News of the storm's approach is expected to come from a host of witnesses, from bloggers to webcams, local government agencies to the hurricane forecasters of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The city government of Houston will issue information through its office of emergency management. The city has already provided a storm surge map to show where the floodwaters will rise if Hurricane Rita continues on its path. The Houston Red Cross, fresh from assisting the victims of Hurricane Katrina, is laying in supplies.

Chambers County, just to the east of Houston, has issued a mandatory evacuation order for its residents while the Harris County flood district, in which Houston and its port sit, is readying itself for the storm.

A quick look through the two directories of bloggers in the Houston area reveals that most are preparing to leave the city. But a handful, including a blogger called Eric, a proudly Texan site and the suitably named Petrified Truth, seem set on seeing out the storm.

There is also a proliferation of weather blogs, Dr Jeff Masters, a meteorologist feted for his early and dire predictions of Hurricane Katrina, seems a good place to start.

During Hurricane Katrina, the message boards of the New Orleans local newspaper and television stations proved invaluable for information about the storm.

The message board of the Houston Chronicle has already started to buzz with news of traffic jams and the evacuation. The newspaper has even set up a Stormwatchers site for members of the public to contribute their stories as the storm progresses.

KHOU 11, Houston's local television station, is owned Belo Corporation, the same media company that owns WWL-TV, the much-praised New Orleans broadcaster that stayed on the air throughout Hurricane Katrina. It seems determined to follow its sister station's example.

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