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U.S. death toll from Ike rises |
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Sunday, 21 September 2008 |
Six more deaths are being blamed on Hurricane Ike in the Houston area, bringing the number of people killed in Texas to 17, and the death toll in those states affected by the storm to 48 in the United States, authorities said Tuesday. The remnants of the storm killed dozens more as it moved across the country, after hitting Texas last weekend.
Many of the deaths in Texas have happened in the days after the storm because of falling trees or carbon monoxide poisoning caused by improper generator use. Others have come from fires caused by candles in powerless homes.
Before impacting the U.S. the storm killed some 400 people in the Caribbean, including Haiti and Cuba.
The death toll in the U.S. from the hurricane cuts across nine states Sunday, as rescuers said they had saved nearly 2,000 people from waterlogged streets and splintered houses. Down town Houston, much of it covered with broken glass from high rise buildings was placed under a weeklong curfew, and millions of people in the storm's path remained in the dark.
Authorities in Texas say the death toll could rise as search and rescue efforts continue, and it is uncertain whether or not some people may have been washed out to sea when the water in Galveston receded.
The authorities have embarked on a door-to door search to reach an uncertain number of people along the Texas coast who had made the unwise decision to ride out the storm and could be still trapped in their homes without power and water supply.
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