Galveston's neighborhoods, pictured on February 5, 2009, are still littered with debris from Hurricane Ike, which came ashore on Sept 13, 2008. The steamy Texas island city of Galveston, an historic port known for palm trees, Victorian buildings and shipping cattle and oil to the world, now finds its economy clinging to a life raft. Some leaders believe the only hope for the city of about 45,000 -- down about a third from its pre-hurricane population -- is to legalize gambling and open casinos that would lure in tourists. Picture taken February 5, 2009. To match feature story FINANCIAL/GALVESTON-GAMBLING REUTERS/Chris Baltimore (UNITED STATES)
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