In running down the local media for Rita yesterday, I forgot about radio stations. Orange station KOGT has posted the first update from the town that I’ve seen:

Glad to be on the other side! I’ve never been afraid of weather until last night. The severe wind and rain started around 1am and didn’t let up until the eye came through at 4:15am. I am located in the Chasse Ridge addition and currently stuck here. We tried to drive around during the eye but found every exit blocked by stacks of trees. We tried driving back to the newest addition and had to turn around because of the water. I won’t say water was in every house, but the water on the street was high enough that we weren’t sure where the street was. Most of the home damage caused by trees but not as much home damage as we thought (at least with the homes we were able to check out). We are now on the south side of the hurricane and still gusty winds but not much rain, however this is when the storm surge begins and the south side of I-10 is the target. We’re going to attempt to cut and pull our way out of the neighborhood to see what else has happened. I will try to report back then, although it is a very slow process.