US President George W Bush has declared a federal disaster area in Texas and warned that the danger to the US Gulf Coast from Hurricane Ike has not yet passed.

Speaking at the White House, President Bush, sought to assure Americans his administration would not repeat mistakes made in the handling of Katrina in 2005 and promised swift assistance from the government.

The storm barrelled into the densely populated Texas coast near Houston early Saturday, bringing with it a wall of water and ferocious winds and rain that paralysed the fourth-largest US city.

Ike idled more than a fifth of US oil production as winds of up to 110 mph swept through the Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Centre said.

In a televised address Mr Bush said: "This is a huge storm that is causing a lot of damage. The storm has yet to pass.

"I know there are people concerned about their lives. Some people didn't evacuate when asked.

"We'll be in the Gulf Coast region hopefully within a reasonable period of time to help the state of Texas officials as well as local officials begin the recovery effort," he said.

Mr Bush, widely seen as out of touch with the situation when Katrina struck in 2005, said he was keeping a close eye on this storm and its aftermath and was dispatching senior emergency officials to coordinate the response.

But within minutes of his brief televised appearance on the White House south lawn, Mr Bush had changed out of his business suit and headed for the Secret Service training ground outside Washington for his usual weekend mountain-bike ride.

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