11:17 PM CDT on Sunday, September 25, 2005

Tom Planchet

8:08 P.M. - St. Bernard plans to begin re-entry again Monday. Click for story.

7:23 P.M. - ATLANTA (AP) -- The governor's request that Georgia public schools take two "snow days" and close to conserve fuel did not sit well with parents who had to scramble to find baby sitters and day care for their children.

Rasheed Ahmad said he probably would have to take the day off from work Monday to look after his three daughters, ages 10, 8 and 4.

"Everybody's rushing to day care, asking do you have any vacancy for two days," said Ahmad. "And they say they don't. It's really bad."

6:12 P.M. - Signs that Gulf Coast energy producers survived Hurricane Rita largely unscathed sent oil futures falling on Sunday, but analysts said consumers were likely to face tight supplies and higher prices while refineries shut by the storm come back on line.

A rapid recovery for refiners hinges on power being restored to parts of Texas and Louisiana where facilities are concentrated, and Entergy Corp. said Sunday it will be several days before the full extent of what it described as significant damage is known.

4:47 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- Navy and Air Force teams battled high winds and heavy rain to rescue people from Hurricane Rita's aftermath, and now lawmakers must decide how to give the Pentagon a bigger role in natural disasters without trampling on state's rights. As local emergency workers in small boats plucked people from their flooded homes in Intercoastal City, La., Navy pilots maneuvered their Seahawks between power lines on the edge of a drawbridge in 35-knot crosswinds, to pick up the evacuees and take them to higher ground.

3:42 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- The 14-hour lines of traffic fleeing Houston -- complete with cars that ran out of gas -- show that four years after the Sept. 11 attacks, it is difficult to evacuate a major metropolitan area.

Experts say the consequences could be far more deadly in the event of a radiological or other terrorist strike.

"The nightmare that we all have is that, God forbid, there's a terrorist attack of some kind on a major American city that requires evacuation without warning," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.

3:17 P.M. - NEW YORK (AP) -- Retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Sunday that most of their stores forced to close because of Hurricane Rita have reopened and are restocking their shelves as they wait for residents to return home.

Wal-Mart, which closed 155 facilities Saturday morning, reopened all but 52 by Sunday, according to Linda Blackly, a company spokeswoman.

1:34 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal response to Hurricane Rita showed that officials had learned from the errors of Hurricane Katrina, relief managers said Sunday, as the president considered giving the military a permanent role in handling disasters.

1:06 P.M. - New Orleans endured a second straight day of new flooding. An Army Corps of Engineers spokesman says that the re-flooded areas could be pumped dry within a week after levee damage is repaired, far sooner than initially predicted.

12:47 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- The president's top economist said Sunday that hurricanes Katrina and Rita will have a modest impact on the U.S. economy.

Ben Bernanke, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, gave his assessment in a speech to the Institute of International Finance.

12:12 P.M. - NEW YORK (AP) -- Crude oil futures fell sharply in unusual Sunday trading as it appeared that oil rig and refinery damage from Hurricane Rita was less than originally feared. Oil prices had climbed steadily last week as Rita churned through the Gulf of Mexico as a category 4 hurricane, but fell Friday as the storm weakened before landfall early Saturday morning.

10:40 A.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- The billions of dollars in federal hurricane aid pouring into Louisiana could give the state an opportunity to tidy up its image as a cesspool of corruption, misspent money and irresponsible politics. Or it could add another litany of corruption allegations to one very long scroll of Louisiana's history.

9:37 A.M. - BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) -- Gov. Rick Perry flew Sunday over the Texas cities slammed by Hurricane Rita while rescuers in southern Louisiana searched for perhaps hundreds of people still trapped by floodwaters.

Thankful Rita hadn't measured up to Hurricane Katrina's destructive power and hoping to avoid the evacuation's gridlock, authorities in Houston meanwhile braced for the return of almost 3 million who fled ahead of the storm.

Officials set up regions that would reopen to evacuees on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and Perry urged evacuees from Houston to respect the schedule laid out for an "orderly migration." Commercial airline service to the city also resumed Sunday; many flights in were booked.

9:05 A.M. - HOUSTON (AP) -- Commercial airlines resumed service Sunday at Houston airports that were shut down Friday before Hurricane Rita landed.

Houston's main airports, Bush Intercontinental and Hobby, were not significantly damaged as the storm shifted east and skirted the city, airline officials said.

