMA ain't been by, nobody," said disabled retiree Vivian Matthews, who was stranded at her flooded apartment for two days. "They don't give a damn if we live or die."

RISING DEATH TOLL

Officials urged the few thousand people who remained in Galveston, which was without power and had little water, to leave and warned of a possible health crisis.

"We cannot accommodate people who are getting sick," said Galveston City Manager Steven LeBlanc. "You have the potential for a health crisis."

"The bottom line: Galveston cannot safely accommodate its population," he told reporters.

Four deaths were reported by officials in Galveston -- scene of the worst U.S. weather disaster when a hurricane killed more than 8,000 people in 1900. One person was killed in the Houston suburb of Pasadena, the mayor said.

As many as 27 people were killed in several states from Ike and its remnants, CNN reported on its website. In Arkansas, emergency officials reported one death from a felled tree.

Houston, a normally bustling center of oil and commerce and America's fourth most populous city, was still battling to get back on its feet. A dusk-to-dawn curfew was in place.

A big southeast Texas power plant will be out for weeks after it was flooded and became a refuge for snakes and other animals, said plant owner Entergy Corp.

On Monday, crews worked to restore power to about 1.8 million homes and businesses in Texas, 785,000 in Ohio, 472,500 in Kentucky, 126,000 in Louisiana and 108,000 in Arkansas, company and Department of Energy figures showed.

U.S. retail gasoline prices have spiked more than 15 cents since Friday to $3.84 a gallon and energy analysts said they expected nationwide gasoline inventories to fall to their lowest on record in the storm's aftermath because of the Texas refinery shutdowns.

But oil prices fell $3 late on Monday to $92.71 a barrel in Asian trading because of the meltdown in global financial markets.