Giant Hurricane Ike began lashing the Texas gulf coast on Saturday with its fierce category 3 winds threatening to shut down United States' oil industry and flood the big water front area which is already under waist deep water. Ike, which has already churned through the Gulf of Mexico, is now on a collision course with Texas, where already over a million people in coastal areas have been evacuated but thousand others have ignored calls to leave, deciding to brave it out.
US President Trump has issued emergency declarations for 10 states as authorities continue to prepare for frigid cold which will sweep across the eastern two-thirds of the country.
Rescue work has intensified in Texas with officials launching search operations as desperate residents remain stranded without food and water.
Harvey is the most powerful hurricane to hit the United States mainland in 12 years on Saturday made landfall in central Texas coast with winds of 195 kmph.
Around 13 million people continue to battle "catastrophic" flooding and torrential rains in storm-ravaged Texas where Hurricane Harvey has wreaked havoc.
This case is the largest investigated by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force to date, US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton said in a press release.
Officials estimated at least 90 per cent of surrounding Jefferson County residents had heeded warnings that a storm surge could submerge swaths of the low-lying county - including the seawall-and-levee-protected city of Port Arthur, near Sabine Pass.
Rita is expected to hit Texas on Saturday.
-- More than 800,000 homes and businesses are without power in Texas and Louisiana as of Thursday morning -- Laura's 150mph winds made it the strongest hurricane to strike the US this year and in Louisiana since 1856
Thousands of emergency rescue teams officials remained on their toes, helping people affected by the deluge. Weather official said parts of state are expected to receive rainfall again.
The film is releasing in India on September 16!
The Hurricane Dolly plummeting the Texas coast thwarted a high-profile event of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who was to fly to an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and meet Indian-American Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal, being seen as a possible running mate.Media analysts said the event -- at which McCain was to raise the issue of offshore oil drilling and technology that made it safe -- was aimed at stealing some thunder from his Democratic rival Obama.
At least 200 Indian students stranded at the University of Houston were being evacuated to safer places.
"Getting straight to business. PM @narendramodi just concluded a fruitful interaction with top energy sector CEOs at a Roundtable meeting in #Houston. Discussion focussed on working together for energy security and expanding mutual investment opportunities between India & US," MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.
The winners of the Natural History Museum's prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition were announced at an awards ceremony in London. American photographer Karine Aigner was announced as this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Three deaths have been reported and there are fears of more fatalities.
In his penultimate State of the Union address, Barack Obama said that the economy is improving.
