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How it should be done

Rita is moving towards the Florida keys and people are bailing out in an orderly fashion after having prepped their houses for the storm.
Click for full-size Image Bloomberg has the story:

Exodus as new storm threatens devastated US region
Jeb Bush, the Governor of Florida, ordered the Keys evacuated of 40,000 residents yesterday as another hurricane headed towards the US on a track that threatens New Orleans, as the devastated city’s mayor ordered a second evacuation and suspended all plans for residents to return.

With the prospect of another hurricane grinding its way over the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico for the second time in three weeks, world crude prices surged, and President Bush gave warning of another potentially devastating strike on New Orleans.

Tropical Storm Rita is set to become a powerful hurricane by the time it reaches the Gulf this week and crude was up $4.39 to $67.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange by lunchtime. It was the largest-ever rise in dollar terms. US crude oil futures rose by $4 a barrel and US shares slid with the spike in oil prices.

Chevron and Shell announced precautionary evacuations of Gulf facilities, as conducted three weeks ago before Hurricane Katrina, after which oil production still remains down by 56 per cent and natural gas output down by 34 per cent.

The Florida Keys area was braced for Rita, which pounded the southern Bahamas yesterday morning. It was expected to have strengthened to a hurricane by the time it hits the chain of islands on Florida’s southern tip, with a potential 8ft (2.4m) sea surge.

Governor Bush, the President’s brother, said: "I urge people to take this storm seriously." Although Florida is immediately threatened today, the White House is watching tracking maps that predict that Rita could hit the Louisiana coast this weekend, as a probable Category 3 hurricane.

Just wonderful... Posted by DaveH at September 19, 2005 4:37 PM