8:49 A.M. - BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) -- Gov. Rick Perry said Sunday that the damage inflicted by Hurricane Rita paled in comparison to Katrina, but urged evacuees stay where they are until local officials say it's all right to return.

In Louisiana, officials prepped 100 to 120 boats to search the sodden sugercane and rice fields Sunday. As many as 800 people may still need rescued in the parish's far-flung regions closer to the Gulf of Mexico, according to Jason Harmon, spokesman for the Abbeville Fire Department.

8:21 A.M. - SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Military officials have told President Bush that the country needs a national plan to deal with the aftermath of natural disasters or terrorist attacks. The president says he has been interested in whether the Defense Department should take the lead in disasters "of a certain size." He says "it's clearly the case in a terrorist attack.'

8:00 A.M. - Dallas Morning News article: Some want Superdome saved, some want it torn down. Click for story.

7:50 A.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Hurricanes have spoiled what appeared to be an improving job picture in Louisiana.

August figures showed the state added two-thousand-900 non-farm jobs over the month and more than 11-thousand over the year. But the numbers were based on surveys made before Katrina, and well in advance of Hurricane Rita.

7:33 A.M. - Chief Mary Jo Hargis, Lafitte: Eighty percent of city is still under water - deepest areas are five to six feet deep. "Nobody expected this, much worse than Katrina."

7:20 A.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Bob Greene: Lake Charles officials asking residents to stay away for 48 hours due to some standing water and lack of electricity. Roads into city have been barricaded.

7:07 A.M. - Earl Eues, Terrebonne Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness: We got about 2,500-3,000 people out from their homes Saturday.

7:04 A.M. - Eues: About 800 square miles of Terrebonne Parish is under water.

7:01 A.M. - Eues: Montegut, Dulac and Cocodrie the hardest hit areas in Terrebonne.

6:06 A.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hurricane Rita smashed into a region that is wealthier, more mobile and much less densely populated than the one devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

An Associated Press analysis of census data shows that most of Rita's victims are by no means wealthy. But they are less likely to live in poverty, more likely to own a car, and less likely to be a member of a minority group than were Katrina's victims.

Experts say the wealth and mobility of people in Rita's path -- combined with a new sense of urgency following Katrina -- led to a more thorough evacuation.

3:11 A.M. - SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) -- President Bush is on a three-state trip, meeting with military and emergency officials, to show himself as a leader engaged in federal efforts to recover from twin hurricanes that have struck the Gulf Coast in less than a month.

Bush, who is to be briefed here Sunday by Lt. Gen. Robert Clark, joint military task force commander for Hurricane Rita, said he was satisfied the government was "well-organized and well-prepared" to respond.

SUNDAY - SEPT. 25th - 1:22 A.M. - BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) -- Nasty as it was, Rita wasn't Katrina. For that, a drenched, twice-battered Gulf Coast gave thanks. Hurricane Rita hammered east Texas and the Louisiana coast yesterday, unleashing floods and collapsing buildings. Yet the overriding reaction was relief that the once-dreaded storm proved far less fierce and deadly than Katrina.

8:13 P.M. - HOUSTON (AP) -- After spending most of the day waiting for their assignment, three federal search and rescue crews headed into Lake Charles, La., late Saturday, where officials had requested assistance in Hurricane Rita relief efforts. More than 700 federal search and rescue personnel from various states rode out Rita in Houston while they waited for damage assessment that would indicate where they would be deployed.

7:27 P.M. - Devastated by Katrina barely three weeks ago, New Orleans endured a second straight day of new flooding. And that could seriously disrupt recovery plans.

The Army Corps of Engineers says it would need at least two weeks to pump water from the most heavily flooded neighborhoods -- notably the impoverished Lower Ninth Ward. This, after crews plug a series of levee breaches.

7:11 P.M. - VINTON, La. (AP) -- The Calcasieu Parish town of Vinton is a tangled mess of downed trees and power lines. The town of about 36-hundred got nailed. Two light posts lay across the field at the local football stadium. Flames shot from a broken gas line at a house that burned to the ground overnight, leaving only the brick chimney and the front steps.

Police Chief Rick Fox said today the town took "quite a beating."

6:42 P.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Governor Blanco has proposed creating a nonprofit group that would provide services to evacuated Louisiana residents. She says she wants it funded with nearly $2 billion in federal money.

