Rita Hits Category Four

Rita is now a category four hurricane and is heading for Texas. Galveston and its surrounds are being evacuated as federal and State emergency systems swing into action with, hopefully, perfect hindsight of the Katrina debacle. So far, it looks like they have their act together:

FEMA Director Promises Better Response

The acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency promises a "big difference" in its response to Hurricane Rita from the previous response to Hurricane Katrina.

FEMA Acting Director R. David Paulison said all communications are being taken "very seriously."

He also said the agency is depending much more heavily on the Defense Department and the National Guard.

He stressed that communication between agencies is imperative to an efficient response to another hurricane crisis. He said his top priority would be ensuring that Texas has adequate safeguards in place to cope with any level of damage.

State, Federal Government Brace For Texas Strike By Rita

The governor of Texas said "a few hardheaded folks" will probably stay in harm's way but a vast majority of "thinking people" will heed evacuation orders as Hurricane Rita threatens.

Rick Perry said Galveston will not flood the same way New Orleans did after Hurricane Katrina. But he said a direct hit from a Category 4 hurricane would cause "huge problems."

Perry said nursing homes and assisted living centers in the Galveston area are already being evacuated.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the federal government is pre-positioning as much equipment as it can close to the areas that might be affected by Rita.

Chertoff said local officials have lined up buses to evacuate people who don't have their own vehicles. And he said the federal government is ready to assist state officials in arranging planes to fly people out of danger before the storm hits.

Galveston and Houston are preparing for flooding, as is New Orleans which is pretty much certain to get some heavy rains at the very least. So far, though, no evacuation has been ordered for Houston even though some parts of the Harris County area are very low-lying indeed.. Oil prices are also set to take another hit - oil refineries in the Houston are and offshore rigs in the Gulf are bound to take damage and will already have been shut down in anticipation. Texas accounts for some 25% of all US crude production.

Here in San Antonio we are well inland and the storm is expected to pass to the East of us which would mean we are on the less violent side as far as winds go. Still, San Antonio floods if a drunk takes a leak in the wrong place and the power system here totters like that drunk in even a normal Texan thunderstorm so my family and I will be laying in a few extras like candles, easy-eat foods and medicines.

Rita should be here by the weekend so don't be at all surprised if there is light to no blogging from me over Saturday and Sunday - the dodgy San Antonio power system and its surges means I always keep the computer off and unplugged during storms.

I'm keeping an eye on Rita's track though. If it stays on a slightly more Southerly track and comes ashore near Corpus Christi then it will track right over San Antonio as it heads inland and that would be...interesting. The area isn't called "Flash Flood Alley" for nothing.

PS: A little side note for locals. My impression is that Mayor Hardberger is on top of this stuff in a reassuring way. He may be a corporate flunky but he seems to be at least an efficient corporate flunky. I am somehow doubtful that Castro and Twin would have been anything like as together as Hardberger has been in dealing with first, the Katrina evacuees and now this coming storm.

Update I am going to try to keep up on developments and blogpost them as I go. The first update is here, and some of the news is worrysome, but keep checking back in.