GALVESTON, Texas -- Preparing for the worst, Galveston officials issued the state's first mandatory evacuation order Tuesday for island residents and a state of emergency was declared, KPRC Local 2 reported. The evacuation order takes effect Wednesday.

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Mandatory evacuation of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities will begin at 6 a.m. Wednesday, with the evacuation of the general population beginning 12 hours later.

Officials were taking advantage of a new state law permitting mandatory evacuations, which was passed after Florida endured four hurricanes in rapid succession last year. A voluntary evacuation began Tuesday at 11:15 a.m.

Buses will begin transporting residents off the island Wednesday morning.

Galveston City Council approved the state of emergency Tuesday evening.

"A state of emergency now exists because the normal resources of the city of Galveston are inadequate for the protection of persons or property because of a major calamity, in this case, the imminent threat of Hurricane Rita," city attorney Susie Green said.

Gov. Rick Perry declared the state a disaster area in anticipation of Rita. The governor also talked with President Bush to request approval of federal aid to affected counties. Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said the president did not immediately act on the governor's request, which must be made before a federal disaster can be declared.

The State Emergency Operations Center went on 24-hour status Tuesday, with 34 state agencies on site, Walt said.

The state Division of Emergency Management also started moving food, water and other supplies to Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio in preparation for evacuees or to use in case of power outages in those areas.

This month marks the 105th anniversary of the hurricane that wiped out Galveston in one of the deadliest natural disasters in U.S. history. An estimated 8,000 people were killed.

In 1983, Hurricane Alicia, the last major hurricane to strike Texas, flooded downtown Houston, spawned 22 tornadoes and left 21 people dead. Damages totaled more than $2 billion from the Category 3 storm.

"We've been down this road before," said Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough. "It's no reason to panic. Obviously it's heightened because of Katrina. Nobody wants to make a mistake."

Many residents who have never evacuated Galveston made plans to leave.

"I'm higher than most places on this island, but I’m not going to take a chance of a 150 mph wind blowing through here," said Pat Patterson, a Galveston resident.

Rita, approaching the Florida Keys, was upgraded to a hurricane Tuesday morning.

Public schools and Texas A&M at Galveston canceled classes for the rest of the week.

For a complete list of school closures, click here.

Buses Will Move Residents, Pets Off Island

Buses were to begin running Wednesday morning for people who can't leave on their own, taking them to shelters about 100 miles north in Huntsville. About 800 people had already made reservations for the bus as of 11 a.m. Tuesday, Naschke said.

Galveston City Manager Steven LeBlanc said the city could move about 2,300 people on 88 buses out of the area until weather conditions make it unsafe.

"We are going to move as many people off this island as possible. That is our mission," LeBlanc said.

Emergency officials said anyone who will need assistance or will need to use a bus to evacuate should contact the office of emergency management at (409) 797-3710 as soon as possible. The buses will be leaving from the community center, located at 4700 Broadway, starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday. They will run until Friday at 2 p.m.

Residents may take their pets along on the buses if the animals are in cages, Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said. "We found that so many people didn't want to leave New Orleans because they didn't want to leave their pets behind," she said.

Among the most heart-wrenching images in the aftermath of Katrina were pets being torn from children's arms as they were evacuated from New Orleans' Superdome onto buses.

Each resident is asked to bring only one suitcase. Pets are allowed, but only in cages. Call (409) 763-8477 if you need a pet cage.

Any bed-ridden residents who will need help evacuating or those with medical needs should call Galveston EMS at (409) 938-2424.

Residents Fleeing Coast Should Bypass Houston

Harris County officials stressed that those fleeing the coastal area should bypass Houston, which Mayor Bill White noted could lose power and is prone to flooding, and drive on to Dallas, San Antonio or Austin. Those cities are also sheltering thousands of Katrina refugees.

A three-zone evacuation plan will take effect for Gulf Coast residents if Rita continues on its path toward southeast Texas.

Residents who live in Zone A, the blue area, would be forced to evacuate for all hurricanes.

Zone B residents, denoted in yellow, will only be required to evacuate in the case of a Category 3 storm.

Evacuation for residents in Zone C, the purple area, would happen in the event of a Category 4 or 5 storm.

For more information on evacuation maps and routes, click here.

A Red Cross shelter was set up Tuesday at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, located at 700 HWY 30 East, in Huntsville. It can accommodate 100 evacuees from Hurricane Rita.

Southeast Texas Prepares For Direct Hit

In Houston, White said the city was working with nursing homes to ensure the elderly would be safely evacuated. Numerous elderly people died in Katrina because of poor evacuations.

The City of Galveston asked group home operators to submit their evacuation plans to the city by 5 p.m. Tuesday. They want to make sure that the owners of the group homes know that they are responsible for their clients' safety.

Many residents in Kemah and Galveston began boarding up their homes and businesses. A hardware store in Kemah sold out of plywood one hour after the shipment came in Monday night.

An evacuation order in Brazoria County could be made early Wednesday. The school district has made 98 buses available for an evacuation effort.

Clear Lake Regional Medical Center and Mainland Medical Center in Galveston County are considering discharging some patients early.

The University of Texas Medical Branch went into emergency mode Tuesday afternoon, releasing students and non-essential staff. Officials are working on a plan to evacuate the 500 patients by Thursday.

"Most likely, (they'll) leave on their own accord -- probably half of them, hopefully, by Thursday. We will be transporting the others out in some way," said Karen Sexton, the CEO of UTMB.

Officials said some critically ill patients would have to remain in the hospital, despite the evacuation order.

The approaching storm was affecting offshore oil operations, already hobbled by Katrina damage. Chevron Corp., Shell Oil and BP PLC all began evacuating employees from oil and gas platforms. Marathon Oil Corp. was evacuating 40 people doing repair work on three platforms damaged by Katrina, a spokesman said Monday.

147th Fighter Wing, Emergency Workers Return To Houston

Gov. Rick Perry recalled all emergency personnel helping with recovery from Hurricane Katrina to prepare for Rita, including almost 1,200 Texas National Guard members.

About 200 members of the 147th Fighter Wing, based at Ellington Field, were scheduled to return to Houston from New Orleans on Tuesday. Another 150 members of the fighter wing were also expected to return Tuesday after fighting in Iraq. The rest of the Fighter Wing will return to the Gulf Coast last this week.

Texas already is host to Hurricane Katrina evacuees from New Orleans, especially in the Houston area, and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said emergency officials told him to be prepared to take them in because of Rita.

"We could potentially be looking at taking an enormous amount of people from Houston," Huckabee said. "We're going to have to prepare in the event. It would tax us if we had to, but we would do it."

Arkansas already is home to about 50,000 Katrina evacuees, most of them staying with friends and relatives.

Hurricane Information:

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National Weather Service, Houston and Galveston Information
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Road Conditions:

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• Texas Dept. of Transportation Web site or call (800) 452-9292


• Harris County Office of Emergency Management Web site