Pray hard:
FromWeatherBug.com
Rita, already an extraordinary 165-mph Category 5 Hurricane, has now become the 3rd most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico, as the minimum central pressure drops to a reading of 26.55" (898 mb)!
Generally speaking, the lower the pressure, the stronger the winds inside the hurricane`s eyewall. Maximum sustained winds may very well be higher than the winds reported. Although monstrous storms like this fluctuate in strength, Rita will likely make landfall late Friday along the Gulf Coast as a devastating, possibly catastrophic hurricane.
A Hurricane Watch is now effect from Port Mansfield, Texas, to Cameron, La., and a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect from Cameron, La., east to Grand Isle, La., and from Port Mansfield, Texas to Brownsville, Texas. The Mexican government has issued a tropical storm watch from Rio San Fernando to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Anyone living in or planning to visit these areas should keep their WeatherBug active to find out the latest on this storm.
Although the exact location of landfall of this hurricane is still uncertain, residents along the western and central Gulf Coast must be prepared to move quickly if mandatory evacuations are ordered. This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation.
Numerous coastal and inland counties and parishes in Texas and Louisiana have already issued mandatory evacuation orders. Remember, hurricanes like Rita are large, powerful systems that can cause damage along large sections of coastline and to areas far inland.
At 7 p.m. CDT (8 p.m. EDT), the center of Rita was located near 24.5 N and 86.8 W, or about 580 miles east-southeast of Galveston, Texas, and about 680 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas. Rita is currently moving toward west at 13 mph and this will motion will continue for the next 24 hours.
Maximum sustained winds are near 165 mph, making Rita a strong and very powerful Category 5 hurricane capable of causing catastrophic damage. The storm`s minimum central pressure, as measured by Hurricane Hunter aircraft, is now the 3rd lowest on record for the Atlantic Basin at 26.55" (898 mb).
Official forecasts continue to curve the hurricane to northwest on Thursday and Friday as the high pressure that has been steering the system to the west over the last several days moves east.
This trend keeps the entire Texas coast, as well as the Katrina-ravaged areas of Louisiana and Mississippi, threatened with the potential of a land-falling hurricane late Friday or early Saturday.
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Barbara
And thank you all for all the prayers and well wishes. 
