COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 15 TO 20 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS...ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE EAST OF WHERE THE CENTER MAKES LANDFALL.

This will wipe them out once it gets into the bay.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Thu Sep 22, 2005 at 10:13:28 PM EST

AUSTIN, Texas -- Governor Rick Perry says fuel trucks are being dispatched along Texas evacuation routes to help motorists who are fleeing Hurricane Rita.

Perry on Thursday announced the fuel will be available along Interstate 45, where some drivers have run out of gas due to the slow traffic flow.

Perry also spoke to President Bush Thursday and asked that 10,000 federal troops be pre-positioned to help Texas before and after Rita makes landfall.

That's in addition to the 5,000 Texas national guard troops that the governor has called to duty.

Also, Texas authorities have begun airlifting special needs and other people from the Beaumont and Houston areas -- about 9,000 folks.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Thu Sep 22, 2005 at 11:17:51 PM EST

Wilma Skinner would like to scream at the officials of this city. If only someone would pick up their phone.

"I done called for a shelter, I done called for help. There ain't none. No one answers," she said, standing in blistering heat outside a check-cashing store that had just run out of its main commodity. "Everyone just says, 'Get out, get out.' I've got no way of getting out. And now I've got no money."

With Hurricane Rita breathing down Houston's neck, those with cars were stuck in gridlock trying to get out. Those like Skinner - poor, and with a broken-down car - were simply stuck, and fuming at being abandoned, they say.

"All the banks are closed and I just got off work," said Thomas Visor, holding his sweaty paycheck as he, too, tried to get inside the store, where more than 100 people, all of them black or Hispanic, fretted in line. "This is crazy. How are you supposed to evacuate a hurricane if you don't have money? Answer me that?"

Some of those who did have money, and did try to get out, didn't get very far.

Judie Anderson of La Porte, Texas, covered just 45 miles in 12 hours. She had been on the road since 10 p.m. Wednesday, headed toward Oklahoma, which by Thursday was still very far away.

"This is the worst planning I've ever seen," she said. "They say, 'We've learned a lot from Hurricane Katrina.' Well, you couldn't prove it by me."

On Bellaire Boulevard in southwest Houston, a weeping woman and her young daughter stood on the sidewalk, surrounded by plastic bags full of clothes and blankets. "I'd like to go, but nobody come get me," the woman said in broken English. When asked her name, she looked frightened. "No se, no se," she said: Spanish for "I don't know."

Her daughter, who appeared to be about 9, whispered in English, "We're from Mexico."

For the poor and the disenfranchised, the mighty evacuation orders that preceded Rita were something they could only ignore.

Eddie McKinney, 64, who had no home, no teeth and a torn shirt, stood outside the EZ Pawn shop, drinking a beer under a sign that said, "No Loitering."

....

In Deer Park, a working-class suburb of refineries south of Houston, Stacy and Troy Curtis, waited for help outside the police station. Less than three weeks ago, the couple left New Orleans after it was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

With no vehicle, and little money, they tried to get their lives together while staying at a hotel in Deer Park. Stacy Curtis, a nursing assistant in New Orleans, had a job interview scheduled for Thursday.

...

Monica Holmes, who has debilitating lupus, sat in her car at a Houston gas station that had no gas. "We can't go nowhere," she said, tapping a fingernail against the dashboard fuel gauge. "Look here," she said. "I'm right on E."
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Thu Sep 22, 2005 at 11:25:44 PM EST

Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Thu Sep 22, 2005 at 11:33:41 PM EST

One last thought......notice the semi's in the above pics. Why the hell are they on the road hauling their loads of steel, etc.?  It just made for more of a mess.  

by avahome on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 04:53:57 AM EST

A passenger bus carrying evacuees from the Houston area exploded into flames near Dallas and there are reportedly 20 deaths and injuries.

An explosion preceded the deadly fire on the passenger bus caused by the brakes.

The bus was carrying elderly evacuees and oxygen canisters may have caused the explosion that preceded the fire, according to WFAA in Dallas.

It happened on Interstate 45 at Mars Road in Wilmer. Traffic was backed up several miles again.

Click to watch video
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 08:45:27 AM EST

Anticipating Rita

FOR THE PAST 48 hours, the evacuation of the Texas coastline in anticipation of Hurricane Rita has run like clockwork. In Galveston -- a city nearly wiped out by a hurricane a century ago -- nursing homes and hospitals have been carefully, systematically evacuated. Buses have been provided for the indigent and immobile. For the first time in history, freeways leading north and west out of Houston were running in only one direction, although traffic was snarled with breakdowns and gasoline shortages. The National Guard, the military and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are all prepared. Navy ships are off the coast; the Red Cross is moving in supplies; stores have sold out of batteries and bottled water.

