Ahead of Hurricane Rita's arrival on the Gulf Coast, US leaders, the military
and residents of Texas and Louisiana made extensive preparations for the coming
storm.
All have been keen to act early, aware of the devastation and chaos caused
when New Orleans and other coastal areas were caught unprepared for Hurricane
Katrina three-and-a-half weeks ago.
POLITICAL RESPONSE
Attempts to prepare Americans for Hurricane Rita came from the highest levels,
with politicians apparently taking no chances after being criticised for reacting
slowly to Katrina.
President Bush urged people to leave New Orleans and Galveston as early as Wednesday - three days before Rita's arrival. With Katrina the evacuation order came only one day before the storm hit.
The president called off a visit to Texas on Friday, saying he did not want to get in the way of hurricane preparations.
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco pleaded with residents in low-lying coastal communities to evacuate, sending an automatic telephone message to more than 400,000 households, saying: "Hurricane Rita is heading your way."
TROOPS
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it took four days for extra
National Guard troops to arrive on the scene. This time, the military was
put on alert much earlier.
In Texas, some 5,000 troops from the Texas National Guard were activated in preparation for the storm, while the president and the state authorities agreed that a further 10,000 federal soldiers should be put in position to help with search and rescue afterwards.
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said she had requested an additional 15,000 federal troops and 15,000 National Guard troops. Thousands of troops are already in the state following Katrina.
EVACUATION
Galveston, New Orleans and towns in south-western Louisiana were subject to
mandatory evacuation orders.
In Corpus Christi, on the western Gulf coast, evacuation orders were lifted and residents allowed to return to their homes after the storm veered east.
As many as two million people are thought to have fled north, away from the coast.
But many of those who had not left by lunchtime on Friday were told to ride out the storm at home instead of risking traffic-clogged highways.
Shelters in the target zone were filled early on, while motels along the north-south highways were booked out, forcing drivers to sleep in their cars overnight on Wednesday and Thursday.
It is thought at least 90% of the 57,000 residents of Galveston, Texas, left the city.
School buses were despatched to remove those without their own transport - following criticism that poor and old people had no way of escaping New Orleans last month, and that public buses were marooned amid floodwaters, unused.
Ambulances ferried people from hospitals, while military helicopters were used to take 64 sick and elderly patients from facilities in Cleveland, Texas.
Authorities were at particular pains to move elderly and sick people, says the BBC's Justin Webb, mindful that scores vulnerable patients drowned when they were left behind in New Orleans.
Nevertheless, medical officials warned that some people were too critically ill to be removed and would have to stay and hope for the best.
TRANSPORT
Highways leading north from Houston were clogged with traffic, causing
jams lasting 14 hours or more and trailing nearly 100 miles (160km).
Texas Governor Rick Perry ordered the four south-bound lanes of the Interstate 45 highway to be turned over to north-bound traffic to ease the congestion.
State officials hoped to move thousands of tankfuls of fuel to that and other routes to supply cars which had run out, after petrol stations ran dry.
Houston airports shut at noon on Friday (1700 GMT), before Rita was expected to hit. Ferry services to Galveston were suspended.
OIL
Oil companies have shut down most extraction and refinery operations along
the Gulf Coast, which accounts for more than a quarter of US production, evacuating
more than 600 oil platforms and rigs.
Environmentalists have warned that any major spills from oil and chemical installations along the coast could cause significant damage.
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