09:19 AM CDT on Saturday, September 24, 2005

Tom Planchet

SATURDAY 2:35 A.M. - BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) -- Hurricane Rita has plowed into the Gulf Coast, lashing Texas and Louisiana with driving rain and threatening to flood the low-lying region.

11:25 WWL-TV Reporter Shauna Sanford: There are reports of several hundred power outages in Lafayette.

11:05 P.M. - Dr. Marc Levitan - LSU Hurricane Center: Models show us that almost all of Cameron Parish will be under some water.

11:00 P.M. - Levitan: My guess is the jog east will not have much of an effect on New Orleans since Rita is so close to shore.

10:55 P.M. - Levitan: We're only just past the halfway mark of the hurricane season, but the potential is there for more storms since the sea surface temperature in the Gulf is above normal.

10:42 P.M. - BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) -- Meteorologists know that Hurricane Rita has caused flooding to return to New Orleans, but their attention is moving west.

Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center said, "That's where people are going to die."

Hurricane Rita is expected to come ashore early tomorrow on a course that could spare Houston and Galveston but slam the oil refining towns of Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas. Lake Charles joins the communities that could get a 20-foot storm surge, towering waves and up to 25 inches of rain. Mayfield said, "All these areas are just going to get absolutely clobbered by the storm surge."

10:10 P.M. - GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- At least three buildings have caught fire in the historic Strand District of Galveston, Texas.

At least one of the buildings was engulfed by flames whipped higher by strong winds from Hurricane Rita. A fallen electric pole was lying on one of the buildings and was burning.

One of the buildings that caught fire was built in 1905, just after the hurricane that destroyed most of Galveston and killed at least 6,000people.

8:08 P.M. - HOUSTON (AP) -- The plan envisioned by Texas officials to ensure an orderly evacuation to avoid scenes of Hurricane Katrina from their cities has left thousands stranded on highways.

Drivers seem to be off the roads by tonight, but their abandoned cars marked with police tape litter the roadside.

Motorists clogged roadways on evacuation orders to get away from Houston. They were stranded, running out of gas and in extreme heat.

Gas trucks rumored to be on the way never came. Neither did buses.

7:55 P.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Since flu season will soon begin and disease can spread easily in close quarters like a hurricane shelter, the Louisiana health department is taking vaccines to all shelters in the state.

More than 8,000 shelter residents and workers had been given various vaccines since the campaign began a week earlier, the state Department of Health and Hospitals said Friday.

6:36 P.M. - WWL-TV: The underpass at the train trestle near the Orleans/Jefferson line is under water due to rain - not a levee breach.

6:24 P.M. - Jefferson Parish Councilman Louis Congemi: All of the pumping stations in the northwest area of Jefferson Parish are working. The canal heights are at about half of what we can take.

6:10 P.M. - Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson: Walgreen's is open, three gas stations, we have electricity, water and sewerage. We're doing well.

6:05 P.M. - Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson says she has driven every inch of Algiers and so far it is doing fine. She says the pumping station is working and the levees are in good shape.

6:04 P.M. - Clarkson: Algiers was about one-third re-inhabited - about 20,000 people - before the re-entry was suspended.

6:00 P.M. - MIAMI (AP) -- Three Carnival Cruise Lines ships chartered by the federal government for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts will return to service next year, cruise line officials said Friday.

The Ecstasy will resume four-and-five day cruises out of Galveston, Tex. starting next April after undergoing a 35-day refurbishment. The Holiday will return to Caribbean cruising out of Mobile, Ala. in March 2006 after undergoing a three-week drydock for refurbishing. The Sensation will resume four-and-five-day cruises out of New Orleans starting in October 2006.

5:45 P.M. - St. Bernard Parish officials are upset with the Army Corps of Engineers over the latest levee break. Emergency Operations Director Larry J. Ingargiola said he told the Corps officials that the levee would break and they said it wouldn't.

5:43 P.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Bill Capo says the Corps of Engineers said they did the best they could do on the levee but shored up other levees first.

5:42 P.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Bill Capo says Parish President Jr. Rodriguez believes the latest flood will set back the recovery operation by two weeks.