6:05 P.M. - Dr. Walter Maestri: No breaks in the levee on the Harvey canal near Boomtown. He said some water had gone over the levee earlier, but was not a problem at this time.

6:02 P.M. - Slidell Mayor Ben Morris said residents in the southern part of the city may want to keep an eye on what he says are slowly rising waters. He said there is a possibility that Lake Pontchartrain could get into the city.

5:57 P.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Josh McElveen: Hundreds rescued as Lafitte swamped with floodwaters in the wake of Rita. Many of those saved were young children, at least one an infant.

5:44 P.M. - ABBEVILLE, La. (AP) -- Hurricane Rita swept ashore Saturday with a powerful surge of seawater that swamped coastal communities and vast stretches of farmland from the Texas line to the mouth of the Mississippi River. Rescuers scrambled into boats and helicopters to reach hundreds of stranded residents who chose to ride out the storm.

5:31 P.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Hurricane Rita has forced the Louisiana National Guard to postpone homecomings for soldiers returning from Iraq.

Members of the 256th Brigade Combat Team of the Louisiana National Guard had been scheduled to return to Fort Polk tomorrow. But that Army base has been hit by heavy rains.

5:24 P.M. - Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan said today his office is laying off at least 54 percent of its "non-essential, non legal staff members" because the city is facing a financial hardship in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The layoffs do not include assistant district attorneys.

A statement from Jordan's office says though the city is seeking financial assistance, it must downsize and advised that the DA's do the same.

The statement says the decision to lay off certain employees was based upon the needs of the office as well as seniority.

5:21 P.M. - In southern Louisiana, authorities had trouble reaching stranded residents because of blocked roads and savage winds. Rescuers in boats were pulling hundreds of residents from flooded homes along a remote stretch of swampland stretching between New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico as seawater poured over levees and into homes. Floodwaters stood 9 feet deep near Abbeville.

4:50 P.M. - (AP): Hurricane Rita left floodwaters lapping at the high-water marks set by Katrina just three weeks ago, raising questions about how swiftly New Orleans can recover from its epic flooding.

Rita is a grim reminder that the city remains in peril even as it seeks to rebuild.

Despite the setback, Mayor Ray Nagin said today that he hoped to resume a plan to move residents back into neighborhoods that remained relatively dry, including the city's business district.

Federal officials say it will take two to three weeks to pump out the latest floodwaters, which began pouring in yesterday through levees that were patched after the previous hurricane.

Today, water rose to the tops of cars in one neighborhood and seeped into homes in other sections of the city that were pumped dry days ago.

The biggest failure was on the Industrial Canal, where a storm surge pushed by Rita's winds topped a levee that had been patched with rock and gravel. The water cascaded into the city's impoverished Ninth Ward, flooding homes to their windows.

4:40 P.M. - Plaquemines Parish President Benny Rousselle has just returned from a fly over of the parish. Results present a mixed bag of conditions. The Boothville-Venice area remained mostly dry. The sunshine breach previously diked gave way to Hurricane Rita and is reflooding the Empire & Buras areas. The Nairn breach of the back levee continues to pour water into the interior of Plaquemines including Homeplace and Port Sulphur. Click here.

4:10 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): Due to hurricane Rita, members of the 256th Brigade Combat Team who have just recently returned to Louisiana have been asked to push back their return date.

Soldiers who returned home to Louisiana last week were given a pass and then told to report to the 199th Leadership Regiment near Camp Beauregard tomorrow for transport to Fort Polk.

Soldiers are now being asked to report to the 199th Leadership Regiment in Pineville on Tuesday by 6 p.m.

3:12 P.M. - ABBEVILLE (AP): Hurricane Rita swept ashore today with a powerful surge of seawater that swamped coastal communities and vast stretches of farmland from the Texas line to the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Rescuers scrambled into boats and helicopters to reach hundreds of stranded residents who chose to ride out the storm. The hurricane, which struck near the Texas-Louisiana line and weakened as it churned to the north, also inundated small towns, sugarcane fields and marshes with heavy rain.

Floodwaters stood nine feet deep near the southern Louisiana town of Abbeville, about 25 miles inland, while Cameron Parish deputies farther west watched appliances and what appeared to be parts of homes swirling in the waters of the Intracoastal Waterway.

Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses lost power as transformers exploded, roofs were torn off and trees were uprooted by winds topping a hundred miles an hour. But there were no immediate reports of deaths or serious injuries in Louisiana, which has lost more than 800 lives because of Hurricane Katrina.

2:58 P.M. - N.O. Police Chief Eddie Compass: Things have been slow lately. We haven't made a single arrest in the last two days, so we're not getting a lot of calls about crime in the city.

2:54 P.M. - Marcia St. Martin, N.O. Sewerage and Water Board: Water in Algiers is potable. We're working in conjunction with FEMA, we're moving good water into the East Bank.

2:53 P.M. - Compass: We're in the best law enforcement shape right now.

2:52 P.M. - Mayor Ray Nagin: We thought we were somewhat safe with these temporary levees set up, but Mother Nature had other ideas.

2:50 P.M. - Corps of Engineers spokesman: Because the 17th Street and London Avenue Canals were narrow and shallow, it was easier for us to drop sheet pilings into those areas to block the water. The Industrial Avenue Canal is wide and deep, making it increasingly difficult for us to have placed sheet pilings in there.

2:47 P.M. - Dan Packer, Entergy President: From an electrical standpoint, we don’t expect our damage assessment to change much as it relates to the Ninth Ward.

2:44 P.M. - Packer: We have 800,000 customers that are out of power right now in Western Louisiana and parts of Texas. Rita did have an affect in Algiers and Orleans Parish. We lost 1,300 customers. Oak trees caused us trouble Uptown; knocking down telephone poles, etc.

2:42 P.M. - Nagin: Still looking to restart our reentry plan in the next few days, as early as Monday and as late as Tuesday, when the water subsides and the levees can be improved upon. We appear to be on schedule with restoring power, but Rita pushed things back a few days.

2:38 P.M. - Nagin: Most parts of the city look dry with the exception of places with heavy rain water.

2:36 P.M. - Nagin: I flew over the Industrial Canal and I saw that water is still moving into the Lower Ninth Ward. The 17th Street and London Avenue Canals are holding up. Sheet pilings are still in place at those two locations. They can be removed in six to eight hours, after the water level goes down in the lake.

2:30 P.M. - Gov. Kathleen Blanco announces creation of the Family Recovery Corps, a group dedicating to cutting through bureaucratic red tape and putting families in touch with benefits being offered by government groups such as FEMA.

2:11 P.M. - BATON ROUGE: In spite of the disruption caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Postal Service is moving to continue delivery where it can, including the coastal Louisiana Zip Code areas of 700 to 708. Some form of delivery, whether handed out to customers at a local post office, or partial street delivery, will be made.

2:00 P.M. - AUSTIN, TX (AP): President Bush has arrived in Austin aboard Air Force One to check on the emergency response in the wake of Hurricane Rita.

1:50 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): Hurricane Rita smashed into a region that is wealthier, more mobile and much less densely populated than the one devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

An Associated Press analysis of census data shows that most of Rita's victims are by no means wealthy. But they are less likely to live in poverty, more likely to own a car, and less likely to be a member of a minority group than were Katrina's victims.

Experts say the wealth and mobility of people in Rita's path -- combined with a new sense of urgency following Katrina -- led to a more thorough evacuation.

Money and transportation were in short supply for many affected by Katrina.

In densely populated New Orleans, more than 27% of the households had no access to a vehicle. The family median income was nearly $20,000 below the national average.

1:47 P.M. - WWL-TV's Lucy Bustamante: Officials in Plaquemines Parish reported a levee breach near Boomtown Casino in Jefferson Parish. The levee has NOT been breached; water has topped the levee and a little bit is pouring into the surrounding areas, but it is certainly not a breach.

1:38 P.M. - FEMA says that so far there are NO reported deaths from Hurricane Rita.

1:22 P.M. - NOPD Chief Eddie Compass: I don't know if this area (the Lower Ninth Ward) will come back. I don't know if they can protect this area from the weather.

1:20 P.M. - Compass: The Police Department has lost several stations, numerous cars, much communication equipment. We're crippled, but I'm happy with our officers.

1:15 P.M. - DALLAS (AP) -- Dallas has become a temporary home for Hurricane Rita evacuees from Houston. At Reunion Arena, Idalia Hernandez says she has no idea what's going on at her home or when her family will return. The four adults and 14 children in her group have already endured a 14-hour trip that included a minivan breakdown.