More...

Houston Airport Security employees are inspecting all airport facilities at this time. They are also removing small debris from airport areas.

The airports remain open and as soon as weather and other conditions permit the airports will be ready for any post-hurricane relief/recovery-related flight operations.

Most airlines serving IAH and HOU may resume commercial flights starting on Sunday, Sept. 25. That decision will be made by individual airlines. Passengers needing information on post-Rita flights need to contact their airline.

POWER OUTAGES:
At 10:30 a.m.
CenterPoint Energy says more than 600,000 customers remain without power -- down from 700,000.

Entergy has 269,000 customers without power.

Dispute over airlifted patients
Associated Press is reporting nearly 1,300 patients were airlifted out of Jefferson County to avoid Hurricane Rita - after an official called Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

County Judge Carl Griffith which he blamed the delays on the Transportation Security Administration for making every wheelchair-bound passenger be checked with a metal detector.

Hutchison today told CNN the incident was a "glitch" involving people who were sick and elderly.

But TSA spokeswoman Yolanda Clark in Washington denied that patients being evacuated late this week were delayed for security screening.

Clark today said nine security screeners were sent to the airport, but only to help load passengers onto planes.

She says there was a delay early on with passengers waiting for the aircraft to arrive, but TSA was to process those passengers as quickly as possible without screening.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 01:49:28 PM EST

thanks much :-)

by luaptifer on Sun Sep 25, 2005 at 01:00:28 PM EST

Leon County
2800 Commerce Street E
Buffalo

Shelby County
FM 343
918 Industrial Blvd.
Nacogdoches

Lee County
1 mile north on U.S. 77
Route 1
Giddings

This is just to give people an example where these trucks are suppose to be. The question being asked at this time, how are the people suppose to refuel when they are so far to get to.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 08:36:41 AM EST

KPRC Local 2 meteorologist Wes Hohenstein said a few of the computer models used to forecast Rita's path showed a slight westward turn early Friday, bringing the storm's projected path back toward Galveston as opposed to Beaumont.

"There are those that still believe it is going into Beaumont but a few of them have pushed it back into the west. That is something we are going to have to consider and look at. Is this a long-term trend?" Hohenstein said.

Clouds moved into southeast Texas early Friday, and tropical storm winds and rain were expected to move into the area by the afternoon.

The storm weakened Thursday morning from a top-of-the-scale Category 5 hurricane to a Category 4 as it swirled across the Gulf, and forecasters said it could lose more steam by the time it comes ashore Saturday at about 5 a.m.

Forecasters said it appeared Houston and Galveston could avoid a direct hit as Rita veered slightly to the east, threatening its 140-mph winds at the Beaumont and Port Arthur area about 75 miles east of Houston.

But it could still be a dangerous storm - one aimed at a section of coastline with the nation's biggest concentration of oil refineries.

Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 09:04:33 AM EST

The hurricane has yet to reach the Texas coast, but it's already killing the people fleeing from it.

A woman died while stuck in traffic in Fort Bend County.

Miles of traffic, extreme heat and no water has contributed to the deaths of some evacuees.
The cause of her death appears to be heat-related.

They would not give an exact number.

The Montgomery County medical examiner also said there have been deaths attributed to the evacuation, but would not give specifics.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 11:11:49 AM EST

The state official said by 3 p.m. Friday tropical storm winds. Sustained hurricane winds will be in Chambers, Jefferson, Orange and Hardin counties for the next 16 hours.

A state official with the EOC details the devestation Hurricane Rita could bring to Texas.
It is estimated that the hurricane will affect 16 counties, 5.2 million Texans and 1.8 million households.

Click to watch clips from the state EOC's press conference
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 11:25:51 AM EST

NEW ORLEANS -- Hurricane Rita's steady rains sent water pouring through breaches in a patched levee Friday, cascading into one of the city's lowest-lying neighborhoods in a devastating repeat of New Orleans' flooding nightmare.

"Our worst fears came true," said Maj. Barry Guidry of the Georgia National Guard.

"We have three significant breeches in the levy and the water is rising rapidly," he said. "At daybreak I found substantial breaks and they've grown larger."

Dozens of blocks in the Ninth Ward were under water as a waterfall at least 30 feet wide poured over and through a dike that had been used to patch breaks in the Industrial Canal levee. On the street that runs parallel to the canal, the water ran waist-deep and was rising fast. Guidry said water was rising about three inches a minute.

