Evacuee bus explodes as Rita closes in
24 people feared dead in blast near Dallas

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- A bus caught fire and exploded early Friday
on a crowded Texas interstate, killing as many as 24 people who were
fleeing ahead of Hurricane Rita.

The bus, carrying about 45 elderly evacuees, burst into flames on
Interstate 45 south of Dallas. It pulled over and people were getting
off when a series of explosions ripped through the bus.

Dallas County Sheriff's Sgt. Don Peritz said 14 or 15 people got off
the bus and said as many as 24 people may have died. (Watch law
enforcement official explain bus tragedy -- 3:38)

Peritz said the fire was believed to have started in the bus's brake
system and may have caused oxygen canisters on the bus to explode.
(Full story)
Authorities blocked all lanes of the interstate, complicating the
already grueling exodus from the Texas coast.

At 11 a.m. ET, Rita was centered about 220 miles (354 kilometers)
southeast of Galveston, Texas, and 210 miles (337 kilometers)
southeast of Port Arthur. It was moving to the northwest at about 10
mph (16 kph).
The storm's maximum sustained winds weakened slightly to 135 mph (217
kph).
The Category 4 storm was expected to reach the coast late Friday or
early Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said. (Watch Texas
residents cope with gridlock on the roads and in the sky -- 2:18)

If motorists are still stuck in their cars when the storm hits, they
could be in a dangerous situation, Ed Rappaport, the hurricane
center's deputy director, said Friday.

"The hope, of course, is that this storm is off to the right as far
as they're concerned," he said of Houston drivers. But "that just
moves the problem to another community."

Rappaport said that Rita's current track would bring it ashore north
of the Houston area, but he said that could change at any time.

Late Thursday, Houston Mayor Bill White said that except for people
who live in high-risk areas near the water, those still at home
should stay put, especially given the traffic conditions and an
unanticipated fuel shortage.
"Now is not the time to get into your car to start the evacuation,"
White said. "We will get people who are stranded on the roadside off
the roadside before the storm comes in," he said. "That is our
commitment."
Gas stations along some of the major roads out of Houston and
Beaumont, to the east, were running low on gas, said Steven McCraw,
director of the governor's division of emergency management.

The two National Guard tanker trucks, each carrying 5,000 gallons of
gas, were sent at daybreak Friday to help thousands of people who had
run low on gas while trying to evacuate, said Chief Master Sgt. Gonda
Moncada, spokeswoman for the national guard.

Moncada said that 10,000 gallons of gas might not be enough to help
everyone who needs it.

Some Houston residents tried various routes out of the city only to
become so flustered they returned home and thought about riding out
the storm. Other Texans on gridlocked roads pushed their cars to help
conserve fuel.
With the hurricane generating winds of tropical storm force extending
205 miles (335 kilometers) from the center, some areas in Louisiana
already were feeling Rita's outer bands. (Watch a report on the
science behind monster storms -- 3:50)

A hurricane warning was in effect from Port O'Connor, Texas, to
Morgan City, Louisiana, meaning hurricane conditions such as
sustained winds of at least 74 mph (118 kph) are possible within 24
hours.
New Orleans, still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, was under a
tropical storm warning, meaning sustained winds of at least 39 mph
(62 kph) are expected within the next 24 hours.

New flooding in New Orleans
Water was flowing over the industrial canal levee in New Orleans
triggering new flooding in the low-lying 9th Ward neighborhood. (Full
story)
While the Army Corps of Engineers expected flooding from Rita, it was
not anticipated this early.

Mitch Frazier, a spokesman for the corps, said it was not clear if
the flooding was caused by rain or a storm surge.

"We don't know, likely a little of both," he said. A CNN
photojournalist reported that the water was rising quickly and was
already at least two feet deep.

Officials started closing the flood gates around Lake Pontchartrain
Thursday morning in preparation for Rita.

More than 1,000 deaths, most in Louisiana, are blamed on Hurricane
Katrina, which struck August 29 after slamming Florida a few days
earlier.
Several refineries, which process about 3 million barrels of oil each
day, could be threatened by Rita. Some energy analysts predict that
disruption from the storm could trigger a surge in gas prices. (Watch
Rita's threat to refineries -- 2:43)

Oil prices dropped to below $66 a barrel on Friday after Rita lost
some of its intensity. At its peak, the storm was a Category 5 with
175 mph winds.
The storm's latest track also appeared to take it away from some of
the major refining hubs. (Full story)