1:12 P.M. - Army Corps of Engineers says it may take two days to pump out the additional water that came in from Rita.

1:02 P.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Jonathan Betz from Lake Charles: There are a few dozen homes under water, but expectations were for far worse damage.

1:00 P.M. - Betz:- Officials thankful damage wasn't worse. Most of downtown Lake Charles was spared.

12:51 P.M. - MIAMI (AP): Rita has lost its hurricane-force winds. It's now a tropical storm, with top winds of 65 miles an hour.

12:48 P.M. - Brad Grundmeyer, Cox Communications: We’re not charging for any of our monthly services in September, and we’ll address things regarding October in the near future.

12:46 P.M. - Grundmeyer: We have our technicians coming into the communities to reestablish services to our customers who’ve lost cable.

12:42 P.M. - (AP): Hurricane Rita poured more water into New Orleans for a second day and inundated fishing villages along Louisiana's coast, where dozens of people were rescued from homes swamped by up to 6 feet of water.

In Lafitte, about 20 miles south of New Orleans, rescuers in boats were pulling hundreds of residents from flooded homes along a remote stretch of swamp land between the city and the Gulf of Mexico. Seawater poured over levees and into homes.

Residents were taken to a bridge, where they were placed on National Guard trucks and transported to a nearby high school on dry land.

By this morning, the storm dumped 7.3 inches of rain on Baton Rouge and 4.7 inches on Lafayette. The New Orleans airport in Kenner got 2 inches.

Although New Orleans escaped the worst of the storm, engineers say they need at least two days to pump water from the most heavily flooded neighborhoods after they plug a series of levee breaches.

12:35 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): Hurricane Rita smacked a key region for oil-refining with less force than feared today, an encouraging sign to industry officials and analysts who cautioned it was still too early to assess the full extent of any damage.

But pump prices for gasoline and diesel fuel still could spike higher both in the region and around the country in the short term if pipelines and oil refineries -- especially those near Lake Charles, Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas -- are slow in resuming production.

Power outages were reported across wide swaths of Texas and Louisiana, leaving more than a million customers without electricity and one utility spokeswoman said it could be weeks before service is fully restored.

Valero Energy Corporation says it received reports that the lights were on at its refineries in Houston and Texas City, Texas -- facilities that refine almost 300,000 barrels of oil per day.

12:25 P.M. - LOUISVILLE, KY (AP): A quartet of musicians driven out of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina plucked and huffed breath back into the Big Easy's sultry spirit with borrowed and donated instruments this weekend.

Scattered by the hurricane's wrath, the four were forced to leave behind many of their belongings and flee to Houston. Then with Hurricane Rita bearing down, they were forced to evacuate again. Click here.

12:22 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): Hurricanes spoiled what appeared to be an improving job picture in Louisiana: August figures showed the state added 2,900 non-farm jobs over the month and more than 11,000 over the year.

But the numbers were based on surveys made before Katrina slammed the state on Aug. 29, and well in advance of Hurricane Rita, which hit early Saturday.

Katrina, which shut down the city of New Orleans, was followed by thousands of unemployment claims nationwide. The U.S. Labor Department said that the biggest increase in claims for the week ending Sept. 10 occurred in Louisiana, an increase of 49,665, with most of those claims related to the hurricane. Click here.

12:13 P.M. - Chris Piehler, Louisiana D.E.Q.: I would not recommend people eat raw oysters for some time now. Cooked seafood, however, should be okay.

12:10 P.M. - Piehler: Lots of bacteria found, traces of gasoline, household chemicals, etc. discovered in the water.

12:05 P.M. - BEAUMONT, TX (AP): Nearly 1,300 patients were airlifted out of Jefferson County to avoid Hurricane Rita -- after an official called U-S Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.

County Judge Carl Griffith blames the delays on the Transportation Security Administration, which he says insisted every wheelchair-bound passenger be checked with a metal detector.

Hutchison today told CNN that the incident was a "glitch" involving people who were sick and elderly.

But TSA spokeswoman Yolanda Clark in Washington disputed that patients being evacuated late this week were delayed for security screening.

Clark today said nine security screeners were sent to the airport, but only to help load passengers onto planes.

She says there was a delay early on with passengers waiting for the aircraft to arrive, but TSA was to process those passengers as quickly as possible without screening.

