By Tim Gaynor
GALVESTON, Texas (Reuters) - Texas officials warned of ahealth crisis on Monday and urged thousands of people to leaveGalveston, where relief supplies were scarce for hungry,exhausted residents of the island city ravaged by HurricaneIke.
In Houston, millions struggled to cope without power in theU.S. energy hub.
About 2,000 people have been plucked from flooded areas byhelicopters and boats in the largest rescue effort in thestate's history as searchers scoured battered communities alongthe coast and Galveston Bay.
Galveston, a city of 60,000, was decimated when thehurricane made landfall there on Saturday morning and15,000-20,000 people remained in quickly degrading conditions.
"There's nothing to come here for," Galveston Mayor LydaAnn Thomas told residents still on the island. "Please leave."
She called in a cruise ship to house recovery teams, andthe city was bringing in a refrigerated mobile morgue.
"We cannot accommodate people who are getting sick," saidGalveston City Manager Steven LeBlanc. "You have the potentialfor a health crisis."
More than 4 million people, several oil refineries and manybusinesses and gas stations around Houston remained withoutpower. Government agencies will distribute ice, water andpackaged meals from tractor-trailers.
President George W. Bush will view storm-damaged areas inTexas on Tuesday. He still is trying to rebuild his image as adisaster manager after he was widely criticized for a botchedrelief effort in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The relief roll-out appeared to defuse tensions that hadflared between the Federal Emergency Management Agency andlocal officials after Houston Mayor Bill White vowed to holdFEMA accountable for delivering on its commitments.
'FEMA AIN'T BEEN BY'
Officials from Texas -- which sheltered some 200,000evacuees when Katrina devastated New Orleans -- pressed forequal treatment from federal aid agencies.
"I have asked the president and the administration to justtreat us as fairly as they treated Louisiana back duringKatrina," said Texas Gov. Rick Perry. "Texans will take care ofthe rest."
FEMA said it will deliver 7.5 million meals over the nextfew days, along with 5.1 million gallons (19.8 million litres)of water, 19.2 million pounds (8,700 tonnes) of ice, and 80,000tarps.
Residents of Texas and Louisiana are in for tough times,FEMA Administrator David Paulison said. "Some people will beout of their homes for not only weeks, but months," he said.
In Galveston, shocked and bewildered residents staggeredthrough the streets as food and water grew scarce. There waslittle sign of any federal relief efforts.
"FEMA ain't been by, nobody," said disabled retiree VivianMatthews, who was stranded at her flooded apartment for twodays. "They don't give a damn if we live or die."
Four deaths were reported by officials in Galveston --scene of the worst U.S. weather disaster when a hurricanekilled more than 8,000 people in 1900. One person was alsokilled in the Houston suburb of Pasadena, the mayor said.
'VERY FRUSTRATED'
Bush said Texas residents are "very frustrated" by the slowpace of recovery but "my message will be that we hear you andwe'll work as hard and fast as we can to help you get yourlives back up to normal."
Power outages were the main obstacle to recovery andauthorities have warned that some people could be without itfor days. Electricity is the lifeblood of Gulf Coast refineriesthat process about a quarter of the country's fuel.
Power provider CenterPoint Energy reported it had restoredpower to 500,000 customers but about 1.6 million remained inthe dark, including big Houston-based corporations.
U.S. crude oil futures shrugged off supply concerns andsettled down $5.47 at $95.71 a barrel after hitting seven-monthlows.
Ike caused minimal damage to oil refineries along the GulfCoast and companies are preparing to restart operations at the14 oil refineries in Texas and Louisiana that remained shut dueto Ike, the Energy Department said.
Houston, the fourth biggest U.S. city and home to a boomingeconomy thanks to energy demand, was still under a dusk-to-dawncurfew due to lack of power.
Authorities urged residents to boil water as protectionagainst contamination and disease.
Across Houston, where the car is king, hundreds of driverswaited in long gas station lines. Residents lined up thousandsdeep at relief centres to get ice, water and food.
The city's two main airports resumed partial operations.But with debris still littering its streets and windows blownout of office buildings, it could be weeks before the city ofmore than 2 million people returns to business as usual.
(Additional reporting by Chris Baltimore, Erwin Seba,Eileen O'Grady, Anna Driver and Bruce Nichols in Houston andRandall Mikkelsen in Washington; editing by Ed Stoddard andMohammad Zargham)
