**scroll down for updates**

Hurricane Rita has weakened a bit–downgraded to Category 4. Latest National Hurricane Center assessment is here. Weather people are testing a new computer model for predicting the intensity of the hurricane. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will use spy imaging to record the storm.

Meanwhile, bloggers and readers report some glitches in hurricane preparations and evacuations.

Banjo Jones in Brazoria County, Tx. reports on broken promises of increased troops.

Reader Regan D. writes:

Just wanted to let you know that we had family leaving Houston to avoid the storm out here in the Texas Hill Country west of San Antonio. My parents called me after spending seven hours in the car just trying to get outside the city limits, to no avail. So, they turned back and headed home. My brother-in-law also went back home after they spent three hours traveling just a few miles. Houston has been slow to open up the inbound lanes to outbound traffic, and still hasn’t it done so in some of the more congested areas. When we lived in Colorado, CDOT would open up eastbound lanes on I-70 from the mountains to ease traffic on busy holidays. But in Houston, even when there’s a potential disaster at hand, they do practically nothing. Temperatures in Houston are around 100 degrees with high humidity. Cars are overheating and many are stuck on highways wandering around in the heat. I can’t imagine what would happen if some type of disaster struck Houston quickly and people had to get out of the city. Though the citizens of Houston learned something from Katrina and hightailed it out of town, I’m not sure the local authorities did.

BTW, I think landfall will actually happen somewhere around Lake Charles. The general track of the hurricane seems to be moving more northward now.

A Certain Slant of Light tracks Rita’s shifts.

Anne Linehan at Blog Houston is happy overall with local leaders’ performance:

Yeah, we have some chaos and problems, but a huge number of people are evacuating and under the circumstances, it’s probably going as well as can be expected.

Thanks also to the many other officials, including Governor Perry, who are working tirelessly to handle an extremely difficult situation.

Check the group blog Lone Star Times for audioblogging and liveblogging as landfall looms.

Rightmom in Houston has decided to stay put. She writes:

The traffic is still incredibly congested…… even with the contraflo going.

There is no where to go, at any speed. Rita is going faster than any vehicle in Houston. (Think of the scene from Office Space where they guy with the walker is faster than the commuters.)

Texas Dept of Transportation is trying to get fuel to these people. It is a nightmare beyond description….. You go nowhere, you run out of fuel or the car breaks down.

This has to change or else when Rita arrives tomorrow, it will be a less spectacular replay of Independance Day.

P.S. Can you imagine 18-24 hours in a car with your kids? No stops? Bumper to bumper traffic? There aren’t enough meds in the world to keep me sane.

Ugh.

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Meanwhile, reader Peter W. has a prediction:

I want to be the first to formally predict that within HOURS of Rita hitting the Texas coast, some Moonbat (probably from within the MSM) will accuse Bush of taking better care of his own state than of Louisiana. Probably included in that attack will be the inexorable comment about Texas being a Red State verses Louisiana being Blue. My money is on CNN.

What better way to explain away the fact that the disaster about to unfold from Rita will be paltry in comparison to that unleashed by Katrina?

Texas blogger Haystack at RedState weighs in on the local/state/fed question.

8pm EDT update. The Happy Homeschooler is in Katy, Tx., and had a similar prediction.

Boghie has even more forecasts about the left’s coming response on Rita.

Reader J.O. writes:

CNN didn’t wait until after Rita hit Texas to read an email from someone saying Bush was taking better care of Texas than Louisiana because it was his home state. Jack [Cafferty] read it sometime around 3:00 on Wolf’s show. I turned it off.

And a tip from reader Daniel G.–FEMA is requesting 100 extra paramedic-staffed ambulances in preparation for landfall:

This is an EMAC request for 100 ALS ambulances for the areas in Texas designated in the request. Chief Carr has asked me to determine what units and volunteer personnel would be able to commit to a 5 day commitment, 2 days down and 2 days back as well as the 5 days in the relief zone. Each
unit must at a minimum have 1 MC-PMIC and 1 MC-EMT. If your department can send 2 and 2 on a single unit that would allow 12 on and 12 off. It is VERY
important that you understand the meaning of self sustaining for 48 hours in
the relief area. It may also be advisable to have a support vehicle such as
a van or suburban type vehicle to carry sleeping bags, tents, meals and
water as we do not know what the base camp will be like. The people you put
forward to go need to be mature and ready to do what is necessary to carry
out the mission. If your LFRD would like to assist in this effort with no
more than 4 personnel per unit, please forward an email to Division Chief
Hinde.

The units would need to leave sometime Saturday 9/24/05 most likely around
0600 hours from the PSTA. All units will need ALS equipment, supplies for
self sustainment and personal cash. All lodging and meals will be
reimbursed by EMAC to MCFRS and then to the LFRD and to the individual
(there may be a better system that develops as the plan does). All units
need to be in good mechanical condition. There is no salary reimbursement.

THIS IS SCKETCHY AND FURTHER CLARIFICATION WILL BE MADE AS IT IS AVAILABLE, we wanted to give as much time as possible for people to prepare. If your LFRD is able to assist please send the email to Division Chief Hinde with
the Names and IECS ranks of the people who are going and the unit number or
stock number if it you are requesting to use and if it is County owned or
LFRD owned Unit. Chief Carr will make the final decision on who goes if
anyone.

Polipundit’s D.J. Drummond is Houstonblogging.

Eric Pfeiffer of The Buzz will be hurricane blogging, too.

1130pm EDT update: I’m getting a lot of e-mails like this one…

My sister, Grace, is among the many thousands trying to evacuate from Houston. She is low on gas and at Diamond Shamrock station #589 at 313 S. Houston Road, Livingston, TX 77351. The manager’s name is Lucinda Post. The station just received a truckload of gasoline while my sister was there. The store is closed and the police will not help the many people at the station in desperate need of fuel. I have called the corporate office at 800 324 8464. They say they can’t reach the district manager to help. Mr. Shawn Dunn, Livingston police officer, badge # 215 told my sister he ask the manager to open the station but the manager refused and the officer said there was nothing he could do. My sister said the President had declared an emergency and it was the officer’s duty to help but he said there was nothing he could do. My sister said to go and get Lucinda Post and order him to turn on the pumps but the officer said he wouldn’t do that.

Please help.

Blogger Clark D., on the other hand, had a better evacuation experience.

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