Saturday, September 13, 2008 - Page updated at 10:25 AM

Unaware where Ike's stranded are, FEMA awaits word

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says search and rescue teams are at the ready in Houston, poised to go to the aid of those stranded by Hurricane Ike.

HOUSTON —

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says search and rescue teams are at the ready in Houston, poised to go to the aid of those stranded by Hurricane Ike.

But a FEMA spokesman, Mark Stone, says crews hadn't received any rescue calls by early Saturday afternoon. And Stone says teams don't "go out blindly" until calls come in.

At a sports arena in Houston, tractor-trailers and large sport utility vehicles sat idle as the vast storm churned northward across the state. Stone says federal officials are now seeking to pinpoint the hardest-hit areas.

Elsewhere in Texas, authorities say they have already been deluged by emergency calls from people on cell phones awaiting rescue from flooded homes.

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