No report of Chinese casualties in Hurricane Ike

There has been no report of causalities of American Chinese and Chinese students in Hurricane Ike, which hit Texas and Louisiana states in the U.S. Saturday, a Chinese official said.

Zhou Ding, China's deputy consul-general in Houston, Texas, told Xinhua via telephone that his consulate had not received any such report since Ike landed on southeast Texas at 3:10 a.m. local time .

He said the damage of the hurricane, now downgraded to a tropical storm, is "less than expected."

The American Chinese living in hurricane-prone areas of southern United States are very experienced in taking precautions against hurricane and they generally followed local government's order of evacuation and preparation before Ike's landing, Zhou said.

The consulate has set up two hotlines and an email address so that any American Chinese or Chinese student can reach it for help.

It also reached out to the organizations of Chinese students in Texas and Louisiana to remind them of the hurricane.

Zhou said it was unclear how much damage the hurricane has inflicted on Houston's Chinatown but most of the people had left there before Ike's landing.

The storm has left 2.6 million people out of power, including Zhou and his colleagues.

"But we stored food and water, and it didn't make too much trouble for us," he said.

Meanwhile, U.S. President George W. Bush issued a major disaster declaration for Texas and Louisiana Saturday, freeing up millions of U.S. dollars of federal aid to areas hit by Hurricane Ike.

There were reports of hurricane casualties, but none has been confirmed.

Source: Xinhua