There are some who think the evacuation of Houston and the Gulf Coast for Hurricane Rita was an overreaction to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Ed Board thinks that it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Everyone saw what happened in New Orleans, and it would be irresponsible not to take a Category 5 hurricane seriously. Yes, it was downgraded to a Category 3, and yes, it did turn eastward, but most citizens, Ed Board included, have no training in meteorological sciences and cannot make those kinds of predictions.

The big red thing was moving closer on the map, and that is always a bad thing. Plus, Houston is the fourth largest city in the nation. Try evacuating 5 million people at the last possible moment. We’re not saying Ed Board has ever attempted this, but the point is that it’s probably not a feasible option.

There may be those who will blame President Bush for showing favoritism to his home state. Ed Board thinks these people are stupid and looking for a fight where none exists. The federal and state governments have learned from the Katrina tragedy and Ed Board applauds them. From what we have seen, the evacuation was well organized, and at least we know it can be done.

If the federal government should be blamed for anything, it should be for not paying enough attention to environmental issues, like global warming. It’s a word we’ve all heard frequently over the past few weeks. Ed Board bets that the Kyoto Treaty’s looking pretty good right about now.

For the 10 percent of residents who remained in Galveston, Ed Board thinks you seriously lucked out. But perhaps you are simply confused about the definition of the word mandatory. Maybe if CNN ran the Webster definition on the news ticker, you would say to yourself, “Gee Golly, they really mean business!”

But, if this is not the case and you knew all along you were supposed to evacuate, then you have learned nothing from your neighbors in Louisiana, and you never will. You will continue to be stubborn and one of these days the hurricane won’t shift its course.

Then you’ll be sorry. And we will too.

The hurricane season has been intense, and Ed Board hopes that it will be quiet from here on out. Plus, we’re running out of names. What’s that you say, National Weather Service? There’s still the Greek alphabet?

Great. We just don’t want to turn on the television tomorrow morning to find Hurricane Beta headed for Miami.