After the storm: Floating coffins and prowling alligators amid Hurricane Ike's £7bn trail of destruction

On the Texas coast, this cemetery was flooded and coffins were forced above ground by the sheer volume of floodwater .

Distraught relatives wandered among the empty graves and the saturated coffins that were strewn throughout the cemetery.

Two days after Ike's landfall, water gurgled and bubbled ominously from submerged graves, and an invisible cloud of formaldehyde stung the eyes and throat.

The only water left was now filling empty graves and vaults.

Kelly Rochelle and Danny Kelley look for the coffins belonging to Kelley's parents that floated away from their graves as a result of the storm surge

Water fills an empty grave after its coffin floated away. The grave's headstone lies discarded

An alligator crosses Gulfway drive into Hurricane Ike flood waters in the wake of the storm

Meanwhile a lone alligator prowls across the deserted motorway as the storm waters from Hurricane Ike gradually subside.

Today, as the death toll from the hurricane had risen to 25 across nine states, one of the biggest search and rescue operations in U.S. history got under way.

Nearly 2,000 people were plucked to safety from their flooded homes with hundreds more awaiting rescue.

Isolated: A house stands alone after Ike tore through Gilchrist, Texas

Houses are seen pushed up against each other in Crystal Beach, Texas after Hurricane Ike hit the area

The confirmed death toll from Hurricane Ike stood at 13.

But search teams stocked with body bags were scouring communities including Galveston, where 20,000 ignored a mandatory evacuation order.

‘We hope for the best but I want to prepare people for the fact that we may have some fatalities,’ said Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff.

Some told remarkable stories of survival.

Denis Covington, 63, of Port Bolivar, southeast of Houston, had his home smashed in two by a falling pylon.

Both halves crashed into 14ft of floodwater. ‘I had to spend the second half of the hurricane in a tree just clinging on. The rain was like nails sticking in to me,’ he said.

A cyclist rides along a portion of the sea wall in Galveston which has been cleared of piles of debris

Ike came ashore at Galveston in the early hours of Saturday, bringing a 20ft storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico and causing an estimated £7billion damage.

Nearly five million people are without electricity along the Gulf coast, and many have no running water.

Ellie Cox, 22, was airlifted from Galveston with her husband Lester and their three children, including disabled six-month-old baby Juilianna after spending the storm cowering in their third floor apartment.

 A tree fell on their roof and water rose up around them.

‘I’m not going back, there’s nothing left for us now,’ she said.

Wrecked: A boatyard in Galveston is left with damages costing millions to repair

Karen and Paul Thompson, both 57, were winched from their home on stilts in Crystal Beach after huddling together in a bedroom as the hurricane ripped the house around them and 14 feet of water crashed in from the Gulf.

At one point a large boat was flung past their window.

‘We called the Coastguard for help but they said they couldn’t get out to us, it was too dangerous,’ said Mrs Thompson after being winched off her porch along with her husband and five dogs.

‘I was scared to death. Glass was being blown out of the windows, things were hitting the house, the roof was being torn off.’

Mr Thompson said: ‘There were rows and rows of houses at Crystal Beach but there ain’t no more.’

Ike tore into Texas, coming ashore at Galveston in the early hours of yesterday.

Galveston resident Gary Simmons walks among the rubble of Murdock's Pier and Hooters along Seawall Boulevard

It brought a 20 feet storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico and pounded the region, including the city of Houston, with eight hours of hurricane force winds.

President George Bush declared 29 Texas counties and parts of Louisiana a major disaster area.

Thousands of National Guard, military troops, police, fire and ambulance teams from around the country were assisting the recovery effort.

Nearly five million people along the Gulf coast were without power, and some were warned it could be up to a month before their electricity is restored.

Many were also left without running water.

And Pump prices jumped above $5 per gallon in some parts of America yesterday s Hurricane Ike left refineries and pipelines idled and destroyed at least 10 offshore petroleum platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Tens of thousands of homes were destroyed or seriously damaged in the fury of the storm and insurance industry officials estimated the damage would exceed £7billion.

Humanitarian teams planned to hand out one million ready-meals and 1.5 million gallons of water a day.

More than 40,000 Texans remained in emergency shelters, officials said, and many areas remained under curfew to discourage looters.

President Bush, who was due to visit Texas today, said: ‘This was a tough storm and it’s one that’s going to require time for people to recover.’

Jim Wathens, 84, is helped from a rescue boat by police officer Bobby Sanderson, left, and beach patrol's Shean Migues after Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast

Waterfront houses on Galveston Island are surrounded by debris and overturned boats

Members of the Louisiana National Guard rescue a cow from flooded fields north of Hackberry, Louisiana