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El Paso, Texas, Fire Department firefighters and medics assist Hurricane Rita evacuees into the El Paso International Airport terminal. More than 100 evacuees were flying home to Houston on Monday.

Victor Calzada/El Paso Times Photo

A burial vault lies along Louisiana Highway 57 after floodwaters from Hurricane Rita washed loose at least four such vaults from a cemetery south of Houma, La. Louisiana, and Texas cities near its border, suffered the heaviest flood damage.

Charlie Riedel/AP Photo

A cat clings to a fence Sunday on flooded Pearl Street in Erath, La., following Hurricane Rita.

Tomas Ovalle/Fresno Bee

Hurricane Rita evacuees jam southbound Interstate 45 as they make their way back home Sunday in Conroe, Texas. The long lines of traffic during the evacuation of south Texas, echoing people fleeing Manhattan after the 9-11 attacks, have illustrated the need for improved evacuation procedures of America's major metropolitan centers.

Michael Ainsworth/AP Photo

Joe Salazar makes his last stop of the day as he delivers gas in Houston on Sunday. The damage to gasoline producing refineries was not as bad as originally feared.

Pat Sullivan/AP Photo

Rosa Machado, left, walks in waist-high floodwater as her neighbors' trailer burns Saturday in Lafite, La., after Hurricane Rita passed through the area.

Kevork Djansezian/AP Photo

The shore of Lake Charles, La., is battered by high winds and storm surge from Hurricane Rita. The eye of the storm had already passed over the city on Saturday, but the winds continued to blow.

J.B. Forbes/St.Louis Post-Dispatch Photo

The statue marking the 1900 hurricane that destroyed Galveston, Texas, stands after Hurricane Rita passed through the area. Because Rita shifted to the east, Galveston escaped serious damage.

David J. Phillip/AP Photo

Two-year-old Jalen Alan Hadnott shows off his ID badge at the Acosta Recreation Center in El Paso, Texas. Jalen received the badge on Thursday night when he arrived at the Biggs Army airfield from Houston before heading to El Paso. Identification of young children posed a monumental challenge after Hurricane Katrina; hundreds remain separated from their families.

Yasmin A. Aboytes/El Paso Times Photo

Tanker driver Bob Partlow, 60, of Antioch, Texas, pumps diesel fuel into storage tanks Friday at Griffin Oil Co. in Center, Texas. Partlow had been delivering fuel in eastern Texas since late Thursday night as fuel supplies ran short under strain from Texans fleeing Hurricane Rita.

Scott Eslinger/AP Photo

Firefighters work to cover the bodies of those who died early Friday morning when the bus they were traveling in caught fire in the northbound lanes of Interstate 45 in Wilmer, Texas. The bus, carrying nursing home residents fleeing from Hurricane Rita, caught fire and was rocked by explosions, killing as many as 24 people, authorities said.

Jim Mahoney/The Dallas Morning News Photo

President Bush attends a briefing on Hurricane Rita on Friday at FEMA headquarters in Washington. Federal response to Hurricane Katrina has had the Bush administration slipping in approval ratings.

Ron Edmonds/AP Photo

Christopher French, of Lawrence, watches updates about Hurricane Rita as he cuts the hair of Kyle Corhts, 22, at Amyx's Class Act Barber Shop in downtown Lawrence. French said he was concerned about several relatives who live in Texas and Louisiana. He said he would be watching news coverage of the hurricane all weekend.

Photo by Richard Gwin

Gulf coast residents try to evacuate Houston on Interstate 45 on Thursday in preparation for Hurricane Rita. During the bumper-to-bumper exodus, many vehicles ran out of gas, and officers along the highway carried gas to motorists.

Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News Photo

This satellite image taken by NASA's MODIS Rapid Response System early Wednesday afternoon shows Hurricane Rita over the Gulf of Mexico. Gaining strength with frightening speed, Hurricane Rita swirled toward the Gulf Coast as more than 1.3 million people in Texas and Louisiana evacuated.

AP Photo

A group of boys walk down the middle of a debris and sand strewn section of U.S. Highway1 as Hurricane Rita passes through Tuesday in Islamorada, Fla. Hurricane Rita raked the Florida Keys on Tuesday with high winds and torrential rains as it pushed into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where forecasters said the storm is likely to grow into a major hurricane that could eventually strike Texas or Louisiana.

Wilfredo Lee/AP Photo

Dan McCarty, 56, of Houston, left, and Terry Mittendorf, 49, of Pasadena, Texas, board up the windows on the Crystal Beach, Texas, home of Mittendorf's girlfriend Tuesday in preparation for the possibility that Hurricane Rita will strike the Texas Gulf Coast.

Scott Eslinger/Beaumont Enterprise Photo

Eleanor Gamer, with her scooter loaded with hurricane supplies, gets ready to head to her boat Monday on Stock Island, Fla., as Tropical Storm Rita approaches the Florida Keys. She will ride out the storm on her boat, with four cats and a 100-pound dog.

J. Pat Carter/AP Photo