Houston mayor orders evacuation

Houston Mayor Bill White has called for residents to leave low-lying areas of the city as Hurricane Rita approaches.

White has warned there are not enough government vehicles to evacuate everyone in the affected areas, and urged friends and neighbours to help. {{more}}

Rita is now a Category Five storm, with sustained winds of 165mph (265km/h), making it stronger than Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans.

New Orleans is again on high alert, as the storm could cause yet more floods.

Hurricane Rita was upgraded twice on Wednesday. Category Five is the highest level on the scale.

The storm is expected to hit Texas tomorrow, and tens of thousands of people are evacuating coastal towns there.