Mayor Says Up to a Million Might Need to Evacuate

Up to a million Houstonians living in low-lying and flood-prone areas might need to evacuate if Hurricane Rita threatens the region, Mayor Bill White said today.

He cautioned that it's too early to predict any evacuation details, but he urged residents — especially those who might need help leaving the city — to get ready now.

"I'd like to ask all Houstonians to begin thinking about their own evacuation plans if there was a request — or order — to evacuate," White said at a City Hall news conference. "If the storm continues on its current trajectory, based on the statistical models, there will be some instructions made to evacuate."

White, who has been in touch with a hurricane expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the city would watch the storm closely and perhaps make decisions by Wednesday afternoon.

"We're going to follow the policy of better safe than sorry," he later told the City Council, noting that the earlier the decision, the easier it would be for people to drive on the major roadways designated as evacuation routes.

The storm moved today into the Gulf of Mexico and was forecast to reach the Texas coast as early as Friday, prompting Galveston officials to say they likely would call that city's first-ever mandatory evacuation.

Depending on the storm's behavior in the next 24 hours, White said, he might ask local employers to release all non-essential workers from their jobs Thursday and Friday.

"We hope that this storm will pass us by, but we need to be making these plans for each workplace right now," he said.

The mayor presented a map showing the areas that could be threatened by storm surge if the storm grows to Category 3 strength or higher, including parts of the Clear Lake area and some eastern neighborhoods.

He said areas throughout the city that flood regularly during heavy rains also might need to be evacuated.

Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs expressed concern about plans to help those without transportation evacuate.

"We witnessed in the Katrina evacuation that people who could get out did get out, but the people who didn't have vehicles were stuck," she said.

The mayor said the city has a plan to help the elderly, people in assisted-living facilities and those without transportation. The city is deciding how to set up a phone number for people to call if they need a ride on Metropolitan Transit Authority and school buses. That will be announced later, if necessary, he said.

He also called on the families and neighbors of people with possible transportation problems to plan now for their needs.

"The government in this type of situation cannot do everything," he said. "We need a lot of citizens to be helping other citizens."

(emphasis added)

National Hurricane Center

Hurricane RITA Public Advisory

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UPDATE US Watch/Warning

000
WTNT33 KNHC 210248
TCPAT3
BULLETIN
HURRICANE RITA ADVISORY NUMBER  14
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
11 PM EDT TUE SEP 20 2005

...RITA RAPIDLY STRENGTHENING AS IT PASSES SOUTH OF DRY TORTUGAS...
...CHANGES MADE TO FLORIDA WARNINGS...
 
AT 11 PM EDT...0300Z...A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE
LOWER FLORIDA KEYS FROM WEST OF THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE WESTWARD TO
KEY WEST AND DRY TORTUGAS.
 
AT 11 PM EDT...THE HURRICANE WARNING FOR THE MIDDLE AND UPPER
FLORIDA KEYS HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH A TROPICAL STORM WARNING FROM
THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE EAST AND NORTH TO OCEAN REEF...INCLUDING
FLORIDA BAY.
 
AT 11 PM EDT...ALL WARNINGS HAVE BEEN DISCONTINUED FOR THE FLORIDA
PENINSULA.
 
A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CUBAN PROVINCES OF
MATANZAS...CIUDAD DE HABANA...AND LA HABANA.
 
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CUBAN PROVINCE
OF PINAR DEL RIO.
 
FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.
 
AT 11 PM EDT...0300Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE RITA WAS LOCATED NEAR
LATITUDE 24.1 NORTH... LONGITUDE 83.2 WEST OR ABOUT 45 MILES...70
KM... SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF DRY TORTUGAS...ABOUT 95 MILES... 150 KM...
WEST-SOUTHWEST OF KEY WEST FLORIDA AND ABOUT 80 MILES... 130 KM...
NORTHWEST OF HAVANA CUBA.
 
RITA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 13 MPH...20 KM/HR. THIS GENERAL
MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS...WHICH WILL
TAKE RITA AWAY FROM THE FLORIDA KEYS AND WESTERN CUBA AND INTO THE
SOUTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO WEDNESDAY MORNING. 
 
DATA FROM THE KEY WEST NOAA DOPPLER RADAR AND AN AIR FORCE RESERVE
UNIT RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE
NOW INCREASED TO NEAR 110 MPH...175 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. RITA
IS A STRONG CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. 
ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS...AND
RITA IS EXPECTED TO BECOME A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE WEDNESDAY
MORNING... AND REACH CATEGORY FOUR STRENGTH BY WEDNESDAY EVENING.
 
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO  45 MILES... 75 KM...
FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP
TO 140 MILES...220 KM.  DURING THE PAST HOUR...A GUST TO 61 MPH WAS
REPORTED AT THE KEY WEST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...AND A SUSTAINED
WIND OF 51 MPH WITH A GUST TO 64 MPH WAS REPORTED AT DRY TORTUGAS.
 
THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE RECENTLY REPORTED BY RECONNAISSANCE
AIRCRAFT WAS  965 MB...28.50 INCHES.
 
STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 4 TO 6 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS...ALONG
WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...ARE STILL POSSIBLE IN THE
FLORIDA KEYS IN AREAS OF ONSHORE FLOW.  COASTAL STORM SURGE
FLOODING OF 1 TO 3 FEET IS POSSIBLE ALONG THE EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN
FLORIDA COAST. STORM SURGE VALUES WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE LATER
TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY IN ALL AREAS.
 
RITA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 2
TO 4 INCHES OVER THE FLORIDA KEYS AND THE SOUTHERN FLORIDA
PENINSULA...WITH ISOLATED STORM TOTAL AMOUNTS OF 12 INCHES.
RAINFALL TOTALS OF 6 TO 10 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE OVER WESTERN CUBA
AND 1 TO 3 INCHES OVER THE NORTHERN YUCATAN PENINSULA...WITH
ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 20 INCHES OVER PORTIONS OF WESTERN CUBA. 
 
ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER SOUTH FLORIDA AND THE
FLORIDA KEYS TONIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY.

REPEATING THE 11 PM EDT POSITION...24.1 N... 83.2 W.  MOVEMENT
TOWARD...WEST NEAR 13 MPH.  MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WINDS...110 MPH.  MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 965 MB.
 
AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL
HURRICANE CENTER AT 2 AM EDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT
COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 5 AM EDT.
 
FORECASTER STEWART

Hurricane RITA

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