How did the town of Folsom La. Fare thru this hurricane my son"s house is there.

Again, as in Katrina, my heart goes out to all the evacuees from Rita. I can not imagine a world as turned upside down as the people who had been caught up in the traffic jams, and not knowing where they would end up. Thank goodness someone took them into the school, but again, just as before, no preparedness. Where did they think 2 millian people were going to go? I just really want to say, that there are alot of people out here that are thinking of them and wishing we could do something (besides contributing money, which I have already done). It is heart wrenching to be on the outside looking in and not being there to help. There are many of us out here that are either to far away, or have committments, including children, jobs, etc. that have these people in there hearts and their prayers.

hi im fom kosova end i fel so sory o boat dhe dizaster i hop the amerikcan pepple vell be oll tougether and hallp ich ather gest stay stronge and unitet and ewrything ville be orayte

WAH!!!
Those People knew this thing was coming,
Hello!!! Did they forget Katrina so easily?
Next time, and there WILL be a next time,
GET THE HELL out of the way a lot sooner!

Well hopefully these people can get to food, water and any medical needs get taken care of soon. Our prayers with everyone. Bob and Andrew, again be safe and thanks for the update on the stranded motorists...but what of their pets? Our son asks so we ask in hopes of good news. Thank you and everyone (Assalamu Alaykum) means:Peace be upon you).

Private citizens to the rescue again! Hooray for this concept - after all, isn't that the ideal concept for our nation to work? I'm not sure that I understand why the supplies and aid went to the areas that evacuated the flood so beautifully, and not so much assistance for those same evacuees who flooded the highways looking for rescue.

Wake up and smell the coffee....the government can't help you..we have to stop acting as helpless sheep. I'm buying weapons, food,survival gear. you need to help yourself.Get out of large cities...that's why i moved to Hawaii

God bless all the victims of both hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. I and my family went through Hurricane Agnes in 1972 in the Muncy, PA area and lost most everything. With 2 small children and several dogs who were valuable, it was a nightmare to try and put our lives back together again, get back to jobs, etc. However, our situation was only one 100th of what these people in the south are enduring. Having said that, those who were affected will soon realize who their true friends are and many people who don't know them, but have GREAT HEARTS, will spend many hours helping them to put their lives back together again. We had many people whom we did not know do this for us. It took us many months to simply have a place to once again call home, but eventually our lives came back to normal, and theirs will too, although I know it doesn't seem like that now. Again, God bless them each and everyone. Mother of signator below.

I was lucky enough not to get stuck in the traffic but was part of the mandatory evacuation of South Texas. To evacuate 3 million people from the coast in a short time is a massive undertaking and I hope the State will learn from this experience. There has to be a plan to open all roadways to outbound traffic earlier and to be sure tanker trucks with gas are staged along the routes early. One thing I did notice with all the lines I did manage to find myself in was that people were mostly calm, friendly, and ready to help out strangers as needed. The main thing is so far no deaths have been attributed to Rita (other than that horrible bus fire). God bless all and hope everyone returns to your homes safe.

I have been following this from the start of Hurricane Katrina and now this with Rita. I watch it everyday and night wishing I could do something for these people who are in such distress. I have sit and cried watching this and knowing I have plenty of food, water, clothing and a roof over my head and fell ashamed if I complain about anything at this point. I have donated my money but that somehow isn't enough. I pray that we will continue to help these people.

You all seem to be concentration your coverage and comments on the major cities. Please remember that small towns and especially the farmer and ranchers are also caught with major difficulties during these storms. Remember that these are the people that produce your food during good times and can not move their "business" easily or quickly change employment.

It is an absolute nightmare to wonder what it's like to not know where your next meal is coming from, where you will spend the night, and how you are going to escape--especially when there's low gas and there's a hurricane that's practially chasing you. It makes you want to get on a plane and fly down there so you can help these people who are watching their whole lives disappear in one night.

well here is an opinion fro west houston....take it as it is. the city and county officials told the east side to evacuate. they needed to for sure. everyone else it was left open to "common sense" of the people. i stayed because i am on high ground and was prepared for no power. the vast majority of people in the traffic jams (i think) were not the people told to evacuate. they were mostly caught at the end of the line.there were a lot of people who left too early and now have the same problem coming back. i could have left for austin as late as friday noon if need be.

Ugh....traffic jams are the worst; I got stuck in Boston rush-hour traffic on the Tobin Bridge and thought THAT was miserable. I can't quite imagine how bad this must have been for everyone, stuck on the highway, knowing the monster is coming to get you. I'm praying for you...

