New Orleans floods again as Rita strikes

As the first waves hit the Louisiana coastline, water began cascading through levees which had been patched up by authorities in recent days following the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina.

"Our worst fears came true," said Major Barry Guidry of the Georgia National Guard. "We have three significant breaches and the water is rising rapidly."

Although Hurricane Rita weakened as it approached landfall - reduced to a "Category 3" storm by officials - witnesses reported water "as far as the eye can see" in neighbourhoods from which the flood caused by Katrina last month had only just been drained.

Dozens of blocks in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans were under water. Maj Guidry said water near the breached harbour canal was rising at the rate of about three inches a minute.

Further west, in Texas, officials warned of a catastrophe as the unprecedented evacuation of the whole region continued to cause traffic gridlock.

Hurricane Rita is expected to make landfall this morning at Port Arthur, Texas, near the Louisiana border. Officials said they expected it to destroy almost 5,700 homes and affect more than five million Texans.

While cities such as Houston could escape the worst, already-flooded areas of western Louisiana could face their second destructive storm.

Among the areas worst-hit is likely to be Galveston, Texas - scene of the deadliest storm in US history, which killed up to 12,000 people in 1900.

President George Bush had expected to travel from Washington to Texas, his home state, as the storm closed in, but his plans were cancelled at the last minute. The White House said he did not want to slow down the storm preparations.

Mr Bush said: "Our job is to care for and assist the people, to save lives and to help these people get back on their feet."

Last night, six navy ships and 26 helicopters were on standby to assist the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with damage assessment, search and rescue, and medical evacuation missions. Military communications teams were poised to assist the relief effort with satellite telephones and radios.

David Paulison, FEMA acting head, said 400 medical personnel were on standby in Texas with lorry-loads of food, water and ice. At least 17 search and rescue teams are on the ground, along with 50,000 regular and national guard troops.

Major-General Richard Rowe, with emergency planners at the US Northern Command, said: "We're leaning as far forward as we can to be ready to support FEMA in the state's efforts to preserve life, to support people with immediate care, water, rations and deliveries."

But not everything was running smoothly yesterday. Petrol stations along major evacuation routes in southern Texas ran dry. The Texas National Guard transported 200,000 gallons of fuel to garages to get people back on their way.

Houston's police chief, Harold Hunt, said of the petrol shortage: "We're kind of making this up as we go. We've never had anything like this."

Bill White, the mayor of Houston, admitted that the heavy demand for fuel had not been well catered for and that more tankers should have been placed on standby ahead of the storm.

He added, however, that he had not ordered the entire city to flee - just those in areas that may be prone to flooding.

Rick Perry, the Texas governor, promised that no-one would be left stranded.

"Traffic was excruciatingly slow at times out there, but the ultimate goal of getting millions of people out of the way of the storm has been achieved," he said.

"We are going to get through this because so many of our residents took this evacuation seriously and because our state has thousands of rescue workers and relief workers on standby.

"Be calm, be strong, say a prayer for Texas."

However, many people who joined the traffic jams gave up in exasperation and turned back home. At the Richmond Arms British pub in Houston, Scottish expats sipped their beer calmly and watched footage of those attempting to get out of the city.

The pub continued serving bangers and mash, Cornish pasties and scotch eggs as other business owners nearby boarded up and moved out.

"We'll be staying at home," said Malcolm Douglas, an oil worker who has lived in Houston for seven years after moving from Selkirk with his wife, Elspeth. "We couldn't find any petrol and we haven't got anywhere to evacuate to anyway. What's the point in using up all your petrol to get a few miles and then turn back?

"Unless Tony Blair wants to send in a frigate to come and rescue us, we're staying put," Mr Douglas said.

"A neighbour was evacuating and said we could use his garage, so we loaded all our patio and garden furniture into mine and put my car into his. Now he has called to say he's coming back and he needs his garage back.

"They set out early with their two kids, got caught in the traffic, spent eight and a half hours not getting very far and decided to head home again."

Vikki Jeffrey and Steven Aitken, from Aberdeen, have given up the chance to escape the storm because they could not face leaving their three golden retrievers - Cole, Cropper and Candi - to face the storm on their own.

Ms Jeffrey said: "We'd never dream of leaving the dogs alone. They're our babies, and everyone who knows us knows that. But it is scary, just waiting here for it. This is the first hurricane we've seen, and we just don't know what to expect."