Ike disrupts college campus; death toll 51

GALVESTON, Texas, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- More than 1,000 Texas A&M-Galveston students were relocated to the university's main campus at College Station, Texas, because of Hurricane Ike.

Meanwhile, Port Arthur, Texas, police said they believe a woman died Wednesday when she was refueling a generator and it caught fire, Beaumont, Texas, television station KFDM reported Thursday. Officers said they saw smoke and flames at the woman's house when they arrived.

Ike has been blamed for 51 deaths, with at least 20 in Texas and the others in nine other states in the hurricane's path, The New York Times reported.

Between 1,200-1,500 of the Galveston campus' 1,800 students are expected to relocate, most likely for the remainder of the semester, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported.

University officials are looking into attendance options, including telecommuting and weekly classes, said R. Bowen Loftin, chief executive of Texas A&M-Galveston.

Heath officials say sanitary conditions in Galveston are deteriorating.

"It's not a sanitary state on (Galveston Island) right now," David Callender, president of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, told the Times. Decomposing organic debris is becoming a problem because it "creates an environment for the infectious diseases to increase in number," he said.

Crews are working to restore electricity to all areas hit by the storm. Power company officials say service could be restored by the end of the week in Houston but might take longer to be restored in other areas.