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<TABLE width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Mexicans Living on Texas Gulf Hurry Home
Sep 22 3:27 PM US/Eastern
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By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press Writer
MONTERREY, Mexico
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.
Sep 22 3:27 PM US/Eastern
</TD><TD align=right>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press Writer
MONTERREY, Mexico
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.
