Ike could hit Corpus Cristi, Texas, by Friday

AP Photo: This image provided by NOAA taken Tuesday Sept. 9, 2008 at 11:32 p.m. EDT shows... Hurricane IKE leaving impoverished coastlines and heading for Texas coastlines--may hit impoverished areas --right now predicted to directly hit Corpus Cristi, Texas--nicknamed "The Sparkling City of the Sea" --an area of wide-ranging income levels by Friday--Eight largest city in state as of the latest Census Bureau although only about 300,000. (this report Wed AM ET.) Operations are underway to evacuate the medically fragile first.

Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. It is the principal city of the three-county Corpus Christi Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger Corpus Christi-Kingsville Combined Statistical Area. The translation from Latin of the city's name is Body of Christ, given to the settlement by the Spanish, in honor of the Blessed Sacrament (Eucharist).

The city is home to the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and is served by the Corpus Christi International Airport.