Hurricane Rita

As Hurricane Rita strengthens in the Gulf of Mexico, Texans are filling up gas tanks and taking off. Already, three days before anticipated onslaught, Galveston is under evacuation orders, and busses are taking residents without transportation to shelters in Huntsville Texas, about a two and a half hour drive north, approximately 200 miles. Weather forecasters are calling Rita the third most powerful storm in history, based on size and barometric pressure.

Galveston built a 17 foot-high seawall after the destruction of property and life in the Great Hurricane of 1900. The cemeteries in Galveston Island sit along main roads, headstones fitted tight onto the property lines. Between 6,000-8,000 lives were estimated lost in the hurricane which came before names, and before media warnings.The Weather Channel states the population of Galveston to be 60,000.

Houston Texas, a city of massive population, 2,851,820 according to www.50states.com, and is the fourth largest city in the nation. High-rise buildings will receive battering winds and rain if the hurricane comes in between Galveston and Freeport/Surfside, Texas. Houston is an hour's drive, about 30 miles inland from these areas. Downtown streets will be full of shattered glass windows, as when the last hurricane I experienced, Alicia came through in 1983. The downtown area of Houston, known as the bayou city, was over kneww deep in water from flooding. Howling winds eerily sweep under doorways, shreiking as if the ghosts of the lost wail in sorrow. The power of this hurricane, on the heels of Katrina's hit close to New Orleans should make the choice of evacuation an easy one for residents.

In the event of a category one, two, or three storms, the sea wall, a concrete wall of steps upward from the sand, will protect from storm surge, holding the Gulf of Mexico back from the well-populated island of Galveston. A category five is the strongest on the current scale, and winds of Rita were estimated at 165 miles per hour on Wednesday, September 21st, the first day of fall. Strengthening is expected. Galveston may well be submerged, an island with no land as the storm surge overtakes property, sand, and dirt, and those who have not evacuated.

The Texas Gulf Coast is a pleasant and very flat land in normal times. Hills and mountains are absent from this region, as the waves roll in from the Gulf. If expected landfall proves true, gasoline prices will again skyrocket, expectations being over $4.00 per gallon this time. Over two dozen oilrigs dot the offshore Texas coast, and preparations are in the shut down stage now.

Oil refineries in Texas City, Pearland, and other locations inland from Galveston, expect strong winds and flooding rain to wreak havoc on production. With current Dallas pump prices at $2.67, I'll be filling up my car and preparing to hunker down for flooding rain and excessive winds in my northern Texas home.

Galveston is a good five-hour drive, 300 miles south from here, and Dallas is not expecting the devastation of hurricane winds that will befall the more southern regions of Texas. The storm will begin to lose its circulation and power once it churns onto land. However, having lived through several hurricanes, I'm very tempted to tape my windows, and stockpile food and water, and consider the possibility of losing power. A hurricane of this size and intensity will catastrophically destroy what's in it's path.

On Thursday before Rita's arrival, the weather service predicts a hit nearer the Beaumont-Port Arthur area of Texas. Home of the first oil field, Spindletop, in 1901, the current population of the Beaumont-Port Arthur area is 271,621 according to the online source Wikipedia. This is northeast of the previous estimation for landfall, and would dump the worst area of the storm, the northeast quadrant, in the state of Louisiana, and the broken New Orleans bowl.

Since Katrina's destruction has not been rectified by any means in the passing of one month, new winds and flooding rain will only exacerbate problems in rebuilding. Many residents of Louisiana have yet to return home. The slow and inadequate response following Katrina leaves the people wondering if the present government administration can act when really necessary, on a timely basis. Governor Perry at one point requested no more evacuees come to Texas, as capacity to help had been reached. As of this date, evacuees are leaving the few shelter which remain open. New Dallasites have gotten jobs and homes in the area. School children have been accepted as regular students, the education system for one, stepping to the fore to fill needs.

It is time to leave the coast. As thousands head north on Interstate 45, Governor Rick Perry has announced that this highway out, as well at Interstates 10 and 290, will be used as contra flow lanes, with all lanes of traffic designated for movement out of the city. News helicopters show lines of cars in the northbound lanes of IH 45, with few vehicles using the contra flow lanes. One would think local and highway authorities would be out directing traffic under these circumstances. None were seen on news footage.

As divers reach five-hour destinations in twelve hours, some find themselves out of gas along the road, not knowing where gas stations are located. As travelers reach Dallas, they find difficulty locating a place to stay. Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau states that approximately 20,000 room have been filled since the event of Rita. Some travelers expecting to stay in Dallas, will continue northward into Oklahoma before they find a place to stay. Texas is a very large state, with miles of empty land between towns. This is a new experience for most involved in evacuation.

There will be those who don't leave. The population as well as the structures are of a generally older age along the Texas coast. Mmany folks are elderly and living in old homes, poorly maintained. One feels for the old who must pick up thier history as well as their lives, leaving, and not knowing what will be there when they return.

Medical issues are of concern in this population, with adequate supplies of pharmaceuticals not on hand, and not able to be refilled in time for emergeny situations to arise. Houston and Galvestion have large hosptial facilites, and patients on the island have been taken to places of safety. Houston is getting the generators ready and hospitals are hunkering down.

The special services of evacuating nursing homes and hospitals have successfully emptied locations in Galveston, and have left to do the same service in Beaumont, Texas. The coastal area of East Texas is very low of elevation, and is full of trees inland and refineries at the Gulf coast. Twenty-five percent of the nation's refineries are presently hunkering down for the storm. After shut down, we can only hope the best as far as the destruction factor. Winds on Thursday put Rita in the category 4 range, with top winds estimated at 150 miles per hour.

Texas and Louisiana residents can expect to begin feeling the first rain bands on Friday, tomorrow. The populations involved are taking evacuation and the threat of the storm seriously, and this is the best news that can come from a potential hurricane hit.

You can make a donation for hurricane relief by calling the Red Cross at 1-800-HelpNow.