Texas expects major hit from Hurricane Ike

Voluntary evacuations were under way along the Texas Gulf Coast on Tuesday as officials prepared for a potential multibillion-dollar disaster when Hurricane Ike reaches the Gulf Coast later this week.

As many as 1,000 evacuees were expected to begin arriving as early as Wednesday morning in Lubbock, in the northwest corner of the state, after Gov. Rick Perry declared emergencies in 88 counties and placed 7,500 National Guard troops on alert.

They were expected to overflow the capacity of the city’s Coliseum, which was set up as an evacuation center. Officials put out a call for volunteers to help with the flow of evacuees and were planning to set up a second location in the city’s Civic Center, said Kevin Overstreet, Lubbock’s emergency management director.

At 11 p.m. ET, Ike had entered the Gulf of Mexico as it moved away from Cuba, where it left a double trail of destruction. The storm was centered 120 miles west of Havana and was moving west-northwest near 9 mph, with maximum sustained winds near 80 mph.

Forecasters said it would strengthen, perhaps to a Category 3 storm with winds over 110 mph, before hitting the Texas coast late in the week.

“When it’s out of Cuba, it has the potential to become a lot stronger,” said Felix Garcia, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

‘Worst-case scenario’
Current projections placed Ike crossing the Texas coast Friday night or Saturday morning near Corpus Christi, where Nueces County officials convened an emergency planning call Tuesday. The county, which has no permanent shelters, began bringing in buses and ambulances to handle evacuations expected later in the week.

In Louisiana, where thousands of homes remained without power after Hurricane Gustav hit last week, Gov. Bobby Jindal urged residents to start stockpiling food, water, batteries and other supplies in case the hurricane veered east. The state also was readying shelters and making plans for trains, buses and planes in case a coastal evacuation is called later in the week.

Local authorities and insurance officials warned that Ike could be shaping up as the “worst-case scenario.” Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said her city was using models of the catastrophic 1900 hurricane, which killed at least 6,000 people, in its planning for Ike.

“It’s the storm we’ve talked about but hoped would never happen,” said Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas. If Ike were to strike Galveston and then enter the Houston Ship Channel, damage “would rival hurricanes Andrew or Katrina,” he said.

Jim Oliver, general manager of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, said the agency’s insurance exposure in Galveston County alone was more than $18 billion.

“Nobody will be ready if a Category 3 or worse hits,” he predicted.

Texas prepares for evacuations
Officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was too early to recommend evacuations along the Gulf Coast, but they said they would have a much clearer picture as early as Wednesday.

Interactive Hurricane Tracker See active hurricane data and paths of storms from earlier in the season.

In Texas, officials were taking no chances. State transportation officials began establishing evacuation routes from the coast to North Texas, where the Dallas Convention Center was designated as the region’s primary evacuation center.

A state fuel team was dispatched to trace the routes toward Dallas, making sure enough gasoline would be available for the tens of thousands of vehicles that may travel the roads. Meanwhile, Texas officials contacted their counterparts in Oklahoma to arrange emergency shelter for 12,500 patients with special medical needs.

In Louisiana, many residents and businesses were not even bothering to take down the boards they put up ahead of Hurricane Gustav early last week.

“We left them up just in case — we’re unsure about the other storms that are out in the gulf,” said Nancy Jordan of Lake Charles.

“It’s just hard to believe that we’re going to have to do this again,” she said. “I know that a lot of people in the community have struggled financially with having to evacuate, but I think we have to in order to be safe.”

I ke’s unpredictability frustrating
Louisianans as well as Texans were well-advised to be ready, because Ike has frustrated forecasters as it has taken a meandering path through the Caribbean.

An msnbc.com-NBC News special report Telemundo affiliate KXTX of Dallas and the following NBC stations and affiliates contributed to this report: KCBD of Lubbock, Texas; KPLC of Lake Charles, La.; KPRC of Houston; KRIS of Corpus Christi, Texas; KXAN of Austin, Texas; KXAS of Dallas; WBBH of Fort Myers, Fla.; and WTVJ of Miami.

Earlier projections had indicated that Ike could swing north toward Florida, but as the storm progressed, officials reported few major problems. Potentially lethal rip currents developed off South Florida’s beaches, and red safety flags flying high in a Miami Beach lifeguard post warned people to stay away from the water.

In the Florida Keys, Ike’s storm surge sent waves rising 20 to 25 feet pouring over the seawall at Southernmost Point. Seven blocks in the area were flooded Tuesday morning, with 2 feet of water standing at Southernmost Point.

Concern for illegal immigrants
The new target is Texas, where officials said as many as 1 million people could be evacuated from the Rio Grande Valley, raising concern that tens of thousands of illegal immigrants might be stranded, The Associated Press reported from McAllen.

Federal authorities gave reassurances that they would not check people’s immigration status at evacuation loading zones or inland checkpoints. But residents were skeptical, and there were worries that many illegal immigrants would refuse to board buses and go to shelters for fear of getting arrested and deported.

“People are nervous,” said the Rev. Michael Seifert, pastor of San Felipe de Jésus Catholic Church in Brownsville and president of Proyecto Digna, which advocates for low-income families in the valley. “The message that was given to me was that it's going to be a real problem.”

Advocates said illegal immigrants’ fears were understandable.

In May, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the Border Patrol would do nothing to impede an evacuation in the event of a hurricane. But when Hurricane Dolly struck the Rio Grande Valley in late July, no mandatory evacuation was ordered, and the Border Patrol kept its checkpoints open. Agents soon caught a van load of illegal immigrants.

Judge J.D. Salinas, the chief executive of Hidalgo County, said that if an evacuation was ordered this time, county officials would visit immigrant neighborhoods and forcefully urge people to clear out.

More from msnbc.com Sluggish new home sales show rocky recovery Now boarding: Flight 1225 to North Pole Racist webcam? TheGrio's test says no Kim Peek, a man who inspired more than ‘Rain Man’ Answer Desk: Gold may be riskier than it seems

MORE FROM WEATHER

Weather Section Front

Snow slowing central U.S. travel   Watch 3-day national forecast Jet slides off icy U.K. runway Venice flooding adds to Italy weather woes 3 dead as dust storm, snow blast Arizona   Hawaiian water spout dumps hail Weather Section Front   Add Weather headlines to your news reader: