From GalNews.com (Texas) -- Breaking 4:45pm ET -- site is getting too much traffic and not always coming up, reposting excerpts here.
#
Officials have called for mandatory evacuations ahead of Hurricane Rita. The order is for every one living in Galveston County.
People in medical centers and nursing homes to start at 6 a.m. Wednesday. Residential evacuations start at 6 p.m. The county's evacuation plan calls for the evacuation of residents in phases.
Advertisement
People in medical care and other facilities needing special help are scheduled to begin evacuations at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Zone A of the evacuation plan which includes the southern portions of the county including Galveston Island, Tiki Island and Bayou Vista begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
#
IN FLORIDA -- Via the Miami Herald:
"Preliminary reports suggested only modest damage thus far, but only half the storm had passed the Keys and a full assessment will take many hours.
"Mercifully, Rita's core adopted the best possible path through the Florida Straits -- threading the needle between the Florida Keys and the northern coast of Cuba.
"That diminished its impact on the low-lying Keys, but all of that was relative. The hurricane reached Category 2 intensity, with sustained winds of 100 mph, and its reach was wide.
"In the Keys, water flowed over U.S. 1 at various places between mile markers 73 through 90 and elsewhere -- with the road closed at marker 73.5, authorities said. Rising water also was reported along the 18-mile stretch between Florida City and Key Largo.
NATIONALLY, VIA AP:
#
"KEY WEST, Fla. - Rita strengthened rapidly to a Category 2 hurricane Tuesday as it raked the Florida Keys with flooding rain and sparked a flurry of storm preparations across the Gulf Coast.
"Thousands of people were evacuated from the Keys and low-lying areas of northern Cuba. On the far side of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, Galveston started evacuations and officials made plans to move refugees from Hurricane Katrina who had been housed in the Houston area to Arkansas.
"After the sluggish government response to Hurricane Katrina along the northern Gulf Coast, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said more than 2,000 Florida National Guard troops and dozens of law enforcement officers were ready to deal with the storm's aftermath. More than 200 truckloads of ice and water were prepared for delivery to the Keys if needed and helicopters were in place for search and rescue, he said."
Originally published on Tuesday September 20, 2005.
