Hurricane Ike; curfew imposed in Houston

Texas: A week long curfew has been imposed in Houston to prevent looting in the wake of Hurricane Ike, which hit Texas on Saturday.

Officials say the nighttime curfew is needed because most of Houston is without power. Schools and airports are also likely to remain closed. Rescuers have already evacuated nearly 2000 people from the worst hit areas along the Texan coast.

Ike cut an 800-kilometre path of destruction across the Gulf of Mexico before weakening to a tropical depression over Arkansas on Sunday. President Bush will travel to Texas on Tuesday to visit the victims.

A week-long curfew has been imposed in Houston to prevent looting in the wake of Hurricane Ike which hit the US city and many other parts of Texas. The night-time curfew is needed because most of America's fourth-largest city is without power, officials say.

Meanwhile, rescuers have evacuated nearly 2,000 people from the worst hit areas along the Texan coast. Texan oil refineries put out of action by the storm could take up to nine days to recover, a US official has warned.

Hurricane Ike made landfall in Galveston, Texas, early on Saturday with 110mph (175km/h) winds.

It cut a 500-mile (800-km) swathe of destruction across a span of the Gulf of Mexico coast before weakening to a tropical depression over Arkansas on Sunday.

Ike has so far been blamed for eight deaths - five in Texas, two in Louisiana and one in Arkansas.

The authorities in Houston said curfew was imposed because downed power lines had cut electricity to millions of people.

Transportation arteries are still very dangerous. Power's out and there are no streetlights, there's still limbs down, there's still standing in water," said Judge Ed Emmert of Harris County, which includes Houston.

"Please don't venture out unless you absolutely have to," Judge Emmert urged residents.

Officials also said that city schools and regional airports would remain closed for some time.

The authorities estimate that up to 140,000 Texans ignored the mandatory orders to flee ahead of the storm.