Ike could be 'potential catastrophe'

Hurricane Ike has closed in on the Texas coast with a wall of water and US officials warn it could be a potentially catastrophic storm and flood 100,000 homes.

Waters rose rapidly as Ike moved within hours of striking low-lying areas near Houston with a possible 6-metre storm surge in what may be the worst storm to hit Texas in nearly 50 years.

"Our nation is facing what is by any means a potentially catastrophic hurricane," said US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, warning that Ike's storm surge could present the gravest danger.

The National Weather Service warned that people in coastal areas could "face the possibility of death" from a massive storm surge. Although Ike is weaker than 2005's Hurricane Katrina, the last storm to pummel a US urban area, its large scope gives it more water-moving power.

Ike was a Category 2 storm with 165kph winds as it moved on a course to pass directly over Houston – the fourth-largest city in the United States.

Ike was expected to come ashore overnight, possibly as a dangerous Category 3 storm on the five-step intensity scale with winds of more than 178kph, the National Hurricane Centre said.

Millions of coastal residents could be left without power, authorities said.

Ports were closed and the Coast Guard said a 178-metre freighter with 22 people aboard was stranded without power 145km southeast of Galveston. Conditions were too treacherous to attempt rescue.

Hundreds of thousands of people fled the island city of Galveston and low-lying counties under mandatory evacuation orders and authorities urged holdouts to move before Ike's winds started to make car travel dangerous.

Some who had thought they would stick it out instead made a last-minute exit from Galveston. The city was hit by a hurricane in 1900 that was the deadliest weather disaster in US history.

US crude oil was trading near $US101 a barrel Friday afternoon after dropping below $US100 for the first time since early April as concerns over US economic weakness outweighed storm disruption fears.

Weather forecasters at Planalytics saw "major and long-term damage likely at the major refining cities."

- Reuters