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23/09/2005
Bus blaze kills elderly passengers fleeing 'Rita'
As the mass evacuation from the encroaching hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico continued, a bus fire was reported to have killed at least 24 elderly people fleeing the area on Friday.
The bus was destroyed in the blaze which caused a massive tailback on already congested main Interstate route just south of Dallas.
Police believe that a mechanical fault was to blame for the fire and that medical oxygen tanks being used by some of the elderly had exploded contributing to the inferno.
Elsewhere today, parts of the hastily refurbished sea defences in New Orleans were reported to have given way, breached by high tides as the storm surge caused by Hurricane Rita hit the Gulf coast of the US.
The hurricane, which was graded as a Category Five storm earlier this week, was downgraded to a Category Four on Friday. But wind speeds of up to 130mph are expected to hit the Texan seaboard as meteorologists track the course of the slowly advancing storm that was 200 miles from the coast on Friday.
President George Bush, who is to visit the area today, declared a state of emergency in Texas and neighbouring Louisiana earlier this week. He urged residents to heed evacuation orders as the US authorities began preparations for the aftermath of the storm.
Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans and parts of Louisiana in August was a Category Four storm.
The storm, which despite the high circulating winds around the eye, moves at less than 10 miles an hour, is likely to be downgraded to a Category Three by the time it reaches land near Galveston on Saturday.
Residents were ordered to leave Galveston and parts of Houston as the storm threatens these areas. Some are refugees from Louisiana who had taken shelter from Hurricane Katrina.
However, National Guard fuel trucks were being used to supply fuel to filling stations, which had run out due to the evacuation around Houston.
Around 70% of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been affected, prompting a further rise in oil prices worldwide as many oil refineries in Texas have also been forced to shut down due to the hurricane.
(SP)
The bus was destroyed in the blaze which caused a massive tailback on already congested main Interstate route just south of Dallas.
Police believe that a mechanical fault was to blame for the fire and that medical oxygen tanks being used by some of the elderly had exploded contributing to the inferno.
Elsewhere today, parts of the hastily refurbished sea defences in New Orleans were reported to have given way, breached by high tides as the storm surge caused by Hurricane Rita hit the Gulf coast of the US.
The hurricane, which was graded as a Category Five storm earlier this week, was downgraded to a Category Four on Friday. But wind speeds of up to 130mph are expected to hit the Texan seaboard as meteorologists track the course of the slowly advancing storm that was 200 miles from the coast on Friday.
President George Bush, who is to visit the area today, declared a state of emergency in Texas and neighbouring Louisiana earlier this week. He urged residents to heed evacuation orders as the US authorities began preparations for the aftermath of the storm.
Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans and parts of Louisiana in August was a Category Four storm.
The storm, which despite the high circulating winds around the eye, moves at less than 10 miles an hour, is likely to be downgraded to a Category Three by the time it reaches land near Galveston on Saturday.
Residents were ordered to leave Galveston and parts of Houston as the storm threatens these areas. Some are refugees from Louisiana who had taken shelter from Hurricane Katrina.
However, National Guard fuel trucks were being used to supply fuel to filling stations, which had run out due to the evacuation around Houston.
Around 70% of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been affected, prompting a further rise in oil prices worldwide as many oil refineries in Texas have also been forced to shut down due to the hurricane.
(SP)
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Thousands affected by latest hurricane to hit Caribbean
Hurricane Emily has touched down at Mexico's Caribbean coast, with experts predicting the storm could flare into a rare category five hurricane, similar to the one which devastated the region in 1988. The hurricane, which is expected to make landfall in Mexico or southern Texas on Wednesday, has left a trail of death and destruction in its wake.
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