Home>News Center>World
         
 

Texans fleeing Rita stalled by traffic
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-23 07:00

At 5 p.m. EDT, Rita was centered about 405 miles southeast of Galveston and was moving at near 9 mph. Its winds were near 140 mph, down from 175 mph earlier in the day. Forecasters predicted it would come ashore somewhere along a 350-mile stretch of the Texas and Louisiana coast that includes Port Arthur near the midpoint.

Forecasters warned of the possibility of a storm surge of 15 to 20 feet, battering waves, and rain of up to 15 inches along the Texas and western Louisiana coast.

The evacuation was a traffic nightmare, with red brakelights streaming out of Houston and its low-lying suburbs as far as the eye could see. Highways leading inland out of Houston, a metropolitan area of 4 million people, were clogged for up to 100 miles north of the city.

Drivers ran out of gas in 14-hour traffic jams or looked in vain for a place to stay as hotels filled up all the way to the Oklahoma and Arkansas line. Others got tired of waiting in traffic and turned around and went home.

Service stations reported running out of gasoline, and police officers along the highways carried gas to motorists whose tanks were on empty. Texas authorities also asked the Pentagon for help in getting gasoline to drivers stuck in traffic.

Rather than sit in traffic, some people walked their dogs, got out to stretch or switch drivers, or lounged in the beds of pickup trucks. Fathers and sons played catch on freeway medians. Some walked from car to car, chatting with others.

With temperatures in the 90s, many cars were overheating, as were some tempers.

"I've been screaming in the car," said Abbie Huckleby, who was trapped on Interstate 45 with her husband and two children as they tried to get from the Houston suburb of Katy to Dallas, about 250 miles away. "It's not working. If I would have known it was this bad, I would have stayed at home and rode out the storm at home."

Trazanna Moreno decided to do just. After leaving her Houston home and covering just six miles in nearly three hours, she finally gave up.
Page: 1234



Crippled plane lands safely at L.A. airport
Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi reappointed
North Korea to drop nuclear weapons development
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Latest coal-safety effort 'not effective'

 

   
 

Central bank to gradually lessen forex role

 

   
 

China bank gets IPO OK from HK bourse

 

   
 

176 flights cancelled for military exercise

 

   
 

Zoellick: U.S.-China relationship 'complex'

 

   
 

Indonesia urged to discipline its navy

 

   
  Texans fleeing Rita stalled by traffic
   
  Powerful cleric backs Iraq constitution
   
  EU backs down on Iran under pressure
   
  N.Korea asks UN to end humanitarian aid
   
  Bush vows to keep US troops in Iraq until job done
   
  Mexico: Bad weather likely cause of copter crash
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Jobless claims related to Katrina surge
   
Names for storms, hurricanes running out
   
Katrina's death toll climbs past 1,000
   
Rita unleashes Category 5 fury over U.S. Gulf
   
Hurricane Rita develops into Category 3 storm
   
Forecasters fear hurricane Rita's strength
   
New Orleans suspends reopening of city
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Advertisement