The impoverished neighborhood was one of the areas of the city hit hardest by Katrina's floodwaters and finally had been pumped dry before Hurricane Rita struck.

Sally Forman, an aide to Mayor Ray Nagin, said officials knew the levees were compromised, but they believe that the Ninth Ward is cleared of residents.

"I wouldn't imagine there's one person down there," Forman said.

Mitch Frazier, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, said contractors were being brought in Friday morning in an effort to repair the new damage. The corps had earlier installed 60-foot sections of metal across some of the city's canals to protect against flooding and storm surges.

Forecasters have called for between 3 and 5 inches of rain in New Orleans as Rita passes Friday and Saturday, dangerously close to the 6 inches of rain that Corps officials say the patched levees can withstand.

Another concern is the storm surge accompanying Rita, which could send water rising as much as 4 feet above high tide.

Already Friday morning, a steady 20 mph wind, with gusts to 35 mph, was blowing, along with steady rains.

Because of uncertain weather conditions from Hurricane Rita, the recovery of bodies was suspended but previous discoveries pushed the death toll from Hurricane Katrina to 841 in Louisiana, and at least 1,078 across the Gulf Coast.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 11:42:53 AM EST

"I want to get my sons out of town," she said yesterday morning at the main police station, explaining how she had left, along with most of the city's 40,000 residents on Wednesday, depending on a lift from her sister-in-law. But after a frustrating 15-hour drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic, her sister-in-law had decided to turn around and return home.

"She had 18 animals, bunnies, hamsters, dogs and cats. When she checked them just past Houston, a couple of them had died and she became distraught."

So she doubled back to Texas City, even though forecasters say the town could be hit by a six-metre storm surge if Rita makes landfall at Galveston in the early hours tomorrow.

Now Ms. Sands, who described herself as an out-of-work travel counsellor, was wondering whether there was a bus that she and her boys could take north out of harm's way.

"My heart goes out to you," said George Fuller, Texas City's assistant emergency management director, as he explained that there was nothing he could do for her. The city sent out 25 school buses on Wednesday with more than 750 residents who didn't have cars. But there were no plans for any more buses.

He suggested that she take her sister-in-law's car. If that didn't work, he said, he'd put up a sign on the highway and try to hitch a ride.

Judging from the abandoned look of suburbs, cities and towns along the western shore of Galveston Bay, the mandatory evacuation orders affecting an estimated 1.8 million residents of Texas and Louisiana have been remarkably effective. They were aided, no doubt, by recent images of suffering victims of Katrina who had failed to flee New Orleans and the Mississippi coast.

The exodus from the oil and gas producing coastal areas and big chunks of Houston, the fourth- largest U.S. city, prompted massive traffic jams and an acute shortage of gasoline.

Rita has weakened from the most powerful designation -- a Category 5 -- as it has made its slow, deliberate and destructive way across the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico, but Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, warned that the hurricane still had horrific power.

"This is still a very, very dangerous Category 4 hurricane," Mr. Mayfield told CNN, who said that it was expected to hit land somewhere between Galveston and the Texas-Louisiana border.

The storm appeared to be moving slightly eastward, prompting a tropical storm warning for New Orleans, which is still reeling from the effects of Katrina. While the city won't get the brunt of the hurricane, Mr. Mayfield said it could suffer squalls, sustained winds and seven to 13 centimetres of rain, which could overwhelm its weakened levee system.

It's been called a mandatory evacuation, but officials were insisting that nobody was being forced to leave.

"If people choose to stay, it's their right," Mr. Fuller said. "It's a mandatory evacuation, but we don't have the right to take people out of their houses."

At the Pecan Villa Mobile Home Park in the town of La Porte on the far eastern reaches of Houston, residents didn't need any special invitation to pack up and move out. Only a few had even bothered to tape their windows or cover them with plywood.

"What do you need to put plywood up for? It's a mobile home, dude. It's just like a matchbox," said Jason Livingston, as he helped his mother load her pickup truck with a few belongings before moving out. "The wind is going to blow everything away."

Water is also a worry. La Porte is a low-lying area of scrub brush, chemical plants and bayous, all very prone to flooding. Mr. Livingston, an electrician, recalls residents passing by his front door in rowboats after Houston was drenched by tropical storm Allison in 2001.

A few trailers down, Henry Horak was also packing a few belongings and preparing to head out with his wife and his stepson's family.

