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US hurricane death toll reaches 51
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-18 23:43

HOUSTON, the United States -- The death toll of Hurricane Ike in the United States reached 51 as of Wednesday, officials said.

Most of the deaths occurred in Texas, including 23 in Houston area and 18 elsewhere in the state. The cause of the deaths include storms, fumes from generators and falling tree limbs and house fires, according to the website of Houston city government.

There are still a number of people still missing and officials ask those who have not heard from family and friends to report to authorities.

Power has been restored to some 1.3 million of the 2.2 million residents of Houston. According to projections, 80 percent of customers in the western part of the region will have power by Friday. But much of Houston and areas to the east won't reach that level until later.

Hurricane Ike landed on Texas last Saturday, prompting millions of people to evacuate their homes and the total economic costs could top as much as 18 billion US dollars.