11:53 A.M. - SHREVEPORT (AP): Organizers of Shreveport's annual Red River Revel Arts Festival temporarily halted set-up activities in anticipation of Hurricane Rita-related storms.

"We're going to put some tents on the ground and wait until after the storm and then put them back up," said C.L. "Kip" Holloway, the festival's executive director.

Holloway said the Revel will open as planned on Oct. 1. As of Friday, he said only one artist out of hundreds of artists, musicians, performers and vendors had canceled their appearance at the festival.

"She was from New Orleans and had lost everything in the flooding" from Hurricane Katrina, he said.

11:46 A.M. - JENNINGS (AP): Some of the worst damage reports from hurricane Rita area coming out of Vinton, on the Texas border, where several fires were burning this morning and the roof was torn off a recreation center.

A riverboat casino and a barge in Lake Charles were knocked loose and floating free. The barge slammed into the Interstate 10 bridge spanning the Calcasieu River, which was closed while authorities inspected the damage.

Trash cans and fallen trees were strewn about downtown Lake Charles and casino parking lots near the lake were under about a foot of water. But fears of serious flooding in the city not far from the Texas line were unfounded.

Boats were being used to rescue people from their rooftops in tiny Pecan Island, in the marshes not far from the Gulf.

South of New Orleans in low-lying Jefferson Parish, a storm surge of 6 to 7 feet swamped some neighborhoods that escaped much of the flooding from Katrina.

11:40 A.M. - LAKE CHARLES (AP): There's widespread flooding in coastal parishes along the Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Rita tore away rooftops and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across southwestern Louisiana.

Authorities had trouble reaching some stranded residents because of blocked roads and savage winds, but there were no immediate reports of deaths or serious injuries.

The region of refineries, ranches and sugarcane fields was largely evacuated ahead of the storm, but some residents stayed behind and were rescued by boat and helicopter.

There were no initial reports of damage to oil refineries along the coast, but industry officials and analysts cautioned it was still too early to assess the full impact.

Damage to the nation's petroleum infrastructure during Hurricane Katrina last month caused gas prices to spike nationwide.

11:25 A.M. - (AP): Hurricane Rita produced less rain than expected today in storm-tested New Orleans, but outlying areas south of the city were flooded by a storm surge.

Only about three inches of rain was expected throughout the day from the storm's outer bands, much less than had been forecast. Weather service meteorologist Phil Grigsby says overall, it looks like New Orleans has lucked out in that it didn't get the heaviest rainfall.

But south of the city in low-lying Jefferson Parish, a storm surge of 6 to 7 feet swamped some neighborhoods. Residents of Lafitte, a town of 1,600 about 21 miles south of New Orleans, were being evacuated by bus.

The rain and storm surges from Lake Pontchartrain, which was 6 feet above its normal level, had threatened to increase flooding in the New Orleans area. Parts of the city were submerged again yesterday when water topped one levee and another levee sprang a leak.

Yesterday's flooding inundated the city's Ninth Ward, which was slammed by Hurricane Katrina last month and has been all but empty ever since. The water covered piles of rubble and mud-caked cars, rising swiftly to the top of first-floor windows.

11:20 A.M. - Lt. Col. Reid Christopherson, Louisiana National Guard: The National Guard is prepared to stay as long as the civil leaders and residents need our help.

11:10 A.M. - N.O. Police Superintendent Eddie Compass: We’ll begin with disciplinary hearings for those officers that did not show up during Katrina once we can get our footing back in the city.

11:03 A.M. - Kevin Davis, St. Tammany Parish President: We have 6 million cubic yards of debris that needs to be picked up.

Davis: I’m worried about people’s emotional state right now.

10:32 A.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): Southern University's football game against Albany State, which had been set for Saturday, was canceled due to Hurricane Rita.

That announcement Friday brought to four the number of canceled games. Nicholls State, McNeese State and Northwestern State had already canceled their Saturday games.

In Natchitoches, Northwestern was to have played Texas Southern; Nicholls State, Western Carolina; and McNeese, Northwestern Oklahoma.

Earlier in the season, Southern's game against McNeese was canceled because of Hurricane Katrina.

No. 3 LSU's game against No. 10 Tennessee was re-set for Monday night in Baton Rouge.

