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Texas declared a disaster area ahead of time
By POLLY ROSS HUGHES
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry declared the state a disaster area today in anticipation of Hurricane Rita hitting Texas and personally asked President Bush to approve federal aid to affected counties.
A FEMA official is already at the State Operations Center, which went on full alert status today with 34 state agencies on site around the clock, said Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt.
"FEMA has already been part of this. They have offered whatever support we need,'' Walt said. "Texas is not Louisiana. You won't see that breakdown occurring here.''
Walt said that Texas National Guard troops returning from Louisiana at Perry's request will be staged along evacuation routes when officials better determine the most likely landfall for the storm.
"That's so they're positioned and ready to move when they need to whether it's rescue or whatever assistance they need to provide,'' she said, adding the troops might help keep traffic moving along evacuation routes.

Evacuation of Galveston begins
By KEVIN MORAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
GALVESTON - Galveston may no longer be the most likely target for Hurricane Rita, but the island remains well within the danger zone and the city has begun a voluntary evacuation, with a mandatory evacuation likely on Wednesday.
City officials said today they anticipate calling Galveston's first mandatory evacuation ever at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Evacuation buses are to begin rolling out of town Wednesday morning with hundreds or even thousands of people on board as shelters open to Galveston evacuees in Huntsville.
"You may and should begin to leave the island now," Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said this morning.
To give families time to evacuate, the Galveston Independent School District has called off classes for the rest of the week, as have the Pasadena, Deer Park, Alvin and Brazosport districts.