Race against time to save stranded Texans

Rescue crews in the US searched neighbourhoods inundated by Hurricane Ike’s storm surge early this morning, racing against time to save those who spent a second harrowing night trapped amid flattened houses, strewn debris and downed power lines.

One team of paramedics, rescue dogs and structural engineers fanned out under a nearly full moon on a finger of land in Galveston Bay. Authorities hoped to spare thousands of Texans – 140,000 by some estimates who ignored orders to flee ahead of Ike – from another night among the destruction. Some had been rescued, but unknown thousands remained stranded.