10:17 A.M. - Gordon Nelson, State Dept. of Transportation: We have a lot of roads in southeast Louisiana under water. We’ve closed one bridge in Lake Charles.

10:14 A.M. - Jeff Smith, State O.E.P.: Rita has not passed yet. We’re still getting hurricane-force winds in some areas.

10:12 A.M. - Smith: Preliminary reports indicate some flooding going on in lower lying parishes.

10:07 A.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): The Pentagon was sending about 500 active-duty soldiers to Louisiana today and five mortuary teams to Texas to deal with Hurricane Rita.

Troops from the 82nd Airborne were heading to Lafayette to help with search-and-rescue efforts. Unit commander Major General Bill Caldwell says about 3,200 of his soldiers would be prepared to go to Lafayette by tomorrow, if needed.

As a precaution, the U.S. Northern Command redirected mortuary teams from New Orleans to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. Five other teams were put on alert to support task forces responding to Rita and Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast nearly four weeks ago.

President Bush tracked Rita from an Air Force base in the Rocky Mountain foothills, getting reports on flooding, search and rescue efforts and damage caused by the storm more than a thousand miles away.

10:00 A.M. - Betz: I spoke with the Sheriff's Office, and they said they have had no reports of fatalities or injuries so far.

9:58 A.M. - WWLTV's Jonathan Betz: Only small parts of Lake Charles were flooded, and some homes received minor wind damage -- shingles were torn off of homes.

9:53 A.M. - Dan Hitchings, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with an update on the canal system: Industrial Canal: The waters in the canal topped the barrier, and eroded those parts of the levee and spilled into the city. That water is still pouring into the area.

40% of the Orleans pumps are up to capacity. It’ll take about two days to get the water out of the area, and we plan to start dropping sandbags into the canal breeches real soon – today most likely.

London Avenue Canal: A little bit of seeppage got through and put a small amount of water in the area.

17th Street Canal sheet pilings held pat, so there was no topping. We’re going to remove the sheet pilings soon and begin using pumps to get that water out. All the Jefferson Parish pumps are operating at 100%

We hope to have the levee system restored to its original, Category-3 resistance by next June.

9:42 A.M. - MIAMI (AP): Hurricane Rita is now just barely a hurricane, with top winds of 75 miles an hour.

9:40 A.M. - Johnny Glover, Coco Marina in Cocodrie: We survived Katrina just fine, but Rita came through and put three to five feet of water all over the place.

Glover: You can't feel sorry for yourself, cause you'll lose your sense of purpose. Feel sorry for your friends and neighbors who got it worse than you, and do something to help them out.

9:27 A.M. - N.O. Police Chief Eddie Compass: 85% of police officers lost their homes.

9:24 A.M. - Compass: We don’t have the luxury to sit down and reflect right now. I tell my men, when you put this badge on you have to put yourself last and put the safety of the public.

9:22 A.M. - Compass: I just thank God that we haven’t heard any reports of fatalities.

8:55 A.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Jonathan Betz: I rode around downtown Lake Charles and I saw some damage, but nothing catastrophic. There were maybe 8-10 windows blown out downtown, nothing like New Orleans after Katrina.

8:51 A.M. - Update on road closings in Terrebonne, Lafourche and Assumption. Click here.

8:47 A.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Bill Capo: There is some street flooding in Lakeview, but it looks like rainfall flooding.

8:44 A.M. - BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) -- The few people who stayed behind in Beaumont, Texas, are now able to see the damage caused by Hurricane Rita.

As they look outside, they can see ripped-off roofs, blown-out windows, torn-up trees and twisted signs. And they'll see water.

A sheriff's spokeswoman says a house north of Beaumont floated off its foundation.

8:38 A.M. - (AP) New Orleans may not have enjoyed much good luck recently, but one forecaster says it appears to be getting some today.

Up to three inches of rain is expected from Hurricane Rita throughout the day in New Orleans, not as much as earlier feared. Still, when the rain is falling, it's been heavy.

The situation is worse south of the city in low-lying Jefferson Parish. A tidal surge of up to seven feet hit some neighborhoods. Residents of Lafitte, about 21 miles to the south, are being evacuated by bus amid waist-deep water.

8:33 A.M. - N.O. Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson: Algiers doing well after Rita.

8:21 A.M. - The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport i s open with most flights operating.

