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Satellite photo of hurricane Ike heading for Texas
Texas faces "potentially catastrophic" damage when Hurricane Ike hits in the next few hours, US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has warned.
He said as many as 100,000 homes could be destroyed by flooding.
There are fears the hurricane could cause a high storm surge that leaves miles of low-lying coast underwater.
Residents of the Texan coastal city of Galveston face "certain death" if they do not evacuate, the National Weather Service has warned.
More than a million people in Texas have been advised to leave their homes before Ike hits late on Friday or early Saturday morning.
But people in Houston city have been told to shelter at home, board up their properties and stockpile supplies.
Authorities are trying to avoid a repeat of 2005, when some 110 people in Houston died during a chaotic evacuation in the face of Hurricane Rita.
The US National Hurricane Center said Ike could grow from a Category Two to a Category Three storm - a "major hurricane" - by the time it reaches the coast.
BBC NEWS | Americas | Texas faces 'catastrophic' storm
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