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100-Mile Gridlock to Escape From Rita Texas Braces for Worst As 165mph Winds Lash Gulf Coast

Posted on: Friday, 23 September 2005, 15:00 CDT

TRAFFIC was gridlocked for more than 100 miles in Texas last night as residents rushed to escape the wrath of Hurricane Rita.

More than 1.3 million people were ordered to evacuate the Gulf coast amid fears that the Category 4 storm could prove even more deadly than Hurricane Katrina.

Heavy traffic jammed motorways from Corpus Christi in southern Texas into Louisiana, as coastal residents headed inland to escape what has become one of the most intense storms on record.

Rita weakened slightly as she roared towards land but still packed winds of 165mph.

Forecasters expect the hurricane to slam into the Galveston area of Texas in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

Also of concern was the rain pouring on New Orleans last night, with a predicted five inches expected to fall on the city in the coming days. Flooding and the predicted storm surges would wreak havoc in the city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

In Galveston it is estimated that up to 80-per cent of its residents had deserted, leaving a ghost town of boarded up homes and businesses. The roads leading out of Houston were also clogged, with petrol stations running low on fuel.

David Paulison, acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said: "I urge all Gulf residents to pay attention to the track of this storm - it is still very unpredictable.

"As they move to the coast they tend to move from one side to the other. No-one is out of harm's way."

He warned that roads and bridges might be washed out and that everyone was responsible for their own family. He insisted evacuations were going well and there was still plenty of time to get everyone to safety.

Residents were urged to put identification on children and prepare for the worst. Hotels hundreds of miles inland were fully booked and shoppers emptied supermarket shelves of non-perishable items.

Hundreds of buses were dispatched to evacuate the poor.

Hospitals and nursing homes were emptied and truckloads of water, ice and ready-made meals were put on standby.

Rita was downgraded from the most powerful Category 5, but even a slight swerve east could prove devastating to weakened levees in New Orleans. Engineers warned that they would not cope with any significant f looding.

President George W Bush described it as "a really big storm."

He said: "Officials at every level of government are preparing for the worst. Our armed forces have pre-positioned troops. We have resources there to help the federal, state and local officials to respond swiftly and effectively."

The National Hurricane Centre said the path of Rita had shifted north, heading for Galveston and Houston, the nation's fourth largest city and centre of the US oil industry.

Exxon Mobil said it was closing the biggest US oil refinery in Baytown, Texas, and another in Beaumont. The shutdowns raised to at least 12 the number of refineries out of commission. Together, they hold nearly 20-per cent of US refining capacity, raising the spectre of serious fuel shortages.

Source: Herald, The; Glasgow (UK)

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