The death toll from Hurricane Ike has reached at least forty, as Texas mounts its largest-ever rescue effort. 2,000 people have been rescued from flooded areas. More than 30,000 evacuees are still living in public shelters. The hurricane devastated Galveston, Texas and parts of Houston, where the 100 mile-an-hour winds peeled sheets of steel off the city’s skyscrapers. In Galveston, flooding was eight to ten feet deep in some areas of the city. Hurricane Ike hit the heart of the nation’s oil and petro-chemical industry. The storm destroyed at least ten oil production platforms and damaged oil pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico. The local media in Galveston reports some of the floodwater is filled with oil and chemicals. Some two million Texans remain without power. Officials say it could be weeks before power is restored throughout the region. Meanwhile, the sheriff of Galveston Island is coming under criticism for refusing to evacuate 1,000 people being held at the county jail ahead of the hurricane.