Ike’s death toll rises to 30 in eight states

Associated Press

Tabitha Romero, left, her son Gavin Romero, 2, and Dalaila Vasquez get water, ice, and military rations at a FEMA aid distribution site for relief FOR Hurricane Ike victims in Galveston, Texas, Monday. Associated Press

GALVESTON, Texas — More than 48 hours after Hurricane Ike swamped the Gulf Coast, rescuers flew for the first time Monday into areas cut off by the storm and found a scene of devastation, with whole subdivisions obliterated, and began evacuating survivors.

A Texas helicopter task force flew 115 rescuers onto the heavily damaged resort barrier island of Bolivar Peninsula, just east of hard-hit Galveston. Task force leader Chuck Jones said some subdivisions in the area are completely gone.

Two days after Ike battered Houston and forced thousands into emergency shelters, the death toll rose to 30 in eight states, many of them far to the north of the Gulf Coast as the storm slogged across the nation’s midsection, leaving a trail of flooding and destruction.

Houston, littered with glass from skyscrapers, was placed under a week-long curfew and millions of people in the storm’s path remained in the dark.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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