"I'm just taking my belongings and one TV. I've got a house full of furniture, but I'm not taking it," he said, adding he expects his uninsured, double-wide mobile home to be a writeoff.

Mr. Horak, a 60-year-old pipefitter, recalls sitting out a storm in 1989. "I was living in a mobile home. The walls were moving in and out. It was scary. . . . I wouldn't stay in a mobile home again with 100-mile-an-hour winds."

In the resort town of Kemah, the boutiques, restaurants and marina were completely deserted. Even the police and fire departments were planning to get out of town.

"We're not staying. We're going to go further to the west," said Sergeant James Melton of the Kemah police force.

Back in Texas City, the streets were all but abandoned and cars ignored traffic rules on the empty streets. A giant refinery had halted production as a precaution. But Huey Lee and his buddy David Beaton thought the sunny weather was a great excuse for a seaside excursion.

The two men had stopped their rusty bikes along the dike that protects the Houston ship canal and were sipping from bottles of Heineken, peering out over the still-tranquil waters of Galveston Bay, not worried about Rita or much else.

"I never seen a hurricane. I figure I'd like to see something new," said Mr. Lee, a 35-year-old janitor in a ripped undershirt who hails from Illinois. "I've seen tornadoes, but this is like an education."

Mr. Beaton, an electrician who is missing a front tooth, said he thinks that Rita will be only a Category 3 storm by the time it hits land. "You know what we just decided to do, bubba? We're going to come back here when the hurricane hits."
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 12:25:13 PM EST

ORANGE - The city became a ghost town of empty parking lots, boarded windows and flashing yellow traffic lights Thursday as residents fled from Hurricane Rita.

Few cars remained in residential areas, and the only businesses with full parking lots were car dealerships or body shops.

A boarded and closed Diamond Shamrock on Strickland Drive attracted crowds because the gas pumps could still be used with a credit card.

Cheryl Loeb, a 48-year-old health car provider, and about 20 family members filled up five cars before heading to north Louisiana.

...

Across town, Keith Barnett, 46, worked hours Thursday afternoon drilling plywood sheets across windows at Barnett's Upholstery, a business that has been in his family since 1935.

"I don't know how good this will work," he said. "Better to be safe than sorry."

Barnett, who planned to head north about 4 p.m., last put up these boards in 2002, when Hurricane Lili threatened to hit Orange County. Despite that miss, Barnett didn't know anyone who planned to ride out the storm here.

"Katrina got everyone's attention," he said.

At the Orange County Sheriff's Department, officials monitored the evacuation and also planned for Rita's hit.

Ken Kreger, city of Orange emergency manager, said there were not enough bus drivers available Thursday morning to drive evacuees out of the county. However, several people stepped forward - jailers, volunteer firefighters and one man who works at a local industrial plant - to drive the buses, Kreger said.

"They are angels," he said.

The county used school buses to get people with no transportation out of Orange County. The buses left about 1 p.m. from Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School and were headed toward a shelter in Center, Kreger said.

Also, about 200 disabled people called Orange County by 2 p.m. Thursday asking for a ride out of town, but about 100 of those people found other rides, Kreger said. The waits were long, but the people were being picked up at their homes in buses with wheelchair lifts. They will also be moved to Center, where there is a special-needs shelter, Kreger said.

The evacuation was going as well as could be expected, Kreger said. Yet he was worried to still see people around the city, as if they were not leaving.

"I don't know how far that water will go," he said. "Public safety will not be here."

Emergency officials from the county and cities had planned to move the emergency operation center to Mauriceville Middle School. Now, with Rita threatening a direct hit, the command center will likely move further north to Newton High School Friday morning, Kreger said.

Some law officers will stay behind to ensure there is no looting, Kreger said.

After the storm passes, emergency personnel return from Newton County.

"We'll use the front-end loaders to fight our way back into our county," he said.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 01:12:26 PM EST

Repeat: This area is suppose to be ok in my area.

Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 02:29:34 PM EST

The city of Lafayette has become a surreal outpost as two groups of displaced people collide in central Louisiana -- New Orleansians displaced by Katrina and Texans fleeing Rita.

NBC News' Carl Quintanilla reports on how people are chugging along, thanks in part to gas stations and the Piggly Wiggly grocery store staying open, despite their feeling of "here it comes all over again."

The Texas evacuees have a little bit of a disadvantage, because in a lot of cases they are still on the highway and they are having to travel a lot farther to find available hotels. And as they left Texas, the storm has shifted. Now, in some cases, they are headed into the projected path, which is something a lot of them didn't count on.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 06:04:49 PM EST

President Bush turned to hurricane management mode on Friday, pledging at his administration's disaster headquarters to keep a close eye on the federal response to Hurricane Rita.

