Benefits and rebuilding

ACORN, the national community organization is helping families dislocated by Hurricane Katrina have a say in how their cities and communities will be rebuilt.

ACORN can help you get the benefits you may be entitled to - Call ACORN today at 800-790-2290 to find out more.

Volunteers and Donations Needed at Disaster Service Cen

As The Salvation Army reopens its doors to the many victims of Katrina and Rita, a high volume of volunteers and food donations are greatly needed.
Volunteers must be at least 15 years of age, and opportunities include sorting donations, escorting clients, childcare, restocking, data entry and other tasks. Between 200 and 300 volunteers are needed on a daily basis. Volunteer hours are 8:30 am to 7:00 pm.
The Disaster Service Center is located at 5950 Fairmont Parkway in Pasadena. To volunteer or for more information on the Disaster Service Center, call 713-752-0677.

Please Help Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary

It appears the exotic cat and wildlife sanctuary in
Kirbyville, TX (Jasper County) is in desperate need of
food,water and gasoline for a generator as a result of
the Hurricane.

http://abclocal.go.com
www.exoticrefuge.org

UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE EMPLOYEES TO RETURN TO WORK TUESDAY

HOUSTON, Texas (September 26, 2005) -- United Space Alliance announced that all employees at USA operated facilities on and off the Johnson Space Center – with the exception of the Logistics Support Facility (LSF) -- should return to work as normal on Tuesday, September 27, beginning with the first shift.
The Logistics Support Facility will remain closed until further notice because of power issues. LSF employees should contact their immediate supervisor or call the Employee Information Hotline at 800-713-0875 for further instructions.
All other employees should plan to return to work Tuesday, no earlier than 6 a.m., pending unique individual circumstances, which should be communicated to immediate supervisors as soon as possible. The liberal leave policy is in effect for employees who require additional time.
Employees are advised to use caution when returning to the worksite and to report any potential hazards immediately.
USA employees can also obtain information on the USA external website at www.unitedspacealliance.com.
Since 1996, United Space Alliance has served as NASA's prime contractor for the Space Shuttle and provides operations services for the International Space Station. USA employs more than 4,000 employees in the Houston area

Contacts:
Tracy Yates (321) 750-1739
Mike Curie (281) 639-3190

Conroe ISD Shelters Full

All Conroe ISD Shelters are full. High schools in The Woodlands are full.

Shelter in Montgomery County

From the text messages ... Montgomery High School in montgomery will open at 3 for a shelter and its 105 and loop 336 is the methodist church as another shelter

Shelter in The Woodland

The Woodlands College Park High School on 242, just off I-45. According to callers, there is shelter available at this location.

KRBE Behind the Scenes

We're here at 104 KRBE. Our studios are in the Westchase area at Westheimer and the Beltway.

We've got about 15 staffers in the building and are preparing to stay on the air during the storm. We've loaded up on all the supplies we could at Kroger and Randall's. So, our kitchen is loaded with pre-packaged cookies, crackers, Chef-Boy-R-Dee, and other favorites. The kitchen looks like a teenager's dream with all the soda, Gatorade, and other junk food.

Reality set in as we're getting ready to board the windows of the broadcast studio and other production studios.

Hunkering Down Blog

If you've hunkered down and have a blog, post it in the comment section.

Evacuation Blogs

If you've left Houston and created a blog, post it here in the comment section.

Houston Airports closed

From the Houston Chronicle ...


The last flights in and out of Houston before Hurricane Rita hits will be ending at midday today, following a frenzied travel crush Thursday.
Continental Airlines is flying a reduced Houston schedule today and plans to cease all flights at Houston at noon, resuming Sunday morning.
"We are doing our best to evacuate as many people as we can until we are forced to suspend operations," Larry Kellner, chairman and chief executive, said Thursday. All of today's Continental flights that had not been canceled were sold out, the carrier said.
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines was operating a normal schedule Thursday but experienced some problems because of the number of passengers leaving Houston, spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said. Southwest, which has 140 flights daily out of Houston's Hobby Airport, had flights for today scheduled until noon, she said.
"The lines are long at the airport and we have had a few delays, but we are working to get our customers through as quickly as possible," she said. "We are asking them to arrive at the airport early."
American Airlines, which substituted bigger jets to serve Houston on Thursday to carry more passengers, canceled all its flights today and Saturday.
"We plan to come back in Sunday afternoon, depending on what happens," American spokesman Tim Wagner said Thursday.
Lufthansa on Thursday announced it was canceling two flights scheduled for today between Houston and Frankfurt, Germany.
Continental said it flew hundreds of employee volunteers and TSA security screeners from Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York and San Antonio. They were used to supplement staff and replace workers subject to mandatory evacuation orders.

