Hurricane Ike set to strike Houston

HOUSTON, Sept 12: A sprawling and strengthening Hurricane Ike steamed through the Gulf of Mexico Friday on a track toward the nation's fourth-largest city, where authorities told residents to brace rather than flee. Ike's 105-mph winds and potential 50-foot waves stopped the Coast Guard from attempting a risky helicopter rescue of 22 people aboard a 584-foot freighter that broke down in the path of the storm about 90 miles southeast of Galveston, said Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry. O'Berry did not provide the name of the ship, which was hauling petroleum coke used to fuel furnaces at steel plants, or details on where it was headed. — AP