SHOTLIST Galveston 1. Various of palm trees blowing in wind 2. Car on empty seaside road 3. Palm tree with surf 4. Close up of tree 5. Trees, bushes in wind 6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Linea McNeel, Doctor: "Why am I here? I'm here at the hotel because I'm staying throughout the storm, I was on call. We have people who are designated certain slots at the hospital. I'm E1, which means you stay around through the emergency, and so I'll be available, and right now we've completely evacuated the hospital, so I don't have to be in the hospital, but I'll be available as soon as the storm is over." 7. Ambulance outside hotel 8. Fire and rescue personnel 9. Bushes in wind 10. Various of palm trees in wind Beaumont 11. Evening shot, pan of street with trees blowing Port Arthur 12. Various shots of high surf and waves STORYLINE As Hurricane Rita approached land, the barrier island city of Galveston, Texas, has been almost totally evacuated. Rita weakened on Friday into a Category 3 hurricane after raging as a Category 5, 175-mph (280-kilometer) monster earlier in the week. However, the storm is still considered highly dangerous. About 90-percent of Galveston's 58,000 residents have cleared out. Those who stayed behind are at the mercy of a 17-foot (5.2-meter) seawall that was built after a 1900 hurricane that killed 6,000 to 12,000 of the island's residents in what is still the deadliest natural disaster in US history. Fierce winds on Friday afternoon bowed palm trees along the Galveston waterfront, where choppy waves crashed on shore. At 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), Rita was centered about 155 miles (250 kilometres) southeast of Galveston, moving northwest at near 12 mph (19 kph). The storm is expected to come ashore early Saturday on a course that could spare Galveston and Houston. Several doctors are on call at a makeshift medical centre in a Galveston hotel. Dr. Linea McNeel says the actual hospital has been totally evacuated but that they would be ready to help after the storm blows through. The hurricane was expected to come ashore early Saturday on a course that could slam the oil refining towns of Beaumont and Port Arthur, which have already been showing the effects of the worsening weather. KEYWORD - HURRICANE RITA You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/3688cae5147c31633cdc744a68fc54de Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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