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HURRICANE
AWARENESS
Click
photo to view track of storm
DICKINSON DODGES A BULLET
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Hurricane
Rita first developed in the western Atlantic Ocean on Sunday September 18,
2005. The storm traveled
westward, passing between Cuba and the Florida Keys.
The storm emerged in the Gulf of Mexico and had intensified into a
category one Hurricane by Tuesday September 20th.
Initial tracking predicted landfall by September 24th
somewhere on the Texas Gulf Coast.
The storm showed a potential for strengthening and for a possible
catastrophic storm surge. Mayor Julie Masters called for a mandatory
evacuation of Dickinson starting at 2:00am on September 22nd.
 The
residents of Dickinson heeded to the warnings and began to board up before
moving in-land. For those
without transportation the City of Dickinson and the Dickinson Independent
School District provide rides on school buses.
Six buses left from McAdam’s Junior High on Wednesday afternoon.
Another bus pulled out just after midnight.
The
State of Texas had devised an evacuation plan based on evacuation of
residents in area that would be affected by the storm surge from a
hurricane. Those outside the
storm surge zone were
expected to shelter in place. This
follows the long-standing hurricane safety mandate that call for running
from water and hiding from the wind. Unfortunately with the devastation of
Hurricane Katrina fresh in mind, many resident and areas of Houston
outside the storm surge zone decided to flee.
Officials in that area did not plea for them to shelter in place.
The results were massive gird lock, gas shortages and the death of many
Galveston County residents.
 By
Thursday September 22nd Rita had strengthened into a very
dangerous Category 5 Hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 175mph.
Dickinson was a virtual ghost town.
Most of those that remained were emergency personnel from the
police and fire departments. Two
more buses brought area residents to the George Brown convention center
for redeployment to other areas of Texas.
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