More than a million people are estimated to be fleeing their homes and communities as the 3rd most powerful hurricane on record. Hurricane Rita packs wind speeds of 175 miles per hour and is expected to hit the US coast sometime on Saturday. The hurricane is already classified as a Category 5. Several communities in Texas, including Galveston and Corpus Christi, have ordered total evacuations. That is also happening across the southern coast of the US. Galveston, which was destroyed in 1900 by the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history, is once again in the center of the storm’s projected path. Around Houston, the nation’s fourth most-populous city, highways were clogged with traffic as residents rushed to leave. President Bush declared states of emergency in both Texas and Louisiana. Rita is forecast to hit land on Friday, somewhere between northern Mexico and Louisiana but most likely Texas. In New Orleans, engineers are rushing to repair severely damaged levees. Some estimates suggest that even three inches of rain would overwhelm the flood protection system.