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 HOUSTON (AP) - The nation's fourth-largest city began flickering back to life Sunday after Hurricane Rita: Airports bustled, businesses reopened and traffic moved easily over freeways. Officials dispatched buses to bring back thousands of evacuees from shelters.
On Monday, more and more traffic lights were working properly and a long line of customers waited outside a downtown Starbucks as it reopened for the first time. Customers sat outdoors with their drinks despite hot, humid weather.
Sunday was the first day of a staggered re-entry plan drawn up by authorities hoping to avoid a rerun of the pre-storm evacuation, when stranded Houstonians and abandoned cars littered freeways after helpless drivers burned through gas in the gridlock. Rita had spared Houston severe damage by veering east toward the Louisiana-Texas state line when it hit early Saturday.
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