La Marque, Texas - Hurricane Ike Friday stalked hungrily across the Gulf of Mexico with its victim firmly in its sights.
By early Saturday morning, Galveston, a barrier island of 60,000 residents, faced certain devastation from Ike's 165-kilometre-an-hour winds. Those who refused to evacuate faced nearly certain death, forecasters warned.
"Galveston could disappear," said John Dennis, who was waiting in line at one of the only operating petrol stations in La Marque, the first town on the Texas mainland from Galveston.