One Million Evacuated Ahead of Hurricane Rita

One Million People Evacuating Ahead of Rita www.theinfozone.net An estimated one million people have received evacuation orders to leave their homes ahead of Hurricane Rita. From Galveston, to Houston, people are finishing up efforts to secure their homes and getting ready to clear out along the Gulf Coast. Hospitals and nursing homes are evacuating their patients. Hurricane Rita has grown into a Category-5, 165-mph extremely dangerous hurricane that could make landfall in Texas by the weekend. There are concerns that wind and rain from Hurricane Rita could also inflict further damage on already weakened levees in New Orleans. Weather forecasters state that Hurricane Rita may be the most powerful hurricane to ever to hit Texas. If Hurricane Rita remains at a Category 5 storm, it could also be one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever make landfall on the U.S. mainland. A Category 5 storm is the highest storm recorded on the NOAA's storm ranking scale. Hurricane Andrew, which made landfall in South Florida in 1992 is the last Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the USA. Texas has already activated 5000 State National Guardsmen in response to Hurricane Rita. President Bush States FEMA is Ready for Rita Scott McClellan, the President's Press Secretary stated, "We are taking it very seriously. We urge everyone in the path of Hurricane Rita to take it seriously. We urge citizens in the path of Hurricane Rita to listen closely to state and local authorities and follow their advice. Secretary Chertoff has designated Coast Guard Admiral Hereth to be the point person for overseeing the federal preparedness and response efforts in the region. He is based out of the joint field office in Austin, Texas." McClellan continued, "The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA have been pre-positioning food, water, ice and emergency response teams in Texas. The food and water and the ice and the tarps and generators are being pre-positioned at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. They are assisting with evacuation efforts that are underway. There are evacuation efforts underway in areas of Texas and Louisiana, including Galveston and New Orleans. Military assets are being repositioned, or pre-positioned, so that they are able to deploy those assets as needed immediately after the storm makes landfall and passes that region, that part of the region." "The U.S. Coast Guard, as the President was updated yesterday, has been working to, what they termed, "buttoning down the ports," and that means moving some ships and tying ships down and making sure that they're as secure as possible." President Bush, from the Whitehouse has spoken by phone with Governors Blanco and Perry. The President participated in a briefing Tuesday, with the Governors. Federal officials are very aware that any relief efforts in this storm will be very closely watched to see if FEMA and other agencies respond better than during Hurricane Katrina. The White House remains very aware and sensitive to the feeling that the administration "dropped the ball" on Katrina. McClellan said today, "Katrina, that was a storm that was unprecedented in size and scope and devastation. It is something that we want to make sure all the lessons possible are learned, and we want to make sure that we know exactly what worked and what didn't work. And that's why we are working closely with Congress as they move forward on their investigation. That's why the President has tasked his Homeland Security Council to make sure that there is a comprehensive review of the preparedness and response relating to Katrina, so we're doing that." With Hurricane Rita already larger than Hurricane Katrina, one can only hope those lessons have been learned well.