U.S. FACES NEW DISASTER TEST
R I TA STORM AIMED AT HOUSTON
WASHINGTON • Emergency officials along the coast of Texas prepared yesterday for a potentially devastating direct hit by Hurricane Rita, which stormed into the Gulf of Mexico amid forecasts it could rival Hurricane Katrina in strength by the end of the week.
The sombre predictions came as cruel irony to thousands of New Orleans residents who had taken refuge in Houston but yesterday found themselves being readied to evacuate again — this time to Arkansas — amid fears the city could be in the path of the latest storm.
“ We’re watching very closely, of course, its track,” George W. Bush said of Hurricane Rita.
The U.S. President, visiting the Gulf region for the fifth time since Katrina flooded New Orleans and flattened towns on the Mississippi coast, received an emergency briefing “ on what we pray will not be a devastating storm.”
But “ all up and down the coastline people are now preparing for what is anticipated to be another significant storm,” he said.
On the island city of Galveston, where a hurricane in 1900 killed 8,000 people and leveled the city, the city’s Mayor called for a voluntary evacuation. Several major oil companies began evacuating workers from offshore oil rigs.
Texas Governor Rick Perry ordered 1,200 members of the Texas National Guard to return from Louisiana, where they had been deployed in the aftermath of Katrina, and prepare for aid efforts if Rita causes extensive damage.
“ There is no reason to panic if you are prepared and take an orderly approach to this developing storm,” Mr. Perry told residents of the state. “ We hope and pray that Rita dissipates in the Gulf waters, but it is better to be safe than sorry.”
Texas officials were also preparing to fly as many as 4,000 Katrina refugees on commercial planes to Arkansas if the storm intensifies.
“We could potentially be looking at taking an enormous amount of people from Houston,” said Mike Huckabee, the Governor of Arkansas.
Hurricane Rita grew quickly yesterday from a tropical storm to a Category Two hurricane, with winds exceeding 150 kilometres per hour, as it raced south of the Florida Keys. The vulnerable string of islands, though, was largely spared the worst of the hurricane.
The National Hurricane Center warned the storm would intensify further over the next three days and make landfall late on Friday.
Forecasters currently believe Rita will make landfall southwest of Galveston and flood-prone Houston. But long-range forecasts of a hurricane’s track can be off by several hundred kilometres and Rita’s “cone of probability” includes Houston, which is home to almost 15% of the United States’ oil- refining capacity.
John Kocet, a senior meteorologist with Accuweather.com, warned the storm is taking “dead aim” at the Texas Gulf Coast. It will cause “widespread damage to structures, power will be out and oil platforms will have to be evacuated,” he said.
Private forecasters also believe that Rita, fuelled by the warm Gulf waters, will reach Category Four status with winds over 210 kilometres per hour. Prior to slamming the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi, Katrina was a Category Five hurricane with winds over 280 km/h.
The prospect of another major hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast has alarmed federal emergency management and U. S. military officials who are already stretched to their limit by recovery efforts in New Orleans.
Fears that Rita might swing north towards New Orleans, however, abated Tuesday as the hurricane tracked westward.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said plans to allow the return of some residents to the city would remain suspended until forecasters were certain the city would be spared another hit.
“I know there are lots of people who are anxious about coming home,” said Mr. Nagin, who has clashed with Mr. Bush over the timing of the repopulation plan. “ Just hold on for a little longer. As soon as we get comfortable that Rita is clear of landfall in Louisiana … we will get back to our re-entry program.”
He said the levee systems in New Orleans “are very wet, they’re somewhat weakened, and any type of storm surge would cause flooding.”
Mr. Nagin appeared at a news conference with Mr. Bush and Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is charge of the federal government’s recovery effort, in an attempt to show unity.
But the turf war between federal and local officials that hampered early emergency efforts in the city appeared to be just as pronounced behind the scenes.
In a televised interview yesterday, Mr. Nagin blasted the Bush administration for questioning his plan to allow an early return of thousands of residents to New Orleans, which is still without largely without electricity or running water.
“I respect what the federal officials are doing down here, but they do not fully comprehend what it is like to lose your home, to lose everything and not know, be sitting out three weeks,” Mr. Nagin said. “So I think it was important that people come back and at least take a look.”
Mr. Bush, with Mr. Nagin flanking him at news conference later in the day, praised the Mayor for making a “wise decision to say to people to be cautious about returning here.”