Rita Airlift Begins; Mayor Says EP Could Host 1000 Evacuees
HOUSTON (AP) – Texas authorities began airlifting on Thursday at least 9,000 people from Beaumont and Houston, including nursing home residents, those without transportation and the homeless, to inland Texas cities as part of the massive coastal evacuations ahead of Hurricane Rita.
Steve McCraw, state director of homeland security, same at least some of the flights will take off from George Bush International Airport in Houston. The evacuees will be taken to San Antonio, Amarillo, El Paso, Dallas, Fort Worth and Lubbock.
Mandatory evacuations along a 250-mile swath of Texas coast line created gridlock traffic on freeways passing through Houston and Harris County, where the population nears nearly 4 million, as people tried to get ahead of the Category 5 storm expected to hit the Houston-Galveston area Saturday morning.
Houston’s freeways, crowded under the best of circumstances, were at a standstill and it was taking as long as 10 to 12 hours for people to get from Galveston, through Houston and into interior Texas.
Fathers and sons got out of their cars and played catch on freeway medians. Others stood next to their cars, videotaping the scene, while others car-hopped, walking between cars chatting with people along the way.
Wreckers tried to wind their way along the shoulders, pulling stalled cars out of the way. “I’m very nervous, very,” said Monette Baugh, who decided to stay in Galveston a while longer after seeing news reports on the traffic congestion.
“I try to keep busy, not watching the news too often. When they told us to leave it was really too late. Their plan didn’t work the way it was supposed to. These people are stuck on the freeway, stuck in lines to get gas and there is not any gas.” “I wish I wasn’t here but there is no way to get out now,” she said.
State officials opened all lanes of Interstate 45 to northbound traffic out of Houston. They planned to do the same for Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 290 by Thursday afternoon.
By MICHAEL GRACZYK Associated Press Writer
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) AP-NY-09-22-05 1153EDT
