Galveston, part of Houston evacuated ahead of Ike

Authorities urged residents in parts of the the U.S. Gulf Coast to heed evacuation warnings before Hurricane Ike makes landfall, warning of a "massive storm" that could affect roughly 40 percent of the U.S. Gulf Coast.

"Do not take this storm lightly," Michael Chertoff, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said Thursday afternoon. "This is not a storm to gamble with. It is large; it is powerful; it carries a lot of water."

Chertoff and representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency said their efforts were focused on evacuations as Ike, now a Category 2 storm, headed toward the northwestern Gulf of Mexico with top sustained winds near 100 mph.

Check Out Full Article @ CNN