Government grants "hurricane amnesty"

The federal government has issued “a hurricane amnesty” for the estimated 1.6 million illegal immigrants in Texas. Over a million people have already evacuated the state as Hurricane Ike makes its way toward the Gulf Coast, but the Christian Science Monitor reports that emergency workers are concerned that some illegal immigrants may not leave for fear of prosecution.

Hurricane Ike threatens Gulf

After wreaking havoc in the Caribbean last week, Hurricane Ike is now threatening New Orleans, the city swamped in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina killed 1,500 people and caused $80 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Gustav narrowly missed the low-lying city protected by floodwalls and levees.

Ike tore roofs off houses when it hit Britain's Turks and Caicos Islands as a ferocious Category 4 hurricane, and floods triggered by its torrential rains were blamed for at least 61 deaths in Haiti, where Tropical Storm Hanna killed 500 last week.