RESCUERS pushed their way into once-inaccessible neighbourhoods as Hurricane Rita’s floodwaters receded along the Texas-Louisiana coast yesterday.

Three million Americans evacuated before Hurricane Rita pummelled east Texas and the Louisiana coast, were urged not to hurry home today.

Hurricane Rita ploughed into the Gulf of Mexico coast early today, lashing Texas and Louisiana with driving rain, flooding low-lying regions, knocking power out to nearly a million customers and sparking fires across the region.

Hurricane Rita steamed toward refinery towns along the Texas-Louisiana coast with 120mph winds early today, creating havoc even before it arrived.

Hundreds of airline crash experts, engineers and forensic scientists have converged on Texas and Louisiana to help retrieve pieces of the space shuttle Columbia.