Continental Flights Cancelled

Continental flights out of Houston have been cancelled beginning at noon on Friday and also cancelled for Saturday.

Hopefully, those flights will resume on Sunday. Check with the airline before making the trip to the airport.

No Greyhound tickets available

There are no more Greyhound tickets available for buses out of Houston.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/special/05/rita/3365468

More concerts postponed/cancelled

Daddy Yankee at Toyota Center and Motley Crue at Toyota Center postponed. Hold onto tickets for rescheduled dates or refund. More info when we have it.

104 KRBE's Storm Plan

Hello from the 104 KRBE studio. We're working to stay on the air through the storm. We have text messaging in place, our website, this blog, and the on-web stream.

We've worked with our sister stations in Dallas to make sure the station stays on the air as best as possible, but that might be difficult to accomplish.

Currently, we're working with the TV partners in the market to re-broadcast their audio as needed, plus our DJs are doing updates for the people stuck in traffic and letting them know about the position of the storm and where it's going to make landfall.

If you'd like to receive text message updates about the storm, text the word RITA to 36617 and we'll push text messages to you. Also, if you want to send messages and info to us, send it to 36617.

Feel free to post comments on this blog and this blog will be key as we're able to post info about power outages, blocked roads, and more.

Good luck with the storm! Please use your head.

Blogging in studio

We're now blogging from the Studio ... Please feel free to keep posting comments and text.

Keep tuned to KRBE for updates as we go.

Broadway in Houston

Broadway in Houston: Due to the approach of Hurricane Rita, Broadway in Houston has cancelled the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday performances of EVITA at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. For refund or exchange information, please contact your point of purchase. Ticketmaster: 713-629-3700, Broadway in Houston Service Center 713-622-7469, or BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.

Concerts Postponed

If you have tickets to a concert this weekend at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, put them away in a safe, dry place. With Rita threatening, promoter PACE Concerts has postponed the Journey, Coldplay, and Oasis shows at The Woodlands venue. According to a Pavilion news release, additional information on rescheduled dates and/or refunds will be released as soon as possible.

School Closing

American InterContinental classes for Wednesday night have been
cancelled.

Denita Holmes
Marketing Manager
American InterContinental University
9999 Richmond Ave.
Houston, TX 77042
832.201.6896 direct
832.201.3637 fax
dholmes@aiuhouston.com

Houston Ballet Cancels Performances

Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch announced today that due to the threat posed by hurricane Rita, Houston ballet will cancel its performances of Mentors & Prodigy on Thursday Sept. 22 @ 7:30pm, Saturday Sept. 24 @ 7:30pm, and Sunday Sept. 25 @ 2:00pm.
Tickets to the canceled performances will be honored at the later Houston Ballet perfomance. Ticket holders to the canceled performance should call Houston Ballet's box office at Wortham Ticket Center at 713-227-2787 on Monday, Sept. 26 for more information.

Wharton County Junior College Closes and Evacuates Campuses

WHARTON, September 21, 2005 -- Pending the potential arrival of Hurricane Rita in the gulf coast area Wharton County Junior College officials announced the closure and evacuation of its campuses, extension centers, and off site locations effective as of 5 p.m. today. Classes will resume and all locations will reopen on Tuesday, September 27th, unless otherwise noted, possibly via the college’s website at www.wcjc.edu or as a recorded message available at 1.800.561.9252. Information will also be disseminated to area radio stations, television stations, and newspapers.

Contact: Zina L. Carter
(979) 532-6417

Houston Ballet Update

HOUSTON BALLET CANCELS PERFORMANCES OF
MENTORS & PRODIGY
ON SEPTEMBER 22, 24, and 25, 2005


Houston, TX – Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch announced today that due to the threat posed by Hurricane Rita, Houston Ballet has will cancel its performances of Mentors & Prodigy on Thursday, September 22, 2005 at 7:30pm, Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 7:30pm and Sunday, September 25, 2005 at 2:00pm.

Tickets to the canceled performances will be honored at a later Houston Ballet performance. Ticket holders to the canceled performance should call Houston Ballet’s box office at Wortham Theater Center at 713-227-2787 on Monday, September 26 for more information.

###

One Country Benefit Concert

ONE COUNTRY
HURRICANE BENEFIT
***POSTPONED***

Due to the intensifying threat of Hurricane Rita to Houston and surrounding areas, the co-chairs of the ONE COUNTRY Hurricane Katrina Benefit Concert, Louis Messina, Carolyn Farb and Paul Somerville, have regretfully been forced to make the decision to postpone the event until further notice.

Current ticket holders may hold on to their tickets for the rescheduled show.