Bush had planned to go to San Antonio but dropped that visit because search and rescue teams there were being relocated as the huge storm shifted course, the White House said. Bush still was going to Colorado to monitor Rita's progress from the U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs. The facility was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as the military's homeland security command center.

Bush was trying to walk a line between helping in a crisis and being seen as interfering. "There will be no risk of me getting in the way, I promise you," the president said.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was repositioning search and rescue teams closer to the storm "and we didn't want to slow that decision up in any way."

The president was expected to make additional hurricane-related stops throughout the weekend. But as the storm moved toward an expected landfall along the Texas-Louisiana coast, the White House kept his schedule "very flexible" and offered no word about where he was going or even when he would return to Washington.

Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 07:12:52 PM EST

Fourteen people were rescued from a semi-submersible platform that was adrift in the Gulf of Mexico just south of Louisiana.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, a Transocean semi-submersible platform was adrift about 50 nautical miles south of Grand Isle, La. Guy Cantwell, a spokesman for Transocean, said that the rig was being towed to safety Thursday afternoon in advance of Hurricane Rita when it broke free from the towing vessel.

Cantwell said that 14 people were evacuated from the platform rig around 5 p.m. Friday by private helicopter. He added that all personnel are safe and that no one was injured.

The rig is still adrift in the Gulf south of Grand Isle, La. and will be tracked by transponder, according to Cantwell.

The Deepwater Nautilus is an oil-drilling rig, which is held to the ocean floor by anchors. It was damaged by Katrina and was being repaired prior to Hurricane Rita.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 07:55:58 PM EST

stay safe!!

by luaptifer on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 08:09:08 PM EST

Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 08:28:44 PM EST

Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 08:42:59 PM EST

Power is out at the San Luis in Galveston, where many city and emergency officials and media are stationed.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 10:42:49 PM EST

HURRICANE LOCATION: 10 p.m.: Category 3, sustained winds 120 mph, Latitude 29.1 north, Longitude 93.2 west, 55 miles southeast of Sabine Pass, heading northwest at 12 mph.

STORM DAMAGE: CenterPoint Energy says 90,000 have lost power.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 11:27:51 PM EST

On board was Tom Peake, angry and anguished. He had just left behind his mother and brother. "I went over to their house and cussed them," he said. "My mum says, 'I'm too old and I'm ready to go'. My twin brother Tim said, 'I am staying with her'. I said I would come and pull their bodies out when it was over."

He may have to. This industrial town of 56,000, dominated by the burning flares of oil refineries, is expected to be inundated when the monster hurricane thunders ashore this morning, bringing winds of up to 140 mph and deluges of biblical proportions. Port Arthur is protected by a 17ft levee, but forecasters were expecting a 25ft storm surge.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 11:43:53 PM EST

"I feared the hurricane," said Ruby Barber, a 52-year-old Beaumont, Texas, social worker, waiting in a two-block-long line for gasoline in Jasper. "But I fear more being on the side of the road with no gas."

In Rita's cross hairs: the upper Texas Gulf Coast - particularly the oil and petrochemical centers of Beaumont and Port Arthur - and southwest Louisiana, where millions of residents were ordered to evacuate. Residents as far north as Jasper County, Texas, were ordered to leave.

If the storm lingers over East and Northeast Texas, Rita could affect up to 80 counties and 11 million people with tornadoes, flooding, wind damage and power outages. The Dallas area, parched by drought, was expected to get no more than 2 inches of rain.

"We may see Beaumont and Port Arthur underwater for three, four, five or even seven days," said Steve McCraw, Texas homeland security director.

With some evacuation routes still clogged by the mass exodus, Texas officials ordered even more southbound lanes reversed, hoping to ease congestion and hurry evacuees out of harm's way.

Still, many people ran out of gas and were forced to park.

Beaumont, Port Arthur and Port Neches were all but ghost towns Friday afternoon, with a few stragglers out and about. Boards covered storefronts. Gray clouds covered the horizon as refinery torches belched black smoke.

The Air Force evacuated 3,000 people - about half of them hospital patients - from Beaumont on Friday, using cargo aircraft flown in from locations around the nation, said Col. Raymond Rottman, deputy director of mobility operations for Joint Task Force Rita.

At midday, the elderly, ill and others - carrying all they could manage - lined up at the Beaumont Convention Center for the last bus of town.