5:15 P.M. - Red Cross spokesman on the recovery and operations for Katrina and Rita: This is the largest operation by 20 times that we've ever done in this country.

5:01 P.M. - LAKE CHARLES, La. -- This seaport city of chemical plants and casinos braced Friday for what could be a direct hit from Hurricane Rita, which roared toward an expected overnight landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border.

4:55 P.M. - Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre reported the combined efforts of the Coast guard and two members of the Sheriff’s Crisis Management Unit resulted in getting a woman in her eighth month of pregnancy and her three year old son to safety. Click for story.

4:47 P.M. - London Avenue Canal levee breached; six to eight inches of water in Gentilly neighborhood.

4:24 P.M. - GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- Thousands of people in Galveston, Texas, are sticking around for Hurricane Rita despite mandatory orders to leave.

Others have returned after getting stuck in traffic gridlock.

Officials say about five-thousand residents remain on the island as the storm barrels toward shore. Galveston's city manager doesn't recommend that residents return, but says people are being allowed back after getting stuck in traffic.

One woman who's staying put says she's well-prepared, having placed bottled water, candles and battery operated radios throughout her house.

4:19 P.M. - HOUMA -- Water began to flood roads in low-lying Terrebonne Parish and more than 100 sought shelter in a local school this morning as Hurricane Rita churned through the Gulf of Mexico. Click for story.

4:12 P.M. - At least two people in a trailer near Fourchon and La. 1 are surrounded by water and cannot make it to the floodgates, Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said.

Webre said a few of his deputies are helping the Coast Guard reach the people by helicopter. The road is unable to be traveled by vehicle and they cannot be reached safetly by boat. The report came out shortly after 2 p.m.

4:05 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- About 3,400 soldiers of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division stood ready for post-Rita relief duty as the hurricane moved toward shore. Air Force planes evacuated thousands of people, and dozens of military helicopters were available for the aftermath.

3:40 P.M. - Governor Kathleen Blanco: I have asked President Bush to have FEMA pay the base salaries of our police, fire and emergency workers. Normally the rules state that FEMA will only pay for overtime.

3:31 P.M. - Governor Kathleen Blanco: We are going to ask the government to help us to rebuild our levees to high enough heights to protect the city of New Orleans.

3:17 P.M. - KHOU-TV -- There are about 3,000 Galveston residents remaining on the island, including nine on one area prone to flooding who already can't get out due to the water. Those nine aren't in immediate danger, but are just inaccessible because of the water.

3:15 P.M. - KHOU-TV: Most of the residents who stayed wanted to guard their property after seeing post-Katrina looting.

3:02 P.M. - ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue asks schools to cancel classes Monday and Tuesday to help conserve gasoline in response to Hurricane Rita.

2:45 P.M. - Kenner, LA - Saying that power poles and branches are down already, Kenner Mayor Philip L. Capitano is urging Kenner residents to stay off the streets. “Entergy tells us that many of the new lines and power poles recently replaced from Hurricane Katrina damage were only temporary and therefore fragile and susceptible to the winds we are already experiencing in the city. People in Kenner can expect power outages due to this storm,” says Mayor Capitano.

2:31 P.M. - WHITE HOUSE (AP) -- President Bush is abandoning plans to go to Texas today to review the preparations for Hurricane Rita. Instead, he'll go directly to Colorado, where he's going to monitor the storm's progress from U.S. Northern Command.

2:21 P.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Thanh Truong: LA 1 between Golden Meadow and Grand Isle is under water.

2:11 P.M. - BILOXI, Miss. -- Authorities have found another body in Biloxi increasing the Hurricane Katrina death toll to 165 in southern-most six counties of Mississippi. The statewide death toll is now 220.

1:55 P.M. - St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis: There are still about six million yards of debris in the parish, much of it pushed to the side of the road to let crews get through.

1:48 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): Federal health officials declare a public health emergency for areas in the path of Hurricane Rita.

1:44 P.M. - WWL-TV's Frank Davis: Nearly 2,000 evacuees are in the Baton Rouge Centroplex and another 1,000 are expected soon.

1:42 P.M. - FEMA spokesman: We have moved tankers of fuel into Texas to abate the shortages.

