Lovely Rita

Hurricane Rita's track may spare Houston a direct hit, but it is causing havoc in New Orleans -- which is trapped on the east side of the storm. Flooding started there again this afternoon, as the storm surge pushed water over and through already compromised levees.

Hurricane Rita's wind-driven storm surge topped one of New Orleans' battered levees and poked holes in another Friday, sending water gushing into already-devastated neighborhoods just days after they had been pumped dry.

An initial surge of water cascaded over a patched levee protecting the impoverished Ninth Ward, flooding the abandoned neighborhood with at least six feet of water.

"Our worst fears came true," said Maj. Barry Guidry, a National Guardsman on duty at the broken levee.

Well, no, your worst fears would have been another Katrina, but the point is taken.

Meanwhile, we can only hope Rita continues to weaken as she makes landfall somewhere between Beaumont and Lake Charles.

"Lovely Rita meter maid, nothing can come between us ..." -- The Beatles, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"