Asked what she was taking along, Annette Polite, 87, held up a brown paper bag. "This right here," she said. "That's all I got."

Ashley Wells and her two children straggled up the bus steps. They had fled Hurricane Katrina and were now moving again - to where, they didn't know.

Sherry Gates, whose husband is maintenance director of the Beaumont Hotel, planned to stay behind to protect the place from looters. The hotel, she said, can withstand whatever Rita brings.

"This old girl," she said, "will see us out."

Beaumont's emergency vehicles were loaded aboard a naval ship for protection. In Port Arthur, fire department trucks left in a caravan to the town of Lumberton, where officials planned to wait out the storm.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency sent in 7,500 gallons of diesel fuel and has placed dozens of truckloads of water, ice and meals in Texas, enough to last for at least four days.

The state and federal governments also positioned hundreds of doctors, nurses, search-and-rescue teams and vehicles in Louisiana and Texas. And nearly 50,000 active-duty and National Guard troops were deployed to the two states.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Fri Sep 23, 2005 at 11:51:49 PM EST

STORM DAMAGE: CenterPoint Energy says 210,000 have lost power.

Reporting inside Houston Medical Center - winds have picked up. They were loud enough to have awoken me up from my sleep.

Trees are swaying around. You can not tell where the winds are blowning. But no rain.

At this time, I saw a fire truck heading east bound.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 02:22:14 AM EST

AT 11 PM CDT...0400Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE RITA WAS LOCATED NEAR
LATITUDE 29.4 NORTH...LONGITUDE 93.5 WEST...OR ABOUT 30 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF SABINE PASS ALONG THE COAST AT THE BORDER BETWEEN TEXAS
AND LOUISIANA.

DURING THE PAST HOUR...AN AUTOMATED STATION AT CALCASIEU PASS
LOUISIANA HAS REPORTED SUSTAINED WINDS OF 74 MPH WITH A GUST TO
112 MPH.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 02:26:02 AM EST

The Houston Fire Department was sending a support team to Galveston to fight the fire on The Strand Friday night, but first they had to see if the fire engines and ambulances could handle the crosswinds on the bridge.

HFD sent two ladder trucks, four engines, a medic and a district chief but someone first had to test the causeway bridge for safety.

The decision was made to have a supervisor try to cross the bridge and determine whether the crosswinds were too dangerous for the others to cross.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 02:32:39 AM EST

Here is a partial break down: these numbers include Harris County and about 30,000 in Galveston County, 15,000 in Brazoria County and some in Ft. Bend County.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 02:43:34 AM EST

The building was once the Eagles Lodge #48, according to a witness on the scene.

Firefighters struggled against strong gusts of wind which made embers fly through the air in a tornadic-like pattern.

Up to six or eight firetrucks were already parked behind the San Luis hotel, and nearly 50 firefighters quickly left for the fire after the alarm sounded.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 02:52:08 AM EST

From what I can tell by the street lights, the rain is coming in side ways.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 02:57:50 AM EST

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

It was unclear what caused the fire, but a fallen electrical pole was found lying on one of the buildings.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 03:19:13 AM EST

Some FEMA crews who were staged at Reliant Center have left to go to locations east of Houston where more severe effects of Hurricane Rita were felt.

The trucks were loaded with an estimated 2 million pounds of ice, hundreds of thousands of MREs and other supplies that might be needed by hurricane victims.

Huge container ship adrift on Lake Charles

A loaded container ship brokeloose in Port of Lake Charles in Lake Charles, LA in Calcasieu Parish early Saturday morning. Police fear it may hit the Interstate 10 bridge that goes across the lake.

The container ship is estimated to be about 200 feet long and has containers stacked two to three high on it.

The ship appears to be unmanned and is drifting along at fairly fast speed.

An Apartment Fire Just Broke Out
The fire truck I heard going east bound is heading towards a 2 alarm apartment fire.

Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 03:36:23 AM EST

Gulf of Mexico
Visible Image - Loop
Infrared Image - Loop
Shortwave IR Image - Loop
Water Vapor Image - Loop

AT 3 AM CDT...0800Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE RITA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 29.8 NORTH...LONGITUDE 93.8 WEST...OR JUST NORTHEAST OF SABINE PASS ALONG THE COAST AT THE BORDER BETWEEN TEXAS AND LOUISIANA.