1:40 P.M. - FEMA spokesman: We have enough people on the ground to handle the situation.

1:37 P.M. - MONROE, La. (AP) -- The migration to north Louisiana that followed Hurricane Katrina was playing out again as Hurricane Rita threatened the state on Friday.

For example, the Monroe City School district, which lost almost 50 students last week, had already enrolled almost that many as of Thursday.

Teresa Foreman, the district's accountability manager, who has been helping enroll students at a shelter, said the spike in new enrollees this week was caused by the closure of shelters in the southern part of the state in anticipation of Hurricane Rita.

1:30 P.M. - St. Tammany Parish Update. Click for story.

1:10 P.M. - MONROE (AP): The migration to north Louisiana that followed Hurricane Katrina was playing out again as Hurricane Rita threatened the state on Friday.

For example, the Monroe City School district, which lost almost 50 students last week, had already enrolled almost that many as of Thursday.

Teresa Foreman, the district's accountability manager, who has been helping enroll students at a shelter, said the spike in new enrollees this week was caused by the closure of shelters in the southern part of the state in anticipation of Hurricane Rita.

Southern University in Shreveport opened a shelter late Thursday night and about 12:20 a.m. Friday took in its first residents -- a bus load of evacuees who have called the Cajundome in Lafayette their temporary home since Hurricane Katrina hit.

The Southern shelter filled quickly, as did a shelter that opened in Shreveport's Expo Hall.

Nearly 1,400 Cajundome residents are expected in Shreveport, primarily at the Red Cross shelter and at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum.

1:05 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): President Bush pledged to assist state and local officials coping with Hurricane Rita as the giant storm took aim at the Texas and Louisiana coast.

Bush visited the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington before flying later today to his home state of Texas, where highways were jammed with people trying to escape Rita's expected landfall early tomorrow.

The president was to review preparations and thank first responders who were among the hundreds of emergency personnel dispatched to expected disaster areas.

Later today, Bush planned to monitor Rita's approach from the U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The trip gave Bush an opportunity to assess whether the U.S. military should play a bigger role in major disasters.

Bush received a video briefing on Rita from the National Hurricane Center during his visit to FEMA.

1:03 P.M. - The NRA says that the United States District Court for the Eastern District in Louisiana today sided with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and issued a restraining order to bar further gun confiscations from peaceable and law-abiding victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

"This is a significant victory for freedom and for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The court's ruling is instant relief for the victims who now have an effective means of defending themselves from the robbers and rapists that seek to further exploit the remnants of their shattered lives," said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.

12:58 P.M. - KENNER (AP): The city official accused of diverting food and other supplies meant for hurricane victims says he was keeping them for a church, and only the minister's evacuation and the need to get his own sons to school in Natchitoches kept them at his house more than a day.

Cedric Floyd said today that he planned to go to the police station for booking on a felony malfeasance charge following a planned noon news conference with the Reverend Mark Mitchell.

Floyd says Mitchell has submitted an affidavit saying he asked the city to provide food and supplies to the New Hope Church drug ministry, and Floyd arranged to have him get them at his house, seven blocks from the church.

Mitchell had planned to pick up the supplies Monday, September 19, but Floyd had to bring his twin sons to the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches, and didn't return to Kenner until late Monday.

By then, Floyd says, Mitchell was at a shelter in Baton Rouge, and couldn't get the supplies until Wednesday -- a day after police searched Floyd's house.

12:52 P.M. - The latest official data shows that Rita is now a Category-3 storm with top sustained winds at 125 mph.

12:45 P.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Bill Capo said a second breach of the levee near the Industrial Canal has occurred, though officials said they haven't been able to get to the site to examine it.

12:42 P.M. - WWL-TV pictures show water overwhelming the Lower Ninth ward with waters rushing into streets and homes. Officials said they believe no one remains in that area.

12:32 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): The warning was succinct but threatening: "Hello. This is Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. Hurricane Rita is heading your way."

More than 400,000 households in southwest Louisiana and other low-lying areas stretching across nine parishes received that recording from Blanco in automated phone calls Thursday -- a technique co-opted from political campaigns to help persuade Louisiana residents to get out of Hurricane Rita's path.

