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Texans flee colossal RitaCategory 5 storm is third most intense ever
 Traffic is backed up Wednesday as evacuees leave Houston, Texas, as Hurricane Rita approaches. RELATED
HURRICANE RITA11 p.m. ET Latitude: 24.6 North Longitude: 87.2 West Movement: West at 9 mph Winds: 175 mph Next advisory: 2 a.m. ET QUICKVOTESPECIAL REPORT
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YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSMIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- As more than 1 million people scurried to get out of the way of Hurricane Rita, the Category 5 hurricane grew more turbulent, becoming the third most intense storm in history, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday night. Officials said the barometric pressure near the eye of the storm was 897 millibars, a lower reading than Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into the Gulf Coast August 29. Only Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 (888 mb), which struck Jamaica and the Yucatan Peninsula, and the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 (892 mb), which hit the Florida Keys, had lower pressures. Max Mayfield, director of the hurricane center, said Rita could be even more damaging than Katrina. "This is a very, very dangerous hurricane," he said. (Watch how Galveston, Texas, is in a precarious location) A hurricane watch was issued from Port Mansfield, Texas -- about 80 miles from Mexico -- to Cameron, Louisiana. As of 11 p.m. ET, Rita packed maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm's center was about 570 miles (915 kilometers) east-southeast of Galveston, Texas, and the storm was moving west at 9 mph (15 kph), according to a center advisory. The warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico were fueling the storm, which is about 370 miles wide. In Galveston, Texas, several thousand of the city's 58,000 residents were bused to inland shelters. "I'm prepared to be gone two weeks or more, and I have medication and everything my kids need to prepare myself for that," said Julia Marshall, who moved to Galveston from New Orleans with her five children earlier this year. Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas applauded the evacuees. "We're a sandbar, and storm-ridden fairly often," she said. "This is the first time people have responded the way they have." One man who runs a retirement home near the beach told The Associated Press not everyone was leaving willingly. "They either go with a family member or they go with us, but this building is not safe sitting on the seawall with a major hurricane coming," David Hastings, executive director of the Edgewater Retirement Community, told AP. "I have had several say, 'I don't want to go,' and I said, 'I'm sorry, you're going.' " Galveston, smashed in 1900 by the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history, is in the center of the storm's projected path. (Watch a report on the storm of the century) The latest extended forecast from the National Hurricane Center predicted Rita would likely make landfall Saturday in Texas, but anywhere from southwest Louisiana to northeast Mexico. Around Houston, the nation's fourth most-populous city, highways were clogged with traffic as residents rushed to leave. Houston Mayor Bill White urged the residents in areas at risk for storm surge and those living in mobile homes to evacuate. White also asked residents to help move citizens who cannot evacuate by themselves. President Bush declared states of emergency in Texas and Louisiana, allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts. (Watch Galveston residents prepare for Rita -- 1:22) Officials at the South Texas Project nuclear plant in Bay City, Texas, were preparing to shut the facility down before Rita arrives, a spokesman said. The plant, which powers 1 million customers, is built on elevated ground 12 miles inland from the Texas coast to withstand storm surges from Category 5 hurricanes. (Full story) Evacuating a second stormTexas welcomed thousands of evacuees after Hurricane Katrina hit, and many are now having to flee again. Gwendolyn Garley and her family were taken to Galveston after being rescued from the roof of their home in New Orleans' 9th Ward. The family was planning to settle in Galveston permanently, she said. "I feel lifeless, I'm just going through the motions," she told CNN. (Watch a two-time evacuee discuss her situation) Later she said her cousin contacted her after seeing the interview and invited the family to join her in Atlanta, Georgia. Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said one of the lessons learned from Katrina was that families need to take some pictures with them. He also advised parents to make "a little simple ID for your child" that they can keep with them in case they become separated. (Full story) Authorities in Louisiana also worked to get thousands of residents moved from areas near the coast. (Full story) Rita brushed South Florida and the Florida Keys on Tuesday, pounding the area with heavy rain and strong winds from its outer squall bands. The storm caused storm-surge flooding in some areas and spawned at least two tornadoes, forecasters said. CNN's Sean Callebs, Deborah Feyerick and Barbara Starr contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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