Mexicans Living on Texas Gulf Hurry Home

Olga R. Rodriguez:

Hundreds of Mexicans living on the Texas Gulf Coast were rushing home Thursday to avoid Hurricane Rita, while authorities in northern Mexico readied shelters and prepared for heavy rains.

In Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas, Mexican families coming from Houston, Galveston, South Padre Island, Corpus Christi and Pasadena, Texas, waited in long lines to get temporary import permits for their cars.

Thousands of Mexicans live and work in Texas, but still have family _ or even second homes _ in Mexico. With Rita bearing down on the Gulf coast, many felt it was time to go home, at least for a week or so.

Moises Ramirez was one of hundreds crossing into Mexico on Thursday. A carpenter and home owner from Pasadena, Texas, he left behind his job and house to stay with his parents in Monclova, 440 miles southwest of Pasadena.

Traveling with six relatives, Ramirez said he worried about what he would have to come back to, but he wasn't ready to risk staying in the storm's path.

"What happened in New Orleans could also happen there," he said, referring to Texas.

Nuevo Laredo authorities said families crossing from Texas started coming to the border city late Wednesday, and by Thursday morning more than 1,000 people had crossed into Mexico.

"Hearing Rita was one of the most powerful hurricanes in the history of the Gulf was enough for me to leave," said Roberto Garcia, who left his home in Corpus Christi and was heading to a suburb of Monterrey, where his family lives.

The influx of Mexicans fleeing the Texas Gulf Coast was expected to increase, and authorities were adding customs agents and personnel at the border.

I guess even a hurricane can do some good.