dawn sky with exploding transformers and threatening to flood the low-lying region. Rita made landfall at 3:38 a.m. EDT (0738 GMT) as a Category 3 storm just east of Sabine Pass, on the Texas-Louisiana border, bringing with it a 20-foot (6-meter) storm surge and up to 25 inches (63.5 centimeters) of rain, the National Hurricane Center said. Its 12 mph (19 kph) speed spread worries it would dump nearly 2 feet (60 centimeters) of rain on flood-prone parts of Texas and Louisiana, spurring tornadoes as it churned north-northwest with winds topping 120 mph (193 kph). Texas officials breathed a sigh of relief that Rita spared two flood-prone cities a direct hit. "It looks like the Houston and Galveston area has really lucked out," The Associated Press quoted Max Mayfield, director of the center as saying.
