It Just Keeps Getting Bigger

Well, it hasn't taken long for things to go from bad to worse for people in the Gulf. Hurricane Rita has been upgraded to a Category 4 storm. At one point today, it was a Category 5 storm, though. Also, the storm has changed directions to the East and is now headed more in a direction towards New Orleans, which is going to do nothing to help them there. Flooding is expected again in New Orleans if the storm lands near there and batters the already damaged levee and pumping systems. The director of the National Hurricane Center, Max Mayfield, warned that the storm could become a Category 5 overnight. Right now, the storm is just starting to be felt by southwest Louisiana even though landfall is not predicted until sometime Saturday. Many of the citizens from Houston and other places in Texas heeded the warnings, perhaps even too well. The highways were packed with people trying to get out of the area, and many cars were breaking down or running out of fuel on the way out, which may make things very difficult. Those who went looking for gas found that many of the stations were out or you had to wait in long lines in the stations that were open. In some other news, last night, a Jetblue pilot flying an Airbus A320 made an absolutely incredible landing at the Los Angles Airport. After taking off, the front wheel was found to have somehow turned sideways, and the pilot was able to land the plane the perfectly on the runway. The gear didn't even collapse, the only thing was the wheel burned up due to the heat from the friction, and everyone was ok and eventually go on to JFK Airport where the flight was originally headed towards. The plane circled for about 3 hours to burn off fuel before the plane landed. Due to the satellite TV onboard the plane, the passengers onboard were actually able to see news about the flight and there eventual landing. That's all the news for now. I'll try to have an update on Rita sometime tomorrow, and Saturday when it is supposed to make landfall. Right now, here's the path of Hurricane Rita and a picture of Hurricane Rita, both courtesy of the National Hurricane Center, and the picture superimposed on a satellite image, thanks to Google Earth, to give you an idea how big this storm is.