This time, the robo-call carried an ominous message delivered in a few quick minutes.

"If you live in the coastal areas south of I-10, you must leave immediately and evacuate to the north. Make sure you bring food and water, medicines and important documents like insurance papers and drivers' licenses," the Blanco message repeated over and over, in phone call after phone call.

12:19 P.M. - Grand Isle Mayor David Camardelle: There is a 200-foot levee breach and many areas have three feet of water. Winds are gusting to 80 miles per hour.

12:18 P.M. - A temporary Animal Shelter has been set up at 3712 Main Street in Belle Chasse. Contact number is (504) 392-7154. Over 200 pets lost during Hurricane Katrina are waiting to be reunited with their families. The shelter is open Mon - Fri: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sat and Sun: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

12:15 P.M. - Meteorologist Brad Panovich: Homes in the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish can expect 8-9 feet of water from the levee breach.

12:12 P.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Jill Hezeau: St John the Baptist investigating a power outage to the Laplace drinking system. Residents may experience low water pressure.

12:10 P.M. - Hezeau: Sandbags are available in St. Charles Parish at the east/west bank bridge parks, Norco Fire Station and Bayou Gauche.

12:08 P.M. - An Army Corps of Engineers official is blaming today's flooding in New Orleans on an earlier-than-expected storm surge from Hurricane Rita. Brigadier General Robert Crear says contractors are being brought into the city to repair breaches in a patched levee with rocks and sandbags.

12:02 P.M. - WWL-TV Meteorologist Brad Panovich says the storm may be weakening a bit as it nears landfall.

11:55 A.M. - St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens says water is coming into the parish quickly and the only way out of the parish will soon by by boat.

11:53 A.M. - WWL-TV Northshore Bureau Chief Mike Ross says water is already beginning to get on the Mandeville Lakefront area.

11:51 A.M. - AUSTIN, TX (AP): The Texas emergency management coordinator today predicts Hurricane Rita will destroy nearly 5,700 homes. Jack Colley also says the storm will affect more than five million Texans in 19 counties.

11:49 A.M. - GULFPORT: The boil water alert has been lifted for all areas in the city of Gulfport that can receive water. For areas that are unable to receive water, such as south of the railroad tracks, west of Broad Avenue, or south of the railroad tracks between 20th Avenue and Cowan Road, a boil water alert is still in effect.

11:40 A.M. - WWL-TV: Spokesman for Harrah's Employee Information Centers says the company hasn't located thousands of employees and wants them to contact their hotline for assistance available to them. The Harrah's Employee Information Hotline number is 1-877-422-7466.

11:36 A.M. - WWL-TV's Lucy Bustamante: Point-A-La-Hache and Port Sulphur are underwater now.

11:35 A.M. - PARIS (AP): France urged its citizens today to evacuate from the path of Hurricane Rita and to contact a crisis center set up at its embassy in Washington.

The embassy opened a telephone hot line and an e-mail address for French citizens to give their whereabouts.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei says the Washington embassy and consulates in Houston and New Orleans are fully mobilized in anticipation of the possible consequences of Hurricane Rita.

Rita was roaring toward the Texas and Louisiana coast with winds at 140 miles-per-hour today and was expected to hit land as a Category 3 storm.

11:30 A.M. - WWL-TV: Due to Hurricane Rita, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Baton Rouge,Hammond, and Covington are closing at 1:30 p.m. today.

11:16 A.M. - The National Rifle Association (NRA) filed a motion in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana seeking a temporary restraining order to block authorities from confiscating law-abiding citizens’ firearms in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Click for story.

11:11 A.M. - Mayor Ray Nagin: The President gave me assurances that we will build a levee protection system that will be the best in the world and protect us from a Category-5 hurricane.

11:08 A.M. - Nagin: Hopefully we’ll get a break from this so we can shore up those levees.

11:06 A.M. - Nagin: Keep in mind this is Rita’s early approach to the coastline. It’s pushing water up the coastal canals, and will continue to put pressure on our already battered levee system.

10:59 A.M. - Chanel Lagarde, Entergy: I suspect people that lost power during Katrina will lose power during Rita as well.