THE CENTER OF RITA MADE LANDFALL AT 230 AM CDT ON THE EXTREME SOUTHWEST COAST OF LOUISIANA BETWEEN SABINE PASS AND JOHNSON'S BAYOU.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 04:04:49 AM EST

Lake Charles News and Classifieds is a Citizen Journalism site

Lake Charles Newspapers

http://www.kplctv.com/ they set up a blog at: http://kplcid.blogspot.com/

by susie dow on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 04:06:22 AM EST

Currently (at least in that part of Dickinson which comprises my back yard)we have the following conditions:

Wind speed: 42 N, Gusts at 50, highest gust recorded last 8 hours at 62.

Barometer: 29.18"; Humidity 87%; Temperature 75

Light Rain, some lightning and thunder.

Rain Total for last 8 hours: 1.2"

I'll check the readings again at daylight, and also give you a look at the bayou.

Again though, please keep in mind that the readings posted here are simply approximations made by a hobby-type or "home weather station", these are not readings from high-caliber scientific instruments!

Finally Rita says hello to Galleria area
Laurence writes:
Okay, it's here. Hi, Rita.

More than a bit of rain, 25 to 35 mph gusts of wind.

I actually drove through it to pick my wife up from the station she works at, and it wasn't as bad as other windy days or rainy days. A few leaves and branches down, but this is the start.

Kickin Up A Notch in La Marque
RyleeW writes:
Weather conditions are 'kicking it up a notch' here. The wind gusts are more powerful than they have been before. The lights are starting to flicker at times. We're experiencing sporadic rain though nothing severe at all. Honestly, even though there is significant wind, so far, Rita has not been as severe as some of the west Texas thunderstorms I have been through. Please note, I wrote SO FAR. As long as I can I will keep you guys posted since many have written stating they have relatives in this area.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 04:29:08 AM EST

CenterPoint Energy says 530,000 have lost power.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 05:57:26 AM EST

CHAMBERS

HARRIS

FORT BEND

GALVESTON

LIBERTY

MONTGOMERY

ORANGE
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 06:04:47 AM EST

11 News reporter Mark Greenblatt was located at the Hotel Elegante in Beaumont, he is reporting the winds were gusting at what he estimated to be in excess of 100 mph at times. Windows were being blown out and debris was floating in the virtual river that was flowing through the lobby.

Lamps, furniture, enormous planters and huge pieces of wood were floating through the lobby that looked like it had been turned inside out.

No injuries had been reported.

Many of the guests had evacuated from New Orleans and had been staying there as they tried to rebuild their lives.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 06:11:09 AM EST

Cleveland Mayor Monique Davis says there is no power and a transformer is on fire. Emergency crews are sheltered due to the strong winds and are unable to take action.

Cleveland Mayor Monique Davis says there is no power and a transformer is on fire. Emergency crews are sheltered due to the strong winds.

She also says there has been damage to homes due to trees falling.

There are no injuries reported.

More fires are being reported
In Spring, and Pasadena, Texas

Will report when I get more information.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 06:19:51 AM EST

A powerful seven-foot storm surge weakened the levee system and reflooded parts of New Orleans - some areas six-feet deep.

Flooding in the Ninth Ward, one of the areas hit hardest by Katrina, flooded for blocks.

Officials hope to start relaying sandbags in the damaged sections as early as Saturday and estimate it could take two weeks to pump out all of the extra water.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 06:24:05 AM EST

4:30am - KPLC has an unconfirmed report that Louisiana Department Of Transpotation has closed I-10 Exit 43 near Iowa due to some sort of failure. Also an unconfirmed report that a barge has broken loose of it's moorings and may have hit the I 2-10 bridge. Southern section of Lake Street has downed power lines and some poles across the road.

3:30am - Hurricane Rita's eye moved onto shore. Wind gusts of 100+ mph could be felt at the emergency broadcast headquarters at Christus St. Patrick Hospital. Streaming video was not working, although KPLC continued to broadcast over the air.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 06:43:13 AM EST

It is strange being in a hurricane. The downtown area is still unknown. The Houston Police Department has told their officers to take cover because of flying debry. With all the tall buildings there, it created a lot of wind tunnels making the winds stronger and unsafe to be in the downtown area.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 06:52:06 AM EST

He also says that a wall of the famed Yaga's restaurant collapsed onto Saengerfest Park in the 2300 block of Strand. No one was hurt.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 06:57:14 AM EST

Elsewhere, Jasper Shrieff just reported, the county is without power, communications is down including internet services. They are only able to communicate by 2-way radio.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 07:04:12 AM EST

Relatives who had evacuated further inland were staying with the couple who owns the home in the 17000 block of Wildwillow when the fire started.