What Rita has proved is that no matter how prepared our government feels they are, they cannot think of everything. Government agencies cannot script a disaster. The most frightening thing to me is that now the emergency planners are blaming the general public for the congestion created by the evacuation orders. The people that decided to exercise their right of free movement and evacuate an area being reported as dangerous are now being described as not following orders of the authorities and causing the problems we saw with the evacuation. The news media, the weather services and government authorities were warning that the entire predicted storm area was in danger. Now the mayor of Houston and other authorities are saying that only the people targeted for mandatory evacuation should have evacuated. Remember that we were being told that Category 5 winds and rain were headed for a 500 mile stretch of coast line. Katrina hit as a category 4 and had devastated a 500 mile stretch of cost line. Transitive property says that Rita would also devastate a 500 mile stretch of coast line. The true failure here is that we listened to the weather service that most of us joke about on a daily basis. We trusted again the government agencies had a valid plan that was thought out and totally encompassing. Finally we allowed ourselves to be motivated by the news organizations that put a dramatic spin on common occurrences in order to make us feel we cannot exist without their presence in our life. Again the lesson learned is that individualism, self motivation and the ability to adapt to our environment is the strength of the American citizen. Our government is trying to restrict and control these qualities with the idea that they can provide these strengths for us. As we know, the government can not be legally held accountable for their failings or negligence like an individual, company or corporation, but neither should they be allowed to impose them on its’ citizens. Come home Texas and think again about trusting these groups the next time.

First of all, most employers will not release employees until a mandatory evacuation is called.Then, when about 5 million people are trying to evacuate on the same 4 roadways there are delays.We were lucky-12 hours to make a 3 1/2 hour trip and we did not run out of gas.But yes, they should have opened the highways up to one way traffic 12 hours earlier at least and should have put gas and restroom facilities along the way.Vehicles and people are not made to be in traffic for 12, 15 ,20 or more hours.

My prayers are with all of those affected by not just Rita or Katrina, but any person whose life has been destoyed or ripped apart by something as devestating as these storms. Stay strong, keep hope and if you haven't already ,find god. These are the last moments of the system of things as we know it.Seek the truth and you will find peace. No matter what the situation may be.

5 miles per hour. Sh_ _, you can walk just as fast. Imagine bikes and pedestrians fleeing the storm. Seems, much more effective than this insane dependency on gasoline.

The mass evacuation of major cities with no plans in place other than get out is insane. Too many cars & trucks going nowhere. Organizational grids of cities to disperse needs to be in place. We did not use or call on the rail system. Bus should have been assigned to a few lanes. Cars should have been staged at certain ramps for on times. No organization leads to wasted time -GAS (stuck in traffic 5 hours 5 miles)

AS I was walking to the bank I saw long lines of traffic inching along the evacuation route. I stopped and asked where one lady was going and was toold that she and her husband in thecar behind her were leaving town. TWO PEOPLE IN TWO CARS, GOING TO THE SAME PLACE. Time and time again I saw convoys of single drivers. Everyone needs Important papers, 2 days clothes, water and fuel, the most reliable vehicle, not vehicles.

Buy A State Atlas! We avoided all the major highways and evacuated at a record pace while others sat so sadly for hours in 101 heat (with pets even dying)by taking back roads the whole way out. It was a very eerie feeling leaving your home for what could be the last time, however all I felt inclined to take was what couldn't be replaced - pictures! Thank God we were spared except for some wind damage like trees, signs, and roofs which actually was a beautiful sight when you are prepared to lose everything had there been a storm surge!

My Heart goes out to all who stranded from the both storms. All I can do is send money and hope that it gets someone a drink of fresh water or some hot food or place to stay. I wish to challenge others to make donations to their church or other reliable charity.. My preference is the LDS church. 100% of the money goes towards the effort. All involved work for nothing, minus the fuel they have to buy to transport goods.
They have a safe web site to make donations, even a prayer doesn’t hurt..

Malcolm Harris

I am from Lacassine Louisiana and am away at college in Idaho. I was wondering if anyone knows how Lacassine is dealing with this hurricane and if everything is ok there.

i really feel sorry for those in new orleans. we cried watching. However, those of us not directly in new orleans, yet affected by hurricane katrina would have liked to find out about our area and the devastation while we were evacuated. The eye of the hurricane went over our area, and yet we were forgotten. remember the state of mississippi, or what used to be our gulf coast. please cover all areas. The northshore of lake pontchartrain, slidell, picayune,waveland, bay st. louis, pass christian, gulfport, biloxi mississippi. our government was tried and failed miserably for those affected by katrina. alot of us are suffering post traumatic stress syndrome. we don't know what day of the week it is, we can't sleep , and are having a hard time functioning. you go to bed at night hoping that it was all a bad dream yet to wake to another day of clean-up, another day to stand in line for hours in the hot sun to get some kind of assistance. another day to mourn the loss of friends and family and the places we cherish that are no longer there. you will never know how this feels unless you have been there. and i hope to God that no one has to be in this devastation again. Bless the american red cross for the help that they have given to us and the individuals whom have opened their hearts giving of themselves. Thank you.

I can not handle the comments anymore! The people stranded along the highways found shelter at a middle school, which is appropriate, but then they are shocked when there are not supplies available when they arrive? We live in snow country, when we take a trip, we bring water, blankets, food in case of emergency or being stuck on the road...is that not common sense? There was another comment about 700 people and only three volunteers to help them? who do these people think the volunteers are? they are poeple, who are able bodied and compasssionate who are willing to step up to the plate, I find it hard to belive that there were no such people as that in the group of 700 willing to help out...people need to take care of themselves and take more responsibility...especially when there is plenty of time to do so