10:56 A.M. - Lagarde: We were ready for Katrina; we’ll be ready for Rita. We’ve got good resources ready to handle the fallout from Rita.

10:51 A.M. - LSU to close its classes at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Southern Baton Rouge will close at Noon.

10:45 A.M. - McCOMB, MS (AP): A Louisiana couple and a passenger were killed in a one-vehicle accident on US 98 yesterday in Pike County, Mississippi.

The County Coroner, Percy Pittman, says he was able to contact relatives who told him that the Lake Charles couple -- 71-year-old Tommy Taylor, and his wife, 69-year-old Emogene Taylor -- had left home to flee Hurricane Rita.

The Taylors and a passenger in their sports utility vehicle, identified as 25-year-old Garcia Ramirez Bogata, whose address was listed as McNeese State University, died in the crash.

Pittman says it appeared the vehicle flipped and rolled over, and those inside were partially thrown from the SUV. He says all three were pronounced dead at the scene.

10:42 A.M. - Jeff Smith, O.E.P.: 36 parishes have declared states of emergency, and we expect that number to go up. Our shelter space in state is full.

10:36 A.M. - Henry Whitehorn, LA State Police: Causeway traffic closed southbound, except for emergency vehicles.

10:30 A.M. - Johnny Bradberry, Department of Transportation: We do not see any flooding of areas inside New Orleans proper. There is no flooding in Lake View, etc. However, 27 breaches occurred in St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parish levees.

10:28 A.M. - Gen. John Basilica: We’ve split the National Guard force in two places and moved them out of harms way in order to handle future search and rescue operations and reactionary missions for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

10:27 A.M. - Basilica: In Iraq, the National Guard had to on a 360 degree front. Here, the enemy is Mother Nature and we’re fighting her on two fronts; so this is easier.

10:05 A.M. - (AP): Snakes, alligators, mosquitos and whatever other creatures survived Hurricane Katrina await crews setting out to repair the coastal railroad system.

The challenge is immense; the numbers quantifying; the damage staggering.

In the 39 miles of damaged CSX rail line between New Orleans and Pascagoula, there are six major bridges out.

In a 26-mile continuous stretch that's out starting in New Orleans headed east into Hancock County, the swamps and bayous provide headaches.

10:04 A.M. - St. Tammany Parish officials: Mandatory evacuation order issued for residents living south of Hwy 22 in Madisonville east to the Fremaux/Shorthcut Hwy in Slidell.

10:01 A.M. - WWL-TV Meteorologist Brad Panovich: A tornado warning is effect for southeastern Louisiana until 6 p.m. tonight.

9:55 A.M. - Mitch Frazier, Corps of Engineers: We have sheet pilings installed on the 17th Street Canal. The Ninth Ward is taking water though, because we do not have sheet pilings installed there at the Industrial Canal.

9:54 A.M. - LAFAYETTE (AP): In Lafayette, 135 miles west of New Orleans, traffic had dwindled today on Interstate 10 -- used heavily during the exodus ahead of Rita's landfall.

Parking lots and gas stations are filled with cars bearing Texas license plates.

Glenn Grogan of Beaumont, Texas, had a beret perched on his head in a steady wind as he filled up the gas tank of his Cadillac. Sergeant Kevin Savant of the Lafayette Parish sheriff's office says extra patrols would be hitting the roads today, particularly in the low-lying parts of the parish's southern reaches.

9:45 A.M. - (AP) The water is pouring back into a neighborhood of New Orleans, as the city receives wind and rain from Hurricane Rita.

Dozens of blocks in the city's Ninth Ward are under water as a waterfall at least 30 feet wide pours over a dike. It had been used to patch breaks in the Industrial Canal levee.

Water is waist deep and rising fast on the street that runs next to the canal.

A Georgia National Guard official in New Orleans says, "Our worst fears came true." He says, "The levee will breach if we keep on the path we are on right now."

The area was one that was hard-hit by floodwaters from Katrina. It had finally been pumped dry before Rita struck.

9:20 A.M. - Gary LaGrange of the Port of New Orleans: We had been working at about 10-15 percent capacity after Katrina and now we are sitting idle again.

