By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX –
Texas, which has opened its arms to evacuees fleeing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that ravaged the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, is now turning its attention to taking care of its own.
As Tropical Storm Rita nears hurricane status, forecasters say it could become a Category One storm - with winds of 74-95 miles per hour - within the next 24 hours.
National Hurricane Director Max Mayfield said the storm could threaten Texas and Louisiana within five days.
That prediction prompted Gov. Rick Perry today to recall the Texas National Guard, Texas Task Force One and other Texas emergency personnel and equipment from Louisiana, where they have been assisting with rescue and relief efforts. There are approximately 1,200 Guard members from Texas assisting in the Louisiana disaster efforts. Texas Task Force Once is one of 28 national urban search-and-rescue groups under FEMA. It is operated by the Texas Engineering Extension Service.
"The time is now to begin mobilizing our resources and implementing our plan to ensure an orderly response before Texas is hit," Perry said. "For the past three weeks, our emergency personnel have been assisting our neighbors devastated by Hurricane Katrina and over the last year our state has heightened preparations for dealing with a catastrophic storm. While we continue to hope that day never comes, Texas must be ready if it does."
The Florida Keys faces its fifth evacuation in the last two years after an evacuation order was executed today by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and local officials. The entire Florida Keys - with a population of some 80,000 - has been ordered evacuated. If the winds of the tropical storm continue to increase, officials say the storm could become a Category Two hurricane as it nears Key West. The forecast for the storm possibly to threaten the Texas coast by the weekend prompted Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas today to call for a voluntary evacuation of that coastal city if the weather forecast remains the same through tomorrow. That voluntary evacuation would begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Other coastal states are preparing for the possibility of having to shelter Texas residents should Texans have to flee ahead of what could be Hurricane Rita.
During the past 24 hours, Perry directed his Division of Emergency Management and Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw to begin contacting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials, the Louisiana Governor's Office and Gen. Charles Rodriguez of the Texas National Guard to expedite the return of Texas emergency forces from Louisiana. If Rita continues to strengthen and threaten Texas, emergency forces will be redeployed by mid-week to appropriate staging areas near the Texas coast.
In anticipation of the storm becoming a hurricane, Texas emergency management officials have activated the State Operations Center, where weather situations are monitored continuously and daily conference calls with local elected officials are held to assess local needs and coordinate state and local responses. "As the state works with local leaders in implementing emergency response plans, it is important that Texans living along the coast begin making their own personal evacuation arrangements in anticipation of a hurricane making landfall late this week," Perry said.