Houston mayor orders evacuation  
I don't even know what this world is turning into, another hurricane named Rita, before it was Katrina, has been said in the news as it approaches Houston.

Houston Mayor Bill White has called for residents to leave low-lying areas of the city as Hurricane Rita approaches..

Mr White warned that there are not enough government vehicles to evacuate everyone in the affected areas and urged friends and neighbours to help.

The order came as Rita was upgraded to a Category Four storm, the same level as Hurricane Katrina which devastated the Gulf Coast and New Orleans.

New Orleans is again on high alert as this storm could cause yet more floods.

Read more here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4261166.stm.

Lets pray for, houston folks o. we have lots of Nigerians in houston, also in florida. most own family  are all in houston, my aunties, uncles, cousins, my nieces and my nephews and my friends. Also, some Nairaland users.

All ye believers lets pray o ...

somebody be kind enough to explain why these hurricanes should be named after the ladies....katrina,ophelia now rita...some day it may be hurricane stella(lol)

i guess it's d power of women! may this not be another hurricane katrina in Jesus name, Amen.

Hurricanes are named after both women and men and the names are recycled every 5 years You don't hear about the ones that are non-threatening. Looks like when the name is a female one, it seems to cause the most damage!

Below is a list of names to be used in 2005:

Worldwide Tropical Cyclone Names
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Atlantic Names
2005
Arlene
Bret
Cindy
Dennis
Emily
Franklin
Gert
Harvey
Irene
Jose
Katrina
Lee
Maria
Nate
Ophelia
Philippe
Rita
Stan
Tammy
Vince
Wilma

"More than[b] one million people have begun to evacuate[/b] the Gulf Coast of the United States ahead of Hurricane Rita. The storm, which has been upgraded to Category Five, is heading towards Texas with winds of 165mph (265km/h).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4269994.stm

Nairaland members in the path of the storm should let us know so we can pray for them and check up on them after the storm. I'm hoping for the best possible outcome, but I guess the lessons learnt from the Katrina tragedy will make this new one less deadly.

what are you rebuking ? its a natural disaster. Its already at the corner waiting to happen, why talk about rebuke. (shakes head and says humans)

My brother and his family along with several of my friends live in TX.

Have they left the area? If they are the type of people that'll say "no, this is my home-town and I'm staying", I think the best thing you can do for them is to convince them to leave now!

Here is another article on the hurricane if anyone's interested: [url]http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,169984,00.html[/url]

Hurricane season here will officially be over on November 30.  That day couldn't come soon enough!

@Seun: Hopefully they've left. I haven't heard from them and no one is answering the phone which may be a good thing.

its not easy to just move from one your hometown to another, changes and all the difficulties, The major prolem would be where would you start from? where would you go to ? supposing you have no family and friends. where do you expect such person to go ?

I believe they have shelters set up and ready to receive people. . . .as well as available ground transportation for those who are unable to make it out on their own.

live in a shelter ? imagine yourself live in one.We are just talking coz this not affecting us, in the sense that we are not direct victims, i wouldnt leave MD coz of one terrorist threat or hurricane.

They are leaving because this storm could kill them. My brother is a responsible man and will not put his wife and son in danger. If there is enough possibility for them to get hit, they're moving.

The move is only temporary if the storm does not damage their home or area.

are you trying to say anyone that stays is irresponsible ?

Hurrican is comming to texas. mama!!

It wont be as bad as katrina. Rita is a nice name, my friend is rita.. hopefully this hurrican will be nice. Back to business

Hurrican katrnica caused soo many damages and they had to move people to houston, now Rita is going to houston and they are moving the people away from houston to nearby counties. This is "owo wan be". God where are you now? I rebuke this in Jesus name. I am sure it's not comming to this side.. and that's a relief. But i hope this isnt bad oo.

it's funny how they name these hurricanes after people. they should name it for something else liek hurricane osama. that'll be cool.

I actually cant stop laughing.

hot-angel, you're in Texas? You need to move away from the area today! Please, convince your dad and mom as soon as possible.

I agree with Vexxy, I think it would be really irresponsibile for those who have the opportunity or means to leave not to do so. Not after reading about the damage done by Hurricane Katrina!

ha! Seun, chill. Nothing is comming to the DFW area. All we gon get is prolly rain. Or maybe nothing.

those rains are terrible. expecially when they come with thunderstorms.

hot-angel, how exactly do you know that nothing is coming to your area?

because we are not beside no sea. And the people that "check the weather and all those blah blahs", said we r safe. Most people from houston are actually coming here. I wonder what they'll do if we run too.

Yes, Dallas is more in the central area of TX and the hurricane is mostly affecting the coast line. They usually feed off of water so it will grow less severe as it travels over land.

And those who decide to stay knowing what's coming at them, in my opinion, are being irresponsible. 175+ mph winds? That could knock a house across town. What are you staying for? You want to see if you can fly?

I'm praying for those in that area.

AMEN!

I've got family in Houston. I just got off the phone with them.

Can you guys believe my cousin said he and his family will run into their closets (wardrobes) when the hurricane comes? And they live in a duplex!

How practical is that? He says he's got insurance for his house then why stay waiting for the hurricane to hit? I can only pray ooo...

There're gridlocks on the exits out of Houston cause people in their haste to leave had become disorderly...people have also ran out fuel and so are stuck


Hot Angel let us know what's up with you since you are in Texas.....

Let us all go by queen2's prayer..I said a hearty Amen oooo

I am afriad for those who live in houston. The beach is close to them... I will advice that if you are in houstyon you should move to dallas/Forth Worth Area.... cos nothing is coming to this area.

Tell your <snip> cousin to[b] leave the area[/b] himself/herself if the other members of his family are stubbornly insisting on staying. if you must die, let it be for a worthy cause or an unavoidable event.

If they suffers in this storm despite all the warnings, one would be hard-pressed to mourn for them. This is called suicide.

Mr Seun.. Ease off the gas. I dont think they'll stay there if they know how hard teh hurricane is comming. It's not gonna affect everyone in Texas.. just those people beside the beach part.