9 A.M. - Dr. Walter Maestri, Jefferson Parish Emergency Center: The areas that fared the best in Katrina - the west bank and Algiers - could get the worst of this storm, depending on the track.

8:35 A.M. - KENNER (AP): Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is open, although some flights have been canceled.

The airport is operating under a Tropical Storm Warning and is continuing to prepare for the possible effects of Hurricane Rita.

Airport officials say it is up to the individual airlines to make decisions on whether to cancel flight operations. As the storm changes, so may the airlines' decisions.

8:28 A.M. - MONROE (AP): Only days after school officials began to see the number of enrolled displaced students dwindle, northern Louisiana school districts are preparing for more students.

The Monroe City School district lost almost 50 students last week but has already enrolled almost that many as of yesterday.

Teresa Foreman, the district's accountability manager who has been helping enroll students, says the spike in new enrollees this week was caused by the closure of shelters in the southern part of the state in anticipation of Hurricane Rita.

Foreman says she expects to see a lot more students enroll after Rita passes.

As of yesterday, the Ouachita Parish district had around 600 displaced students enrolled in schools, from a high of 680. Monroe City Schools has 396 students, from a high of 445 students.

8:22 A.M. - Mayor Ray Nagin: As unfortunate as these storms are, we have a tremendous opportunity to rebuild this city. It’s like Katrina pushed a huge reset button, giving us the chance to rethink things for the future of New Orleans.

8:20 A.M. - Nagin: We’re going to use the Convention Center as a temporary place of commercial housing for shops that cannot open in their usual locations for whatever reason.

8:19 A.M. - Nagin: A few knuckleheads, looters or police, are not going to slow progress. We got the FBI down here to keep an eye on things and make sure that everybody stays honest.

8:18 A.M. - Nagin: The federal government is a wonderful thing; but I’m not going to rest until they can help get this city back up and running again. I will continue to push for that.

8:16 A.M. - Nagin: We are not demolishing any structures unless it is a structural hazard. People need to be able to come back to town to see what they have left.

8:15 A.M. - Nagin: If we don’t get hit too hard, this storm may only set us back two or three days.

8:13 A.M. - Nagin: Engineers have brought in German and Dutch pumps to help bail the water out of the city.

8:12 A.M. - Nagin: I’m worried about storm surge. If the storm veers more toward the Louisiana coast, we’ll be in some trouble.

7:10 A.M. - SHREVEPORT (AP): Southern University in Shreveport opened a shelter late last night and early this morning began taking in its first residents -- a bus load of evacuees who have called the Cajundome in Lafayette their temporary home since Hurricane Katrina hit.

Within two hours, authorities were reporting that the Southern University shelter is full. A shelter also opened in Shreveport's Expo Hall and it, too, was near capacity early this morning with more people still arriving.

The Southern University shelter expected to receive overnight about 125 American Red Cross workers who had been working with relief efforts in the Houston area until Hurricane Rita forced them to flee. And a number of planes carrying evacuees, including patients, arrived overnight.

Nearly 1,400 Cajundome residents are expected in Shreveport, primarily at the Red Cross shelter at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum but also at Southern University shelter.

7:05 A.M. - WILMER, TX (AP): A bus carrying elderly evacuees from Hurricane Rita caught fire and was rocked by explosions early Friday on a gridlocked highway near Dallas, killing as many as 24 people, authorities said. Click for story.

6:56 A.M. - State Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley: Insurance adjustors, you’ll find, are going to be more difficult to deal with during catastrophic situations because companies are hiring new insurance adjustors to handle the overflow of claims; and chances are you’re being saddled with a person who just took an adjustor course rather than a longtime professional. The professional adjustors are few and far between, unfortunately, but adjustors do not need to have a license in order to practice.

6:53 A.M. - Wooley: You can buy flood insurance anywhere; it’s a myth that you can’t buy it in certain places. When hurricane season began this past year, I sent out a release recommending people buy flood insurance. And you can buy it just for hurricane season – a six month period. But because we didn’t have anything bad happen to us in a long time, people have grown complacent.

6:50 A.M. - Wooley: Unfortunately, you still have to pay the mortgage on your home even if it is destroyed; but you can apply for a loan or grant to help cover that expense.

