steven
September 21st, 2005, 06:03 PM
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- As many as 1 million people were ordered to clear out along the Gulf Coast, and hospital and nursing home patients were evacuated Wednesday as Hurricane Rita turned into a Category-5, 165-mph monster that could slam Texas by the weekend and inflict more misery on New Orleans.
Forecasters said Rita could be the most intense hurricane on record ever to hit Texas, and easily one of the most powerful ever to plow into the U.S. mainland. Category 5 is the highest on the scale, and only three Category 5 hurricanes are known to have hit the U.S. mainland - most recently, Andrew, which smashed South Florida in 1992.
All of Galveston, low-lying sections of Houston and Corpus Christi, and a mostly emptied-out New Orleans were under mandatory evacuation orders, one day after Rita sideswiped the Florida Keys as a far weaker storm and caused minor damage.
Having seen what Hurricane Katrina - a Category-4, 145-mph storm - did three weeks ago, many people were taking no chances as Rita swirled across the Gulf of Mexico.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/RITA?SITE=NYBUE&SECTION=HOME
Forecasters said Rita could be the most intense hurricane on record ever to hit Texas, and easily one of the most powerful ever to plow into the U.S. mainland. Category 5 is the highest on the scale, and only three Category 5 hurricanes are known to have hit the U.S. mainland - most recently, Andrew, which smashed South Florida in 1992.
All of Galveston, low-lying sections of Houston and Corpus Christi, and a mostly emptied-out New Orleans were under mandatory evacuation orders, one day after Rita sideswiped the Florida Keys as a far weaker storm and caused minor damage.
Having seen what Hurricane Katrina - a Category-4, 145-mph storm - did three weeks ago, many people were taking no chances as Rita swirled across the Gulf of Mexico.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/RITA?SITE=NYBUE&SECTION=HOME