NPR 2008-09-14

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Hurricane Ike has flooded or damaged thousands of homes in Texas and knocked out electricity to millions of people there. Officials are warning that it could take weeks before power is completely restored. But the storm surge from Ike was not as devastating¹ as had been feared and the center of the storm appears to have missed the major oil and petrol chemical refineries² in the Houston area. In downtown Houston though, the storm blew out windows and scattered³ debris⁴ as NPR's Cartier Don reports.

City officials have told people to stay in their homes and stay in there, wherever they have hunkered down, because they feel it's not safe for people to go out. Yeah, there's a lot of broken glass especially in downtown Houston, where there is a fair amount of windows that were shattered in skyscrapers⁵. And when we were there, you know, there were a lot of emergency service workers around, but not a lot of people, NPR's Cartier Don reporting.

The storm left most of the coastal⁶ city of Galveston under water, and the city is under a lockdown order. NPR's Ari Shapiro says people are anxiously awaiting word about friends and loved ones.

We met one gentleman who evacuated⁷ before the storm and he was really concerned about friends of his, a surfing buddy⁸ of his, his wife and their daughter who decided⁹ to stay in Galveston. He said he lost contact with them midday yesterday, and he hasn't been able to get back in touch with them. Yet, he was trying to get through to Galveston on 9:45 and discovered he wasn't gonna be able to get through. You know, he said, that his friends live in a house that survived the huge storm that wiped out most of Galveston in 1900, so he's hopeful that they made it through this storm all right, but he's really nervous and anxious waiting to hear from them. NPR's Ari Shapiro reporting.

ke has now been downgraded to tropical storm status, but meteorologist Corey Walton at the National Hurricane Center says Ike is still a powerful storm. "There's definitely still a threat for tornadoes¹⁰, through tonight over portions of northeastern Texas, northern Louisiana and much of Arkansas, and then also the possibility of southern Missouri. "

President Bush has declared 29 counties in Texas federal disaster areas.

The search for more victims of the commuter¹¹ train crash in Los Angeles has ended. Twenty four people were killed when a Metrolink train collided with a freight train. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says emergency workers had a difficult time removing victims from the wreckage¹². "It was like peeling an onion to find the victims there." Patricia Nazario of member station KPCC says a Metrolink spokeswoman says the engineer of the commuter train was apparently¹³ responsible for the crash.

The Metrolink spokesperson said that the engineer failed to stop for a red signal just as a car on the street would stop or run a red light. In this case, the engineer of the Metrolink train ran the red light and he hit the oncoming train.

Patricia Nazario reporting from Los Angeles.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Hurricane Ike has become a focus of attention in the presidential race. Democratic nominee¹⁴ Barack Obama is calling on Americans to help those affected¹⁵ by the storm. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

In a morning rally at a downtown Manchester park, Obama said the people on the Gulf¹⁶ Coast are in his words "in our thoughts and prayers". The Democratic nominee did not lay all politics aside, saying there are many Americans who are hurting because they are out of work. "A lot of people are going through their own trials, and their own tribulations¹⁷. There are a lot of quiet storms that are taking place throughout America. All across America I meet people who have seen their jobs shipped overseas." Obama repeated his assertion that Republican John McCain doesn't get it, and he's out of touch with the American people. McCain is scheduled to appear at a NASCAR race in New Hampshire on Sunday. Brian Naylor, NPR News, Manchester, New Hampshire.

A series of bombs exploded in New Delhi today, one in a park, the other in crowded shopping areas. At least 18 people were killed and dozens of others were wounded. Islamist extremists have claimed responsibility for the attacks which the city's mayor is calling cowardly.

Federal officials and Wall Street executives met at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York today to try to work out a rescue plan for struggling investment bank Lehman Brothers, but the meeting has apparently ended. And the Wall Street Journal is reporting that it's becoming clear that what it calls "a clean sale of the bank" would be difficult to accomplish. Lehman is the nation's fourth largest investment bank, but it has been slammed recently by its exposure to risky¹⁸ investments in real estate related assets.