ISU student Joseph Campos’ parents prepared for the worst as Hurricane Rita approached the Southeast Texas coast.

As a weakened Rita staggered ashore Friday evening, torrents of rain fell and whistling winds blew throughout the night. Fortunately, damage and injuries were avoided for Campos’ and other students’ families.

“It seemed like Houston was spared at the last minute when Rita took a turn to the northeast, so I feel lucky for that,” said Campos, a graduate assistant in education leadership and policy studies.

Campos’ parents, who reside in Houston, boarded their windows and stocked up on extra supplies as Rita loomed off the Gulf Coast, although he said their neighborhood only saw isolated tree damage.

Campos said his parents heeded the warnings of Hurricane Rita more seriously in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

“I think Katrina was so devastating because people were so unprepared,” he said. “When Rita came by, people were more willing to say, ‘We need to get ready for this.'”

Katy Amundson, junior in marketing, said her parents could not leave their home in Bellaire, a suburb of Houston.

“They couldn’t evacuate because the traffic was ridiculous,” she said.

Because of the horrendous traffic, it took her aunt 13 hours to evacuate her home in Galveston and drive to her parents’ house in Houston – a trip that would normally take approximately an hour, Amundson said.

Jeff Bergstrom, sophomore in finance, said because of Rita, his parents were forced to change their weekend plans.

“They were going to go to the Army game on Friday, but they couldn’t because the airports were clogged out,” he said.

Bergstrom said his parents, who live in Kingwood, about 25 miles northeast of Houston, were unable to purchase any gasoline, food or water in preparation for the storm since local stores either had no supplies or were closed.

When Rita gained Category 5 status Thursday, Bergstrom said his parents began to worry.

“They called me on Thursday morning, and I knew there was a storm coming, and I didn’t know how big it was,” he said.

He said their home was not damaged.

Amundson said many people used to take hurricane preparation lightly before Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast.

“A lot of people are just being stubborn,” she said. “Being on the Gulf Coast, there are so many hurricanes and people get used to them.

“When you have a hurricane like Katrina, that is going to change people’s thoughts on evacuating.”