Right Side of the Rainbow

UPDATE III - “Rita becomes the third most intense hurricane on record”

UPDATE II — The latest (4 p.m. CST) “3-day cone” is up. Projected landfall still looks to be about 100 miles south of Galveston.

UPDATE — Houston’s traffic is a mess:

Traffic crawled along Houston’s freeways today as officials ordered the mandatory evacuation of vulnerable areas in advance of Hurricane Rita, which was chugging toward the Gulf Coast as a dangerous Category 5 storm.

Mayor Bill White and County Judge Robert Eckels said today that some mandatory evacuations would begin at 6 p.m. They encouraged residents to leave voluntarily if possible before the evacuations become mandatory, and it was clear that thousands of residents were heeding the advice.

Traffic was especially heavy on the south end of Interstate 45, the main evacuation route from Galveston and the Clear Lake area, moving somewhat faster north of Loop 610. Speeds averaged about 20 mph on I-45 through Houston.

Traffic is at a crawl in the city, as well. And the gas stations that still have gas are packed with customers.

According to radio reports, there are no more hotel rooms in Austin or Waco. I haven’t heard about San Antonio or Dallas.

I can also tell you that the anxiety level in this city has risen, as has my own. Unsurprisingly, my institution informed us today that it would declare an emergency come Friday morning. So unless the storm alters path, that’s where I’ll be this weekend.