HOUSTON, Sept 13: Hurricane Ike barreled into the densely populated Texas coast near Houston early on Saturday, bringing with it a wall of water, ferocious winds and rain that flooded large areas along the Gulf of Mexico and paralysed the fourth-largest US city.

Ike, a massive hurricane that has idled more than a fifth of US oil production, came ashore at the barrier island city of Galveston as a strong Category 2 storm at 2:10am CDT with sustained 110mph winds, the National Hurricane Centre said.

The raging storm flooded Galveston and submerged a 17-foot wall built to protect the city after a 1900 hurricane killed at least 8,000 people. More than half its 60,000 residents had fled.

Grandmother Sherry Gill spent the night in League City, roughly halfway between Galveston and Houston, despite an evacuation order, huddling with her family and listening to the wind howling over her shuttered home.

“It was a night of sheer terror. I thought the roof was going to lift off,” Gill said.

Alicia Cahill, a spokeswoman for the city of Galveston, said there had been no confirmed reports or casualties.

About 50 miles inland, Ike lashed downtown Houston’s skyscrapers, blowing out windows and sending debris flying through water-logged streets.

Roofs were ripped off houses, and rising waters, downed trees and fallen power lines left many streets impassable. There were “many, many” windows broken in the 75-storey Chase Tower, the tallest building in Houston.

Ike was the biggest storm to hit a US city since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005.

“This is a huge storm that is causing a lot of damage, not only in Texas, but also in parts of Louisiana,” President George W. Bush said at the White House.

“The storm has yet to pass and I know there are people concerned about their lives. Some people didn’t evacuate when asked,” said Bush, a former governor of Texas.

He said the government would monitor gas prices to prevent extraordinary price increases because of Ike.

Ike was downgraded to a Category 1 on the hurricane intensity scale at 8am, carrying top sustained winds near 90mph and moving north, but officials said it was too soon to assess the extent of the damage.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett told reporters the winds had not been “extraordinarily high, certainly for a hurricane”. The main concerns were the storm surge zone, the area affected by the wall of water pushed inland, and the fate of coastal residents.

Hurricane force winds were expected to rip through Houston until around mid-day and tropical storm strength winds to continue for hours after that. Houston is home to 2.2 million people, and its metropolitan area has about 5.6 million.—Reuters