Please check with your airline (web site or toll-free number) prior to coming to the Airport as flight operations may change. The individual airlines will make decisions on when to cancel their flight operations based on their internal policies. As conditions change, so may the airlines' decisions. Please see specific flight information that we have been advised of below:

Continental and Southwest: Saturday - All flights are canceled

8:07 A.M. - HOUSTON (AP) -- Rita's right-turn appears to have spared Houston the severe damage that was feared just a few days ago. Mayor Bill White says the city is "weathering the storm." An emergency management official says nearly 600-thousand homes and businesses are without power in Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city.

Still, damage is described as "minimal," and appears mostly to involve downed tree limbs and power lines.

8:05 A.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Dave McNamara: Water still pouring into Lower Ninth Ward. Army Corps of Engineers plans to drop 3,000-pound sandbags once the winds allow it.

8:00 A.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon said it was sending five mortuary teams into Texas early Saturday as Hurricane Rita's heavy rain and high winds pounded the Gulf Coast.

It was not immediately clear whether the teams were being stationed at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio as a precautionary measure or to respond to deaths.

The morticians were being redirected from New Orleans, according to the U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colo. Another five mortuary teams were put on high alert to support task forces responding to Rita and Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the region nearly four weeks ago.

7:54 A.M. - Cleco spokeswoman says 80,000 without power across the state, mostly in Acadiana, numbers should climb.

7:44 A.M. - Entergy spokesman Chanel LaGarde: 504,000 without power in Louisiana right now due to Rita and Katrina.

7:25 A.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Josh McElveen: This flooding will probably set back the cleanup and recovery about three weeks.

7:15 A.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Josh McElveen: Most areas of N.O. and Metairie he's been in have power...only sporadic outages.

7:12 A.M. - McElveen: Mounes underpass full of eight feet of water.

7:10 A.M. - McElveen: Water is sitting in the Lower Ninth Ward, but no signs of anyone trapped at all. Area is empty.

7:00 A.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Jonathan Betz: I'm at a hotel right on the water near a Lake Charles casino and water is lapping at the back door of the casino.

6:58 A.M. - Betz: water appears to be about 20 feet in from the shore.

6:55 A.M. - Betz: I rode out hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and this one didn't seem as intense.

6:16 A.M. - Sheets of rain from Hurricane Rita drenched parts of New Orleans on Saturday, straining an already damaged levee system and threatening to spread flooding throughout the devastated but largely abandoned city.

The rain was periodic but heavy, coming down in waves that lasted a few minutes before letting up. The National Weather Service said New Orleans was expected to get bands of rain dropping 3 to 4 inches per hour.

6:05 A.M. - KIRBYVILLE, Texas (AP) -- A house with seven people trapped inside has floated off its foundation in floodwaters in Kirbyville, Texas, north of Beaumount. Jasper County Sheriff's communications supervisor Alice Duckworth says officials have no way to help them right now.

6:00 A.M. - Jefferson Parish Emergency Center Chief Walter Maestri: So far the westbank is mostly dry except the low-lying areas like Lafitte.

5:10 A.M. - WWL-TV Chief Meteorologist Carl Arredondo is concerned that Rita could sit over the Lake Charles area for up to two days, soaking the N.O. area in the process.

5:00 A.M. - BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) -- Hurricane Rita is ripping up the Texas-Louisiana coast after slamming ashore this morning just east of Sabine Pass, Texas, on the state line.

In Beaumont, Texas, about 35 miles from the coast, the sound of roaring wind is broken only by the rattle of airborne sheet metal ripped from display signs and hitting vehicles or wet asphalt. Debris is flying through the air and trees are bent sideways. Power is out and rain is coming down in sheets.

4:53 A.M. - Meteorologist Brad Panovich quotes a Lake Charles meteorologist as saying the damage in Lake Charles is extensive with part of the I-10 collapsed and severe damage at the Lake Charles airport.

4:47 A.M. - Lafitte Mayor Tim Koerner: Very few parts of the city are dry.

4:35 A.M. - Chris Roberts, Jefferson Parish council: Water has come into the homes in many areas of Lafitte and Crown Point - as high as two to two and a half feet. He said some residents who refused to leave are stuck in their homes.

4:33 A.M. - Roberts: We have an estimated 500 people who could be in their homes.

2:50 A.M. - MIAMI (AP) -- Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say Hurricane Rita has officially made landfall, with the storm's eye hitting just east of Sabine Pass, Texas.

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