Darned If You Do, And If You Don't

Despite mandatory evacuations, the decision whether to flee from Hurricane Rita or ride it out at home is ultimately up to the people who live in the storm's path.

Images of the devastation left behind by Hurricane Katrina were all it took to persuade hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents to err on the side of caution.

But,

Those opting to stay put face challenges of their own,

The island was supposed to be ground zero for Rita but, thanks to a slight turn by the storm, the city may avoid a direct hit. Still, Cowan says, emergency officials warn Rita's turn doesn't mean it won't cause significant damage.

Galveston is the largest city still in Rita's sights. And that slight move to the east would be cause for at least some celebration in Galveston, Cowan says, if there were anybody left to celebrate. But 90 percent of the city's 60,000 residents have left town.

The last evacuation busses pulled out of town late Thursday, full of both people and pets.

"They told us we was going to die if we stayed here. I'm starting to believe them," one evacuee on a bus told Cowan.

There are few holdouts, but bedridden 83-year-old Annie Smith is one. She says she's never fled a hurricane before and isn't about to now. As big as Rita is, she says, "I know the man upstairs is bigger than it is. Oh, yes."

Even though the storm's track appears to be moving away from the most heavily populated areas of the Gulf Coast, that doesn't mean flooding isn't still a serious concern.

Cowan accompanied Galveston police as they tried to persuade double-amputee Anthony Carrasco to leave. He refused. Police promised Cowan they would go back to check on Carrasco Friday morning to see if he's changed his mind. And, says officer Dana Williams of the Galveston police, "If he calls anytime, we'll come get him."

There are those who are certainly able-bodied enough to leave if they want to, Cowan says, but now that the storm appears to be less of a threat than it once was, folks such as George Koch tell Cowan that they're staying.

"I don't fear for my life. I mean, I'm not crazy. Maybe I am crazy, I don't know. You tell me. We'll talk later," Koch chuckled.

Rita remains a huge storm and, even though Galveston may not take a direct hit, it is clearly within Rita's destructive reach. No one on the island will be surprised if there are still millions of dollars worth of businesses and homes lost as a result of this storm.

That's exactly what prompted so many people to get out of Houston while the getting was good — though it was also difficult.

Traffic was backed up for miles, and Smith was hearing stories of trips that usually take two hours that are now taking 24. Many vehicles ran out of gas sitting in traffic. Many others overheated.

Even on a good day, traffic in Houston can be excruciatingly bad, Smith says. Thursday's mass exodus, though, set a new standard for gridlock. Smith met people who had spent all day in their cars, and still hadn't gotten out of town.

By dusk, Interstate 10 was finally starting to move.

Thank heavens, declared Florence Carter, who was heading to San Antonio. What did she take with her? "Our most precious pictures, like of my grandmother, all those original pictures."

Thursday afternoon, with the temperature in the mid-90s, the endless bumper-to-bumper traffic was like "being on an expressway to a broken heart," Smith says.

Janice Steifels' big pickup, horse trailer in tow, gave out after six hours.

"I was trembling," she says. "All I could think about was the horses. I could get out and walk. They can't."

Steifels and her family found comfort in the shade of an underpass, and waited for a friend with a fresh truck.

Then, Smith met Jackie Oberlin and Jane Hughes. He says they'd turned their Range Rover into a modern day Noah's ark. Hughes says they brought along three dogs, four cats, six guinea pigs, two chinchillas and six domesticated rates.