6:47 A.M. - Wooley: FEMA has both loan and grant programs that can help people in different situations. I recommend everyone go to FEMA, get a registration number, and find out what level of assistance they are eligible for.

6:44 A.M. - Wooley: Flood insurance for renters has always been offered for renters in this state.

6:22 A.M. - State Trooper Johnnie Brown: The most important thing is to plan your route. If you know one road is jammed, take another route around that. Use a map to coordinate.

6:20 A.M. - Brown: I suspect, as time goes on, we may run out of gas along those main thoroughfares; but it is not widespread. I think gas stations anticipated the crowds this time and they prepared accordingly.

6:18 A.M. - Brown: No signs of aggression. People are being patient behind the wheel; they understand the severity of the situation and are staying calm.

6:15 A.M. - Brown: We’ve seen moderate to heavy traffic on the main thoroughfares out of the southwest section of Louisiana.

6:05 A.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): This time, the feds say they're ready. Hurricane Rita is continuing its march toward the Texas-Louisiana coast, expected to hit late tonight.

The government has stockpiled millions of pounds of food and water, satellite phones to maintain communications and thousands of hospital beds near areas expected to be affected.

But faced with a mass evacuation that left hundreds of thousands of motorists on the highways running out of gas, Texas Governor Rick Perry says extra fuel is his number-one request. FEMA says it's working on it, and the military says it's ironing out details of making roadside deliveries.

President Bush flies to his home state of Texas today to take a look at storm preparations. He'll also thank first responders who are already in place. Bush says officials at every level of government are preparing for the worst.

6:01 A.M. - BRUNSWICK, GA (AP): A woman who fled hurricane-ravaged New Orleans was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Brunswick, Georgia, just hours after arriving in town with other family members.

Twenty-five-year-old Tasisha Reddick died Wednesday night after she and her boyfriend, Breshel Joiner, were hit. Joiner was treated and released for his injuries.

The two were hit as they walked along a highway.

The family arrived at a transitional center for hurricane evacuees around four hours earlier.

Police are asking the public for help finding the hit-and-run driver.

5:04 A.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): The state House and Senate have named special committees to look into Louisiana's rescue, recovery and rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina.

The committees will review disaster planning, crisis management, recovery and long-term revitalization.

Legislative leaders say the panels can make recommendations for policies and legislation and conduct investigations to try to find solutions to problems related to disaster preparation and response.

The House committee is led by Westwego Democrat John Alario. Chalmette Republican Walter Boasso leads the Senate committee.

3:58 A.M. - GULFPORT, MS (AP): It's been nearly a month since Hurricane Katrina wrecked the lives of thousands of people. But many of the storm's survivors are finding it harder to cope today than immediately after the storm.

Mental health experts say people are recognizing life will not be the same, so despair and depression are setting in. The symptoms: sleeplessness, anxiety, domestic violence and tears, lots of tears.

One psychiatrist said it's as if you're carrying an extra 20 pounds on your shoulders.

The experts say for many people, the sleeplessness, anger and sudden weepiness are normal parts of coping with the disruptions of a natural disaster. They say the symptoms will soon ease for most. But they say it's possible longer problems will affect people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

3:55 A.M. - (AP): The death toll from Hurricane Katrina keeps rising.

The number of confirmed dead in Louisiana has risen to 832, pushing the body count to at least one thousand, 69 across the Gulf Coast.

The sad job of finding victims has been put off for now, because of Hurricane Rita. Workers under contract to collect the bodies were taken off the streets of New Orleans because of the approaching storm.

3:45 A.M. - (AP): The National Guard has cut off all access to New Orleans and a Corps of Engineers spokesman says its now "wait-and-see and hope-for the best."

Forecasters say Hurricane Rita will produce tropical storm conditions in New Orleans, meaning the city could receive three to five inches of rain in coming days. That's close to what engineers say is the limit for levees still being fixed because of Hurricane Katrina.

A steady rain has already been falling and the forecast has brought renewed urgency to efforts to shore up levees with sandbags. Sections of metal have been placed across some of the city's canals to protect against storm surges.

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