The potential danger posed by Hurricane Rita and her aftermath will not allow the window of time necessary to load-in a show of this magnitude. The risks are too great to artists, vendors and volunteers to commit their efforts to this endeavor at a time when everyone must concentrate on immediate preparations and potential evacuations for the approaching hurricane. It has also been determined that it would not be prudent to have our national vendors, those providing the production elements necessary to stage the concert, such as stage, sound, power, lights and video, move towards the Houston area at this time, as would be required to successfully load-in a show for Saturday, October 1st.

University of Houston announcement

President Gogue has determined to close the University of Houston effective 12 noon on Wednesday, September 21, through Sunday, September 25, except for critical staff who have been previously identified as such. This decision comes after assessing the current information available on Hurricane Rita and at the urging of the Mayor and County Judge to ensure the maximum safety of our faculty, students and staff during this emergency.

The President has ordered that the University of Houston campus be evacuated for all dormitory students and that all buildings, including academic and research buildings be evacuated and locked down after 6 p.m. Wednesday night. Researchers are asked to shut down any experiments and all faculty and non-critical staff MUST leave the campus. All buildings will be locked to ensure security. Faculty, staff and students will not be allowed back into the buildings until the emergency has been declared over.

Critical staff members have already been notified if they will be required to either remain on campus or return early during the emergency. The emergency response areas have been designated in the General Services Building and the Center for Public Broadcasting.

Students with transportation and safe locations away from the Houston area are asked to evacuate to those locations today, and if at all possible to seek out any students not from Houston who may not have transportation or a safe place to go. The University will provide buses and is identifying an evacuation location for all students who require it, but any assistance Houston students can supply will be sincerely appreciated by your student friends and colleagues. Dormitory students needing emergency transportation should notify their RA. For area evacuation information and routes check out UH emergency website www.uh.edu/emergency.

We will continue to send updates through the emergency through e-mail and on our website, www.uh.edu. Messages also will be updated on the university¹s main number, 713-743-1000. We have made arrangements for our website and telephone service to be located away from the emergency area if necessary, so they should remain available through this period.

We will announce plans for next week as soon as we get additional information about the impact of the storm.

School Closing

Due to Hurricane Rita, American InterContinental University Houston will
be closed Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The university will reopen on
Monday if the weather permits.

U of H Downtown Closing

University of Houston Downtown Campus, closing at NOON Today (Wednesday) until Monday or further notice.

Persons living in dorms should be ready to leave by 8pm. Those who are not leaving with family and/or friends will be provided bus transportation out of town.

Lee College

Lee College is closing due to the possible impact of Hurricane Rita, Lee College in Baytown will be closed, Thursday, Sept.22 through Sept. 25,2005. All classes and activities cancelled, including classes offered at the San Jacinto Mall, Crosby, and Liberty. Notices are posted at www.lee.edu and on the general Lee College campus phone number 281-427-5611.

Golf Tournament

DUE TO HURRICANE RITA THE 1ST MARINE DIVISION ASSOCIATION 15TH ANNUAL CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT HAS EEN POSTPONED TO FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31,2005 AT RED WOLF RUN GOLF CLUB. PLEASE CALL 281-324-7026 FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Mandatory Evacuation Zones & Times

ZONE A - 6 p.m. Wednesday
Galveston Island (I-45)
Jamaica Beach (I-45)
Tiki Island (I-45)
Bayou Vista (Hwy. 6)
Clear Lake Shores (Hwy. 146)
Kemah (Hwy. 146)
San Leon-Bacliff-Bayview (Hwy. 146)
Bolivar Peninsula (Hwy. 87 and Hwy. 124)

ZONE B - 2 a.m. Thursday
Texas City (Hwy. 146)
La Marque (I-45)
Hitchcock (Hwy. 6)
Dickinson (I-45)

ZONE C - noon Thursday
League City (I-45, Hwy. 146)
Friendswood (I-45)
Santa Fe (Hwy. 6)

Schools Closing

• Westbury Christian Academy will be closed Thursday & Friday.
• Houston Gateway Academy closed Thursday - Monday

Harris Toll Road

The Harris Toll Road Authority will coordinate with the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HCOEM) as well as the Texas Department of Public Safety for implementation of evacuation routes in response to Hurricane Rita. The Texas Department of Public Safety has primary responsibility for implementation of these evacuation routes. Please stay in contact with HCOEM 713-881-3100 or www.hcoem.org for more information regarding evacuation notices and directions for this region.

Immediate Need of Volunteers

Immediate need of volunteers at the Salvation Army Disaster Service Canter. The Salvation Army Disaster Service needs volunteers immediately from 8am-8pm. Monday through Friday. Due to the increase of incoming clients, additional help is necessary. Volunteers will assist the clients as they shop for food, clothing and household items. Other tasks include sorting donations and unloading trucks. Volunteers must be 16 years old and up and must wear closed-toed shoes. Te Salvation Army Disaster Service Center is located 5950 Fairmount Parkway, Pasadena, Tx 77505. Please contact Mechelle henry at 832-201-8018 to sign up. Large groups and individuals are welcome.

Baybrook Mall

Baybrook Mall to close at 12:00 noon Wednesday, September 21. Baybrook mall, I-45 south at Bay Area Boulevard in Friendswood, will close as of noon on Wednesday, September 21 due to inclement weather created by Hurricane Rita.

Baybrook Mall

Baybrook Mall to close at 12:00 noon Wednesday, September 21. Baybrook mall, I-45 south at Bay Area Boulevard in Friendswood, will close as of noon on Wednesday, September 21 due to inclement weather created by Hurricane Rita.

Kendleton ISD

Kendleton ISD will be closed Thursday & Friday, September 22 & 23, 2005. School resumes on Monday, depending on the damage to the buildings.

UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE DISMISSES EMPLOYEES TO PREPARE

HOUSTON, Texas (September 21, 2005) -- United Space Alliance, NASA’s prime space shuttle contractor, will dismiss its Texas workforce, effective at noon on Wednesday, September 21, and is encouraging all employees to secure their property and evacuate the area in preparation for Hurricane Rita.
The dismissal order affects all employees at all USA operated facilities, both on and off the Johnson Space Center. USA facilities will not re-open before Monday, September 26.
All USA employees are encouraged to pay attention to news reports for information on the path and progress of the storm, and for information about returning to work following the storm. In addition, USA employees can obtain information on the USA external website at www.unitedspacealliance.com and from the employee hotline at 1-800-713--0875. The website and hotline are being supported by systems and personnel in Florida, and should not be adversely affected by the impacts of the storm. In addition, updates will be available through the NASA hotlines at 281-483-3351 and 877-283-1947.

From our friends at http://www.click2Houston.com ...

Classes Canceled Wednesday Through Friday
POSTED: 2:25 pm CDT September 20, 2005
UPDATED: 9:07 am CDT September 21, 2005
Officials with the following school districts have canceled classes from Wednesday through Friday, unless otherwise specified, because of Hurricane Rita:
Alvin
Anahuac
Angleton
Barber Hill
Brazosport
Clear Creek
Columbia-Brazoria
Danbury
Deer Park
Dickinson
East Bernard: Thursday - Friday
Friendswood
Fort Bend: Thursday - Saturday
Galena Park: Thursday - Saturday
Galveston
Goose Creek
Grace School: Thursday - Saturday
Hitchcock
High Island
Home Run Ministries: Friday
La Marque
Lamar Consolidated
LaPorte
Lutheran South Academy
Pasadena
Pearland
Santa Fe
St. Clare of Assisi Catholic School
Sweeney
Texas City
Wharton: Thursday - Friday

The following colleges and universities have also canceled classes Wednesday through Friday, unless noted differently:
Alvin Community College has suspended classes Wednesday through Saturday.
Brazosport College
College of the Mainland
Galveston Community College
San Jacinto College District
Texas A&M Galveston
University of Houston Clear Lake
Saturday, September 24th ACT test at George Bush High School has been canceled. ACT will contact the students to reschedule.

For a complete list of school closings, visit www.school-closings.net/houston/.

City Of Dickinson

The city of Dickinson, in cooperation with the Dickinson Independent School District, will evacuate individuals in the Dickinson area with no transportation. These individuals should go to one of the following sites by noon tomorrow:
Dickinson High School
McAdams High School
Dunbar High School
K.E. Little Elementary

Individuals need to arrive no later than noon today and should bring identification, medications, and changes of clothes.
Restrictions are in place:
One lap bag per person
No weapons or alcholic beverages
No pets

Contact : Mayor Julie Masters 281-337-6202/281-337-6204

Alvin Community College Cancels Classes & Activities

Classes and all activities at Alvin Community College have been cancelled from Wednesday, Sept 21 through Sat Sept. 24. ACC is scheduled to reopen on Monday, Sept 2, pending the outcome of Hurricane Rita. More information can be obtained from www.schoolclosings.net or by calling ACC at 281-756-3500 or 281-331-3270 as an alternate.

Welcome to 104 KRBE's Hurricane Rita Blog

This is 104 KRBE's Hurricane Rita blog. We'll post updates to this page as we learn about school closings, cancellations, and other information related to Hurricane Rita.

We'll also verify that everything is correct.

Please check back often as we will update this page on a regular basis with news and information related to the approaching Hurricane Rita.

One great site to check for information is http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/

That's Eric Berger, the science writer for the Houston Chronicle. He's got a wealth of information on his page and is keeping track of the developments with the storm.

- posted by Mike Paterson, 104 KRBE Staff