News Story
{you might need a login/password to access site, registration is FREE.}
[font size=+1]Gulf Hurricane of Top Strength Menaces Texas[/font]
By SIMON ROMERO
Published: September 22, 2005
GALVESTON, Tex., Sept. 21 - Hurricane Rita attained the strongest storm designation on Wednesday as it barreled toward the Texas coastline, forcing the evacuation of as many as a million people from this island city and other Gulf Coast communities along an arc from Corpus Christi to New Orleans.
Heeding the lessons of Hurricane Katrina, the authorities in Galveston ordered all residents to leave the city immediately and tried to evacuate the city's hospitals and nursing homes with buses, ambulances and helicopters. Businesses and public buildings covered windows with plywood, and the Strand, the central business district, was virtually empty by Wednesday afternoon.
"Coastal Texans should not wait until late Thursday or early Friday to leave," Gov. Rick Perry said. "Homes and businesses can be rebuilt. Lives cannot."
<snip>
History about to repeat itself, Galveston "nearly wiped off face of Earth" in 1900
Will this be what's left of Galveston in a few days?
The irony of the path of the storm
So, what's gonna happen?