September 24, 2005
Rita Roars Ashore Along Mostly Deserted Gulf Coast
Hurricane Rita plowed into the Gulf Coast along the Texas-Louisiana border early Saturday, causing significant wind damage and some flooding. Although the storm packed wind gusts of 150 mph and 15 foot waves as it came ashore, Rita appeared far less destructive than Hurricane Katrina, which struck less than a month ago.

September 23, 2005
Gulf Coast of Texas Braces for Onslaught from Rita
Although it weakened throughout Friday, Hurricane Rita bore down on the Texas/Louisiana border, threatening the oil refining towns of Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, and Lake Charles, La., with a possible 20-foot storm surge, pounding waves and some 25 inches of rain. Washington Post reporter Doug Struck, who spent much of Friday around the city of Beaumont, outlines the situation from eastern Texas.

September 23, 2005
Hurricane Rita Sparks New Flooding in Abandoned New Orleans
Water poured back into parts of New Orleans as the storm surge from Hurricane Rita overran the levees weakened by Hurricane Katrina. Water was reportedly several feet deep in parts of the impoverished Ninth Ward, where it stood 20 feet deep Main: After Hurricane Katrina. Ceci Connolly of The Washington Post reports on the situation in New Orleans and the prospect of the widespread flooding seen earlier this month.

September 23, 2005
Hurricane Rita Weakens Slightly; Bus of Evacuees Catches Fire
Hurricane Rita bore down on Texas and southwestern Louisiana with 135 mph winds Friday, creating widespread traffic jams as hundreds of thousands of residents raced to safer ground and raising fears of another catastrophic flood in New Orleans as water poured over one of the city's patched levees.

RealAudio: In a two-part report on the exodus from Texas, Terence Smith reports on the tragic bus fire that took the lives of some 24 elderly evacuees outside Dallas and then Elizabeth Brackett outlines the sluggish crawl that marked the evacuation from Houston.

September 22, 2005
Weakened Rita Threatens Gulf Coast from Texas to New Orleans
More than a million Gulf Coast residents from Texas and Louisiana were on the move Thursday as Hurricane Rita churned toward landfall. The storm, which weakened to a Category 4 hurricane packing winds of 145 mph, was expected to strike late Friday night east of the Galveston, Texas area.

Transcript: Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, who is coordinating the recovery from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, discusses Louisiana's preparation for another storm.

Transcript: Allen Tharling, mayor of Port Lavaca, Texas, a city located halfway between Corpus Christi and Galveston, outlines the community's response. And Rick Lymon of the New York Times describes the scene in Houston.

Transcript: Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center outlines Hurricane Rita's track and strength.

September 22, 2005
Texans Evacuate Coastal Areas as Hurricane Rita Nears
Drawing upon the harsh lessons of Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of thousands of Texans -- many from Houston -- continued to evacuate the southeast corner of the state Thursday as Hurricane Rita spun toward the Gulf Coast.

Though at one point a Category 5 storm -- the strongest type of hurricane -- forecasters said the storm had dropped to a Category 4 by early afternoon and could weaken further by the time it reaches land late Friday or early Saturday.

September 21, 2005
Emergency Crews Brace for Impact of Rita on Gulf Coast
As Hurricane Rita, a category 5 storm, threatens the coast of Texas and Southwest Louisiana, officials are urging remaining residents to evacuate. Three guests talk about emergency preparations for Rita and the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina.