A mass exodus from the deadly threat of Hurricane Rita emptied towns along the Texas and Louisiana coastlines on Friday, amid frantic last-minute preparations for the second super-storm in a month. The port city of Galveston, scene of the worst United States natural disaster when a similar storm hit 105 years ago, was virtually empty on Friday.

Monstrous Hurricane Rita, one of the deadliest storms ever recorded, sent millions fleeing, threatened vital oil production and cast fear far and wide as it ripped across the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday whipping up winds of 275 kilometres an hour.