"The homeowners stated that they smelled smoke coming from the attic and from the preliminary investigation, that's probably where the seat of the fire was. Could it have been weather related? Definitely," said Cy-Fair Volunteer PIO Michael Gallegos.

A firefighter was injured when he fell through the roof. He was examined by paramedics and taken to the hospital as a precaution.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 07:16:59 AM EST

6:45 am - Caller reports cars underwater in New Iberia, LA.

6:30 am - Tornado Warning for Vernon & Rapides Parishes. Tornado watch in effect for all of Southwest LA & Southeast TX until 5 PM.

6:15 am - Sulphur Fire Department reports no damage. Still waiting until winds drop below Tropical Storm strength to begin patrols.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 07:58:27 AM EST

It is estimated that 400,000 of those people are in the Kingwood and Humble areas, and it may take up to a week to restore power to everyone. Centerpoint will not be able to make observations until winds are below 40 mph. I can understand their concern, as I write this post, I still can hear the winds.

Tree branches have fallen into power lines. Helicopters will go out to help assess the damage
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 08:14:21 AM EST

Rescuers plan to head to the homes of the people who didn't flee and called Nine-One-One seeking help as the storm pounded southern Louisiana and flooded coastal areas.

The hurricane's eye came ashore around 2:30 this morning along the Louisiana-Texas line near the largely-empty oil refining towns of Lake Charles and Texas' Beaumont and Port Arthur.

The storm brought with it a 20-foot storm surge. Up to 25 inches of rain is expected.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami has no information about conditions in Lake Charles at landfall, because the area's sensors went down several hours earlier.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 08:19:58 AM EST

Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 08:42:12 AM EST

Entergy has 250,000 customers without power.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 09:09:43 AM EST

HISD police will make visual inspections of the campuses and check power supplies, then followed up with closer inspections by the facilities maintenance officials. HISD has about 28 million square feet of school building space scattered over 300 square miles of Houston.

HISD will decide later on Saturday to make announcements about when school will resume, but that will depend in some respects on what city, county and state officials report about plans for allowing people back into the city.  
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 09:39:33 AM EST

8:00 am - There are still tropical storm winds and downed power lines which will prevent many Southwest LA from returning to their homes. There are reports of lots of tree damage in Moss Bluff and Eunice.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 09:46:04 AM EST

As of 10 a.m., on Saturday, Sept. 24, 600,000 of CenterPoint Energy's 1.9 million customers were without power, down from a peak of more than 700,000 at the height of the storm. Most of the damage was caused by intense wind, lightning, and flying debris caused by toppled trees and large branches falling on power lines.

"Our Emergency Operations Plan is designed to efficiently restore electric service in an orderly and timely manner. The company's first priority in restoring service is to key facilities vital to safety, health and welfare, such as hospitals, water treatment plants and public service facilities," Georgianna Nichols, president of CenterPoint Energy's Electric Operations, said. "Then, the company repairs those major lines that will restore power to the greatest number of customers in the shortest amount of time."
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 12:09:26 PM EST

About 124 patients from St. Elizabeth's will be evacuated.

Glass everywhere in 700 block of Travis in Houston

Several windows were blown out of the Chase Bank building downtown, littering the block of 700 Travis with glass. Some of the streets in that area are closed.

Baytown officials: Conserve water

Due to problems at the water plant, Baytown officials are urging residents to conserve water as much as possible.

Baytown Assistant City Manager Kelvin Knoff said a fire at the water plant shut down operations. The fire has been extinguished.

Officials said they have a limited amount of reserve water, but they stress that they must save that for putting out fires.

Audio Report: Port Arthur's devestation
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 12:16:17 PM EST

Chambers County: 100 mph at 4 a.m.

Southeast Harris County: 75 mph, with gusts from 85-90 mph

Liberty County: 80-100 mph at 4 a.m.

Polk County (Lake Livingston): 60-70 mph, with gusts at 117 mph, at 5:45 a.m.

Bush Intercontinental Airport: 40 mph, with gusts at 56 mph

Galveston: 45 mph with gusts at 65 mph (before equipment failed early in the morning)
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 04:37:15 PM EST

Houston Mayor White is urging all Houstonians and others in the surrounding areas who evacuated should stay wherever they are until further notice.

The mayor said the entryways to the city need to remain clear so that emergency, medical, transportation and other personnel could return and start the post-storm recovery. However, it it is still unknown when gas will be available.

Mayor White is asking local employers to not require nonessential employees back to work at least Monday and Tuesday.
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. - Gandhi
by XicanoPwr on Sat Sep 24, 2005 at 04:45:26 PM EST