After peaking on Wednesday as a Category 5 hurricane with 175 mph winds, Hurricane Rita weakened on Thursday afternoon to a Category 4 storm, but is still considered to be, “extremely dangerous” by forecasters.
Rita’s maximum sustained winds are now measured at 145 mph, with the storm centered at about 405 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 4 p.m. CDT advisory.
Forecasters expect the storm to hit near the Houston area early Saturday with at least Category 3 intensity. The last major hurricane to strike the Houston area was Category-3 Alicia in 1983 that left 21 people dead.
Over 1.8 million residents of Texas and Louisiana have been ordered to evacuate, with officials urging people not to delay.
“Don’t follow the example of Katrina and wait,” said Harris County Judge Robert Eckels in Houston. “No one will come and get you during the storm.”
Evacuation efforts in Houston have left severe traffic jams in the area, with highways clogged up to 100 miles north of the city.
Police officers were reported carrying gas to motorists who ran out, as gas stations along the evacuation route began running low on fuel.
In an effort to speed the evacuation, Texas Gov. Rick Perry halted all southbound traffic into Houston along Interstate 45, opening all eight lanes to northbound traffic out of the city for 125 miles.
Texas authorities are also planning to airlift about 9,000 nursing home residents and homeless people out of the Houston area.
In Corpus Christi, where evacuation is now voluntary, buses were sent to pick up those with no other transportation.
President Bush on Wednesday declared Texas to be in a state of emergency, allowing federal officials to take command of relief efforts in the area.
FEMA is currently leading relief operations out of an office in Austin, which was set up two weeks ago to aid in Texas’ response to Katrina.
The office currently has 45 truckloads of water, 45 truckloads of ice, and eight truckloads of ready-to-eat meals on standby, according to the Associated Press. Nine urban Search and Rescue Task Forces and nine Disaster Medical Assistance Teams are also on call.
Adm. Larry Hareth of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, who has been tasked with overseeing the federal response to Hurricane Rita, told CNN that the government is, “prepared to conduct an extraordinary series of life saving and life sustaining activities.”
Texas Sens. John Cornyn (R) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) were grateful for FEMA’s efforts.
“We appreciate the extensive efforts currently under way by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate with state of Texas disaster response personnel to prepare for Hurricane Rita,” the senators said in a joint statement. “We will continue working to ensure that the federal government is an effective partner providing the necessary resources and personnel now, and following the storm’s landfall.”
