The damage inflicted by Hurricane Rita paled in comparison to Katrina, Texas Governor Rick Perry said today – but urged evacuees to stay where they are until local officials say it’s all right to return.

Hurricane Rita ploughed into the Gulf Coast early today, lashing Texas and Louisiana with driving rain, igniting the pre-dawn sky with exploding transformers and threatening to flood the low-lying region.

Wall Street rallied to finish mostly higher today, capping off the week with two days of gains as Hurricane Rita lost steam and raised hopes that its impact on key Gulf Coast refineries wouldn’t be as bad as initially feared.