A search-and-rescue crew heads down a flooded road in the Sabine Pass area of Port Author, Texas, on Sunday. (Eric Gay/Associated Press) Rescuers in Texas found nearly 2,000 people on Sunday who chose to ignore evacuation orders and rode out Hurricane Ike in their homes.

Ike, which was subsequently downgraded to a tropical storm after it moved inland, sparked the largest search-and-rescue effort in Texas history: More than 50 helicopters, 1,500 volunteers and government officials and fire departments were deployed. The 1,984 people rescued included 394 by air.

As many as 10,000 people remained in Galveston, where Ike hit hardest. Five of the 25 deaths attributed to the hurricane were in Galveston, including a person found in a submerged car.

The city is in ruins, said Steve McCraw, director of Homeland Security in Texas.

"The devastation is horrendous. I counted at least 30 homes that were out in the water," picked up by the storm and dumped offshore.

Hurricane Ike hurled boats on to the I-45 highway that leads to the island city of Galveston. (L.M. Otero/Associated Press)

Waist-deep water and downed trees hampered rescuers.

The city has no electricity or gas, and many phone lines are down. Those citizens who did leave should stay away, Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said: "You cannot live here right now."

Downed wires left two million people without electricity in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Oil industry escapes major damage

Ike destroyed at least 10 of the 3,800 oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. officials said.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the state "was blessed in the sense that this storm didn't strike any harder than it did on the refining industry." But the damage is huge, and "it's going to take us a while to get back," he said.

A home is surrounded by floodwaters in Galveston, Texas, after Ike struck. (David J. Phillip/Pool/Associated Press)

Houston was also hard hit. Winds shattered downtown skyscraper windows, sending glass, furniture and business documents on to the streets below. Officials have announced a weeklong 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew in the city.

The city's two airports will resume limited service Monday, but schools are expected to remain closed.

Deaths reported in Ohio, Illinois

Ike was downgraded to a tropical depression as it moved north, but still damaged property and caused floods in Kansas and Indiana.

It killed seven people in Texas, six in Louisiana and 12 in other states as far north as Illinois and Ohio.

Heavy rain doused Chicago, where crews placed sandbags along the Chicago River to contain water that rose 50 centimetres above normal.

The remnants of Ike are expected to hit southern Ontario Sunday evening, bringing rain and high winds.

The heaviest rainfall, amounts of 40 to 70 millimetes, will stretch from near Sarnia northeast to Renfrew in the Ottawa valley, Environment Canada said. Toronto through to Ottawa could get 25 mm.

The storm will reach southern Quebec later Sunday night and continue eastwards.

With files from the Associated Press