By Tim Gaynor
GALVESTON, Texas (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands ofpeople fled coastal areas in the path of Hurricane Ike onThursday as the storm gathered strength on a collision coursewith the Texas Gulf Coast, threatening to swamp low-lying areasaround Houston under a massive swell of water.
Ike was a Category 2 storm with 100 mph (160 kph) winds andlikely will come ashore late on Friday or early on Saturday asa dangerous Category 3 storm on the five-step intensity scalewith winds of more than 111 mph (178 kph), the NationalHurricane Centre said.
But because of its wide scope -- Ike is largergeographically than Hurricane Katrina was in 2005 -- it couldbring a storm surge up to 20 feet, normally associated withlarger storms.
"The most important message I can send is, do not take thisstorm lightly," U.S. Homeland Security Secretary MichaelChertoff told reporters in Washington. "This is not a storm togamble with."
With the storm's track taking it away from the bulk of4,000 offshore platforms that produce about a quarter of U.S.oil supply, U.S. crude oil futures dipped as low as $100.10 abarrel, the lowest level since early April.
The hurricane's current track would see it hit the Texascoast near Freeport in Brazoria County, just south ofGalveston. It could be the worst storm to hit the Texas coastsince Hurricane Carla came ashore near Corpus Christi in 1961.
The coastal areas under threat from Ike are lined with oilrefineries and other heavy industrial facilities and someresort areas have million-dollar beachfront homes.
600,000 EVACUATED
State estimates show that up to 600,000 residents inlow-lying coastal areas like the island of Galveston and PortArthur left in the wake of mandatory evacuation orders.
By comparison, about 2 million people fled Louisianacoastal cities in the path of Hurricane Gustav, which hit onSeptember 1.
The 2 million-plus residents of Houston, about 50 milesnorth of Galveston, could see hurricane-force winds as Ikemoves inland but officials have ordered no widespreadevacuations.
While New Orleans is below sea level, downtown Houston isabout 50 feet above sea level but Houston's flat, expansiveterrain still leaves it vulnerable to flooding.
"We're not talking about gently rising water. We aretalking about a storm surge," Harris County Judge Ed Emmettsaid, ordering the evacuation of Galveston.
At 5 p.m. EDT (10 p.m. British time) on Thursday, thehurricane centre said in its latest advisory Ike was 510 miles(820 km) east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, and about 400miles (645 km) east-southeast of Galveston. It was movingwest-northwest at 10 mph (17 kph).
New Orleans, still scarred by Hurricane Katrina, whichkilled 1,500 people and caused $80 billion in damage on theU.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, appeared to be out of danger.
However, the centre early on Thursday extended a tropicalstorm warning as far east as the Mississippi-Alabama border,including New Orleans. A hurricane watch remained in effectfrom south of Baffin Bay west to Port Mansfield, Texas.
In Galveston -- site of a 1900 hurricane that was thedeadliest weather disaster in U.S. history -- lines of cars,buses and trucks crowded onto a bridge to leave the island.Others without transportation waited for buses to carry them tohurricane shelters inland after a mandatory evacuation order.
"We're getting up out of here," said Nykera Allen, astudent who was loading bags into her car to drive to SanAntonio. "They're going to shut the lights and the water offand that's not a good situation."
Others hunkered down to weather the storm.
"I'm just going to batten down and not worry about it,"said Keith Andrews, a shipyard worker. "If the Lord wants you,he's going to take you anyway."
(Additional reporting by Anna Driver in Houston and JimForsyth in San Antonio; Writing by Chris Baltimore; Editing byBill Trott)
